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Never been unfortunately. I was in Florence, SC but there wasn't a whole lot happening there
I friend of mine said that the Charlotte, NC would be his best bet.
Do you guys know how to get into working in customs at airports? I fancy doing that in the US. Its very hard to get into that here being very little jobs on the go.
Charlotte, NC is too big for what you're describing.
Columbia is a nice city. I lived there for 5 years, and grew up not too far from Florence. I agree that Florence doesn't have much going on.
It sounds like you'd do well in many cities in the south. For people in their 20's (I'm 24), southern small towns are typically backwoods and boring like Greenville, MS. When you get to small cities, there is much more variety.
Its amazing how nice you folks are on this side of the forum compared to others who are judgemental and rude. It paints an even more bad picture for someone already has a bad experiance with southern folk. Long story but I am greatful for your advice.
Never been unfortunately. I was in Florence, SC but there wasn't a whole lot happening there
I friend of mine said that the Charlotte, NC would be his best bet.
Do you guys know how to get into working in customs at airports? I fancy doing that in the US. Its very hard to get into that here being very little jobs on the go.
Scotslass - I would second Columbia, SC - I've lived here for 3 years and it's a wonderful place and I think you'd like it. Very stable economy - state government (it's the state capital), University of South Carolina (one of the state's flagship universities), and Fort Jackson (largest basic training Army base). We also have significant private sector employment in law, finance, and insurance. Good balance of welcoming-to-outsiders and the-place-is-taken-care-of-by-natives. Especially in the northeast sector of the metro area, there is quite a bit of diversity due to the Army base and other jobs in the region. There are quite a few folks here from across either pond due to the base, etc. I don't think it would be too hard for you to even find a fellow Scot living in the Columbia region.
Because of the university and largely white-collar workforce, we have excellent quality of life - in the downtown core we have the Vista along the river which consists of bars, restaurants, galleries that is a great neighborhood for young professionals and others, and we have Five Points, which is a funky college-oriented area with it's own flavor of bars, restaurants, and shops. Further out we have plenty of shopping, malls, theaters, and some really nice parks as well. The nice thing about SC is that our cities/metros are not too big, so that rural/outdoor recreation is readily available with plenty of lakes, rivers, forests, open land, etc. Lake Murray is in the northwest part of the Columbia metro area, and is great for boating, etc. Housing is very affordable here - again due to the stable job base we have not experienced the property bubble like Florida, California, etc.
Weather is fantastic if you can survive just a few weeks of torrid, humid summer heat around July-August (and everything indoors here is air-conditioned anyways). Also, you are 2 hours from the mountains and 2 hours from the coast - so weekend trips to Asheville, NC or Charleston, SC are very easy to do.
You mentioned customs at airports, etc. and aviation/engineering-related jobs. The local airport here is not a full-blown international one, so we don't have any large customs processing facility. However, United Parcel Service (UPS) operates a good size hub here, and they may be hiring for different parts of their airport operation here. You would have to look into Charlotte or more probably Atlanta for any significant number of airport customs/immigration jobs (and I would assume you would have to be a US Citizen - make sure you look into that). I my self am an airport engineer/planner with a civil engineering background. Columbia is not known as a huge hub for those types of jobs, but there are many engineering firms in town here. Firms like Siemens and Michelin have a presence here, so there may be mechanical engineering-oriented opportunities as well. If not, I would look into the Greenville, SC area in the upstate region, which has a very large industrial base, particularly with European firms like BMW and Michelin (it is not uncommon to hear German spoken at local outlet malls up there, for example). Greenville also has a great quality of life - the region is a bit more conservative than Columbia, but it's rapid economic development has happened in large part because it opened itself to outsiders and foreign investment. Downtown Greenville is an absolute gem - an award-winning environment with wonderful, progressive development along it streets, river, and parks.
If you want, you can private-message me (Chi2Midlands) if you need further info or help on the Columbia region.
