Charleston, SC vs Chapel Hill, NC (living, cost, rates, place)
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If the interest rates ever come back down, we are considering a move.
We currently live in Mount Pleasant, SC, which is a suburb of Charleston. When we first moved here we lived on Daniel Island, which is technically part of Charleston, but is about 15 min from the downtown historic district, on its own peninsula.
It's a very idyllic island (that you wouldn't know was an island unless someone told you) with most everything except a hospital right there.
There is a vet, doctors, dentists, a Publix grocery store, lots of business, a "core" Main Street that's walkable, a stadium that has summer concerts and a national women's tennis match every year, shops, restaurants, churches, school, a library where they have master Gardners come in each week from Clemson to answer plan questions, and have low-cost Tai Chi classes weekly, and other events, a brewery that has live music, a lake with a trail around it where they have events throughout the year, multiple common pools, tennis courts, dog park, and trails that connect the entire island. I think they are also building a rec center, and there are a few workout centers. It has water access with a water taxi to Charleston if you want to go in for the day/dinner and don't feel like driving and hundreds of acres of parks (each neighborhood has its own park)
The population is @ 10K.
It's got a very "village" feel like a New England town and is very community oriented. The entire island is bikable (all the trails are paved) and walkable. It was Harry Frank Guggenheim's private hunting preserve, and they foundation sponsored the development of a master plan and building was started in 1996. Every details was planned and the island is pristine and gorgeous. It's also very, very safe.
The location is ideal - 15 from downtown Charleston, 15 min from the hospital, 15 min from Mount Pleasant where all the big box stores are and the 24-hr vet, and 15 min from the airport.
The downsides: The cost. Where we live in Mount Pleasant, it's VERY expensive but Daniel Island is even moreso. A 2BR townhome (which is what we would get) with a 1 car detached garage and a small fenced private yard runs @ 590K with @ a $475/month regime fee. The traffic is also getting very bad and there are a ton of accidents daily. Mostly caused by people running red lights, texting while driving, speeding, and DUIs. There's hardly any traffic enforcement so it's a bit like a free for all.
Property taxes are low in SC. We pay @ $1,600 for a 3BR/2BA 1,587 sf house, and we get a 50K credit off our assessed value, as well as a 15K credit each against our income because we are over 65.
Chapel Hill area - we have friends there and we've been several times so know the area fairly well, but we have not been in @ 8 yrs. We are particularly interested in Fearrington Village, and possibly Briar Chapel, maybe even Chatham Park in Pittsboro. We are partial to planned communities if you can't tell already. The property taxes in Chapel Hill proper are a bit too high for us.
It seems that RDU is comparable to flights offered with CHS, so no benefit there, and unfortunately, Chapel Hill area has as many - if not more - copperheads as we have here. It's also as hot there, if not moreso because here the ocean does moderate the temps - a bit. It's also colder there in the winter.
Pros we can see: RE is cheaper than where we are or DI, especially in Chatham County, and there are no hurricanes, a big downside to living here. We've evacuated 4x already and it's a pain and expensive, especially with a pet. Chapel Hill area also has an incredible hospital in Duke and UNC is no slouch. That's important to me since I had breast cancer 2 years ago. Although MUSC is not a bad hospital, it's nationally ranked and is a Level 1 trauma center.
Cons: Taxes are higher in NC, and there are not (it seems) any breaks for retirees like SC has. Fearrington, although nice, is on a much smaller scale than Daniel Island, and we wonder if we would get bored. There's no big city nearby for shopping or entertainment, but we don't have that in Charleston, either (we're originally from MA and lived in a little 17K coastal town but were only 45 from Boston and miss that - going in for the day, a Celtics game, or the theatre).
Does anyone have any thoughts? Where would you rather live? We are in our mid-60s/early 70s, have a dog, and live a fairly quiet life. Good healthcare, safety, and proximity of things near to us (especially as we age) is really important.
Fearrington would place you about 30 minutes to Apex/Cary or Southpoint in Durham. Another 15 and you’d get to most of Raleigh. I love Charleston, but its main advantage over the Triangle would be its access to the beach/ocean. If that’s not a deal breaker, I think Fearrington/Chapel Hill could work very well.
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