Florida vs. South Carolina (comparison, place, population, life)
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SC only because Charleston. Charleston and Savannah's SC burbs like Beaufort and Hilton Head destroy FL for me. Most of FL is highly undesirable for me.
Just curious, what differences do you perceive in Beaufort and HH that are different from, say, the Jacksonville FL - St. Augustine area?
While obviously a good bit more "swing-y" in the recent past, I think FL has pretty much settled into red state status myself. It will be interesting to see how things shake out in the Sunshine State this decade, especially since I now view SC as the second coming of Florida in a few key respects.
Maybe Florida is settling into a red state. However, I would also argue that it's becoming more progressive. In 2020, three counties flipped blue (Duval, Seminole and Pinellas) and all blue counties in 2016 remained blue in 2020. None of the counties flipped from blue to red! Also, Florida voters voted for raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour on the 2020 ballot and it passed.
Gubernatorial and senatorial elections are extremely closer than ever these days. Always less than 1 point of a spread now.
Literally the only reason why Florida overall shifted two points to the right in 2020 is because of Cubans in Miami-Dade County who believed in the propoganda advertisements that framed Joe Biden as a communist and close friend of Fidel Castro.
I prefer south FL for climat (south of WPB and Fort Myers) because the winters are nicer than the rest of FL. SC winters are still too cold for my liking (gets in the low 20s occasionally with more cold snaps). The job market there is good for most careers and there is more to do. I love the mountains more than the ocean though so that's a tough one. Greenville is a nice area , but i think Florida has it beat for job opportunities.
Overall, South Carolina looks more threadbare than Florida, and the wages in South Carolina are even lower (if you can even believe it). I think that, if you are going to live south of North Carolina (i.e., the southernmost fully temperate state on the East Coast), then you might as well just live in Florida. Georgia and South Carolina have long, oppressively humid summers, but get much colder in the wintertime than Florida. So, you might as well live in Florida and take advantage of the warm winters, abundant housing, smooth roads, no state income tax, theme parks and coastal access. I think that is why Florida is so much more populous than South Carolina. I’m not crazy about the people in either state. In South Carolina, people are not nearly as friendly they’re purported to be. It sure ain’t California, Kansas or Tennessee!
I live in SC - a burb of Charleston - and am not so sure you would be happy in SC. JMHO, but I find Columbia very "meh". I do like Greenville a lot. But the state is VERY conservative, and not very forward thinking. What Bert_from_back_East said is correct about the people not being as friendly as advertised.
SC is rated #42 in the US as a state by US News and World Report. FL is rated #10. SC is 46th in crime, 44th in education, 38th in opportunity, 36th in infrastructure, and 34th in health care. FL rates in the top half of the country in all metrics except for crime (#26) and opportunity (#33).
It's cold here pretty much Nov - Feb, not that there aren't days or weeks that sneak in that are warm. But still hat and mittens cold. And you're not buying yourself anything with hurricanes. We've been here 5 years and have had to evacuate 4. There's less risk in Columbia but you'll still get the effects, and Columbia floods. A dam broke near my niece's house in Columbia and swept away their car. Sales tax and income tax are very high and wages are VERY low. Property taxes are great and there's a 50k tax exclusion. Also a partial income exclusion once you hit a certain again.
I've never lived in FL so can't speak to the differences but I am not sure SC is what you want.
Since you don't care for the beach have you thought about the Raleigh/Durham/Chapel Hill area? Is not that much cooler in winter than SC, has a lot going on, good job market from what I hear, and wages will be higher than SC. It's a red state, but that area is pretty liberal and cosmopolitan due to Duke and UNC and all the people from all over the world between the colleges and Research Triangle Park. RDU is a great airport if you like to travel. I'd take that area 1000 times over Columbia, SC. And NC over SC as a state.
We have friends who live in Chapel Hill so have visited a lot. It's very pretty - lots of greenery and some big lakes, rivers, and the coast if you want it in Wilmington and the Outer Banks. Worth checking out. A lot of young people seem to really like Durham.
I live in SC - a burb of Charleston - and am not so sure you would be happy in SC. JMHO, but I find Columbia very "meh". I do like Greenville a lot. But the state is VERY conservative, and not very forward thinking. What Bert_from_back_East said is correct about the people not being as friendly as advertised.
SC is rated #42 in the US as a state by US News and World Report. FL is rated #10. SC is 46th in crime, 44th in education, 38th in opportunity, 36th in infrastructure, and 34th in health care. FL rates in the top half of the country in all metrics except for crime (#26) and opportunity (#33).