Its amazing how nice you folks are on this side of the forum compared to others who are judgemental and rude. It paints an even more bad picture for someone already has a bad experiance with southern folk. Long story but I am greatful for your advice.
I didn't think Charlotte was that big?
I don't understand. I'm reading the responses here and it seems as if everyone is being helpful. How does that contribute to your apparently bad experiences with Southerners?
I was just wondering which southern state is nice to live in. Even a certain area for example im interested in hearing about
Mississippi (Nothern part)
Alabama (Nothern part)
Georgia (Northern part)
Austin - San antonio area of Texas
Charlotte, NC area
I agree with your list with the except of Alabama-northern part. If it's not Gulf Shores/Orange Beach in Alabama, then I'd just as soon rule the state out!
Any of your urban areas in Texas, as well as along most of I-35, I-10, and I-30 are great! And I wouldn't worry about the whole backwards culture/racial discrimination thing. Now, I've heard that some of the "off the beaten path" places in east Texas can get bad in that regard. Look into Houston, San Antonio, or Ft. Worth as places that are all cheaper to live than Austin.
Tennessee around Nashville, Murfreesboro, Clarksville, and Cookeville are all fine! I'd be a little skeptical about Memphis as well as east Tennessee.
The Carolinas should be fine, too. So would Northwest Arkansas.
I agree with your list with the except of Alabama-northern part. If it's not Gulf Shores/Orange Beach in Alabama, then I'd just as soon rule the state out!
Any of your urban areas in Texas, as well as along most of I-35, I-10, and I-30 are great! And I wouldn't worry about the whole backwards culture/racial discrimination thing. Now, I've heard that some of the "off the beaten path" places in east Texas can get bad in that regard. Look into Houston, San Antonio, or Ft. Worth as places that are all cheaper to live than Austin.
Tennessee around Nashville, Murfreesboro, Clarksville, and Cookeville are all fine! I'd be a little skeptical about Memphis as well as east Tennessee.
The Carolinas should be fine, too. So would Northwest Arkansas.
I agree with your assessment of Alabama, but remember that Huntsville is like a different planet from the rest of Alabama. It's a city full of engineers and rocket scientists, and I would venture to say that a big chunk of the population in Huntsville isn't from Alabama.
I don't understand. I'm reading the responses here and it seems as if everyone is being helpful. How does that contribute to your apparently bad experiences with Southerners?
Because I spent time in the South for 3 weeks with my boyfriend and one of his family members hated me because i was an outsider and that my family were of a different faith and i felt so uncomfortable. Plus various others gave me a hard time thats what made it so bad but the people on this thread are very nice and making it a good experiance now. I really dont want that to happen again, i was their on my own with my boyfriend and it was terrible with the abuse. I dont really want to talk about it
Just off the record what is the difference between the Carolinas and the deep south like GA, AL and MS?
Are these states alot more poorer and have less going on?
South Carolina is Deep South too.
SC is probably comparable to GA, minus the Atlanta-area.
Deep South does not (neccessarily) mean poor(er).
It's a historical area that included the first seven states of the Confederacy.
In modern times, I believe it indicates more conservative attitudes and/or the persistance of old-fashioned customs, however, only of the former former seven states.
Historically, the Deep South was TX, LA, MS, AL, FL, GA and SC.
In modern times, much of Florida and Texas I would not consider "Deep South."
Because I spent time in the South for 3 weeks with my boyfriend and one of his family members hated me because i was an outsider and that my family were of a different faith and i felt so uncomfortable. Plus various others gave me a hard time thats what made it so bad but the people on this thread are very nice and making it a good experiance now. I really dont want that to happen again, i was their on my own with my boyfriend and it was terrible with the abuse. I dont really want to talk about it
Sorry for your bad experiences.
Just wondering, is the South the only region in the US you spent time in? I travel all over the US and you will find people like this all over the US, especially in rural or established places. When we visited my cousins family in rural Wisconsin, we got weird looks and people could tell we weren't from there the moment we opened our mouths. But one can experience this even while in their own native state.
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I second Columbia - also in aviation industry
