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And outside of the downtown area, Greenville seemed surprisingly hick while Charleston has so many gorgeous resort areas. It's not even close, imo.
In this regard, outside of Charleston's downtown, activity can drop off as well. As someone else mentioned Charleston is beautiful, has a nice Urban fabric, one of the most interesting cities in the country, but it lacks a diverse field of amenities (or Districts) that makes it livable and enjoyable for a variety of individuals; still though Charleston is very aesthetically pleasing, picturesque, I can see why it's hot destination for tourists.
In this regard, outside of Charleston's downtown, activity can drop off as well. As someone else mentioned Charleston is beautiful, has a nice Urban fabric, one of the most interesting cities in the country, but it lacks a diverse field of amenities (or Districts) that makes it livable and enjoyable for a variety of individuals; still though Charleston is very aesthetically pleasing, picturesque, I can see why it's hot destination for tourists.
You won't find anything nearly as urban as the historic district in other parts of metro Charleston, but with the beach towns, the ACE Basin, golf courses, and loads of other attractions (e.g., plantations, gardens, Charles Towne Landing, Patriot's Pointe, Angel Oak, the Gullah people, etc.), there's absolutely no shortage of things to do and see throughout the metro area. The landscape of the Lowcountry just has this allure that's hard to explain, at least for me.
Charleston, Columbia, and Greenville all have a lot to offer outside of their downtown areas; it won't be in the form of another large, bustling urban district but each region has its charms.
you can't help but scold people on here. just state your opinion about the topic.
i believe most people prefer Greenville or Charleston based on there preference for beach or mountains. feel free to disagree.
i never denied there are people who prefer an old city. how do you even come up with these wild inferences. I stated my preference for cities that have more new buildings than Charleston mixed in with some old buildings.
Anybody that grew up in SC (as I did) knows there are people like you who love Charleston. i don't dislike it, but i prefer to live in Greenville or other cities close to the mountains, and with rolling hill topography and hardwoods with more fall color.
Many SC natives think Charleston is overhyped like crazy though, like all tourist towns.
downtown Charleston is mostly rich people and poor people. not a lot of middle class housing down there. regardless, my views are from the perspective of a person who lives in the burbs and goes downtown on the weekend. Greenville has neighborhoods all around the downtown, North Main, the Cleveland Park neighborhoods.
You are 20 years behind the times concerning downtown Charleston demographics. Exactly who you think lives in Waggoner Terrace, Hampton Park Terrace, Westside, North Central, not to mention numerous condo and apartment buildings scattered around the peninsula? Also there's a number of new apartment and condo buildings coming online over the next few years. These are not being built for rich or poor people, but mostly for all ranges of middle class.
Now maybe Greenville does have a nicer downtown. Never been so I can't say. But please don't come on here making inaccurate comments about downtown Charleston.
when I lived down there, i was always told 'don't go north of Calhoun'.
for me, living north of the crosstown and near I-26 would not seem like living in downtown Charleston. the nice part of downtown Charleston is the southern tip of the peninsula. that is not really walkable to the restaurants / retail stuff.
i believe at this point it is easier for the middle class to live closer to Main Street in Greenville than or the middle class to live near East Bay or King Street in Charleston. i have seen several posts by Charleston residents in the Charleston forum complaining about the lack of middle class housing in that area.
Charleston people talk a lot about historic perservation, but one of the things that made Charleston unique in the colonial era was it was the country's only walled city. The was wall on the bay along East Bay, a wall on Waters, a wall on Meeting Street, and a wall on Cumberland. There were several forts / bastions along the walls. Apparently the wall was also extend along the bay to the battery area and two three bastions were located there.
the was even a drawbridge to get into the city at the intersection of Broad and Meeting Street. they had a moat/ ravine dug around the outside of the city walls.
unfortunately, the city did not perserve the wall, fortifications and drawbridge.
East Bay street used to have 24 plus wharves. i think only 1 of those still exist, but it is exclusive to members of that yacht club. they recreated another one near it, at the southern end of the waterfront park. You hear so much about Charleston's history but it doesn't even look like a historic seaport now with parks replacing the wharves.
Even the massive Gadsen's Wharf, basically the Ellis Island of like 40 percent of the country''s slaves, was not preserved. the aquarium is near the location of that wharf.
you hear about King Street a lot, but it was not even with the original city grid, and only became the major retail area in the 1830's when the passenger railroad depot was located near it outside of the city limits. in my view, Charleston would be much cooler if the restaurant/retailer area had stayed concentated on East Bay, Tradd Street, Church street area (the French Quarter) rather shifted to King Street, in the middle of the penisula, away from the water.
Last edited by ClemVegas; 08-13-2016 at 02:18 PM..
Exactly who you think lives in Waggoner Terrace, Hampton Park Terrace, Westside, North Central, not to mention numerous condo and apartment buildings scattered around the peninsula?
Mostly the children of the wealthy, although I suppose it depends on your exact definition of "Middle Class." Median household income in Charleston is $51k; most middle class people in Charleston don't have $300k - $700k to spend on a place to live.
At least, that's the case among my acquaintances. Nobody I know buys anywhere on the peninsula without a substantial downpayment gift from their parents. I perhaps wouldn't call these people "Rich" but they aren't really middle class, either.
Now, you can find something for $200k-$250k on the peninsula, but it is going to be borderline uninhabitable. And you definitely won't be raising a family there.
I think Columbia gets overlooked a lot in this contest...it feels like the bigger city of the three to me and has all the offerings of a state capital, similar to Raleigh or Richmond. The biggest drawback of Columbia is that it's stuck in that hot coastal plain that is always a few degrees hotter than either Greenville or Charleston - which IMO are locked in a tie for best city in SC. Greenville has a great downtown in the cooler/greener part of the state while Charleston has the historic fabric of a large city with great preservation AND the well-known name that draws international travelers.
A smaller state like SC is lucky to have three great, fairly equal cities to choose from.
Mostly the children of the wealthy, although I suppose it depends on your exact definition of "Middle Class." Median household income in Charleston is $51k; most middle class people in Charleston don't have $300k - $700k to spend on a place to live.
At least, that's the case among my acquaintances. Nobody I know buys anywhere on the peninsula without a substantial downpayment gift from their parents. I perhaps wouldn't call these people "Rich" but they aren't really middle class, either.
To be pedantic - Columbia's physiographic region is called the "sand hills."
...which has the same hot weather as the coastal plain.
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