It's cold here pretty much Nov - Feb, not that there aren't days or weeks that sneak in that are warm. But still hat and mittens cold. And you're not buying yourself anything with hurricanes. We've been here 5 years and have had to evacuate 4. There's less risk in Columbia but you'll still get the effects, and Columbia floods. A dam broke near my niece's house in Columbia and swept away their car. Sales tax and income tax are very high and wages are VERY low. Property taxes are great and there's a 50k tax exclusion. Also a partial income exclusion once you hit a certain again.
I've never lived in FL so can't speak to the differences but I am not sure SC is what you want.
Since you don't care for the beach have you thought about the Raleigh/Durham/Chapel Hill area? Is not that much cooler in winter than SC, has a lot going on, good job market from what I hear, and wages will be higher than SC. It's a red state, but that area is pretty liberal and cosmopolitan due to Duke and UNC and all the people from all over the world between the colleges and Research Triangle Park. RDU is a great airport if you like to travel. I'd take that area 1000 times over Columbia, SC. And NC over SC as a state.
We have friends who live in Chapel Hill so have visited a lot. It's very pretty - lots of greenery and some big lakes, rivers, and the coast if you want it in Wilmington and the Outer Banks. Worth checking out. A lot of young people seem to really like Durham.
I believe a small or medium-sized city in northern North Carolina (i.e., Raleigh, Durham, Cary, Chapel Hill, Greensboro, Winston-Salem, etc.) would suit the OP much better than any city in South Carolina. If I am not mistaken, the OP is originally from Connecticut, so I encourage him to think of North Carolina vs. South Carolina in a similar vein as Connecticut vs. Rhode Island. Like Connecticut, North Carolina is the more populous and progressive of the two states with significantly more economic activity, which translates to a greater abundance of high-quality employment opportunities and higher salaries and wages. Like Rhode Island, South Carolina is behind the eight-ball in so many areas and feels more detached from mainstream America. Also, like Connecticut, North Carolina is much cleaner and has much better roadway infrastructure than South Carolina (some people may refer to this as sterility). Like Rhode Island, South Carolina is the spicier, more fun, more laid-back of the two states, but has much less going for it, especially from academic and economic opportunity standpoints.
While obviously a good bit more "swing-y" in the recent past, I think FL has pretty much settled into red state status myself. It will be interesting to see how things shake out in the Sunshine State this decade, especially since I now view SC as the second coming of Florida in a few key respects.
States go through various phases politically, as I see it. For example Illinois had a couple of Democrat governors, before Bruce Rauner got elected in 2014 in Illinois. Of course had he been more moderate and more easily agreed with Democrats(i.e. how Larry Hogan has done well as Maryland's governor, or Charlie Baker in Massachusetts), and NOT had been so extreme, he may've won more than 1 term. I'm not surprised he didn't get reelected, myself.
Even if Florida did go red in both 2016 and I think 2020 as well(correct me if I'm wrong), I still view Florida as a swing state myself. And to me, I don't think it's impossible that a Democrat who wasn't so far left, could possibly win Florida. That said(just my personal opinion, fine if you disagree), there has always been a part of me that always though meh about Biden, and also IMO that I thought he could've picked a better VP than Harris. I've kept thinking all this time that the other VP choices that made it to Biden's final round of VP choices that he interviewed but narrowly weren't chosen(i.e. Val Demings(central Florida congresswoman), Keisha Bottoms(Atlanta mayor), Tammy Baldwin(Wisconsin US Senator)) all would've been better picks, in my opinion. And as mentioned in this article: https://archive.ph/kCMTn And of course, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to know South Carolina will be a red state for at least some time to come, even if it might attract occasional new residents in the communities immediately south of Charlotte, NC, near Charleston, Greenville, etc.
Now to move on from talking about politics. To me of these 2 states(and to totally NOT talk about politics from here on out), at first glance South Carolina appeals to me more since there's a little of all types of various natural scenery there. I.e. mountains in the northwest part of South Carolina, swamps(south of Columbia in Congaree National Park), and the Atlantic coast(i.e. Charleston, the historically black Gullah islands, Edisto Island, etc). Although Florida does have some nice aspects too, i.e. warmer weather, some of the historic towns there are interesting(i.e. Key West, Saint Augustine), and some of its college towns also are nice(particularly Gainesville). And of course, no income tax is also one thing in Florida's favor. That said, I also don't like that at least from doing a little research, that it seems like the chance of a hurricane hitting is probably slightly higher in Florida.
Ultimately between these 2 states, I think I like South Carolina a tad better. That said I have nothing wrong with Florida, lol as long as I don't have to live in the Miami area. Since to me, I probably prefer living in Gainesville or one of the more northern parts of that state in the panhandle. Jacksonville is a city I should research more, since I feel like my google street view research is still incomplete on 'Jax', and am working to get a better feel for that city via street view researching it.
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