Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
My husband and I just recently relocated from VA Beach to the Charlotte NC area, hes currently unhappy with his office here and it does not seem like its going to get better so we are facing the option of relocating again but trying to narrow it down to a few coastal/semi coastal SC towns and possibly a few in GA, before we start visiting them. SO i wanted to gain some opinions on what SC coastal towns people felt were the "best". We are in our 20's and have a growing family, we currently have two children under 4 and my 20 year old brother that lives with us so I'd like a family oriented atmosphere and if we dont end up on the water I'd like to be within an hour of the beach. Can anyone give some insight as I've never visited SC before.
My husband and I just recently relocated from VA Beach to the Charlotte NC area, hes currently unhappy with his office here and it does not seem like its going to get better so we are facing the option of relocating again but trying to narrow it down to a few coastal/semi coastal SC towns and possibly a few in GA, before we start visiting them. SO i wanted to gain some opinions on what SC coastal towns people felt were the "best". We are in our 20's and have a growing family, we currently have two children under 4 and my 20 year old brother that lives with us so I'd like a family oriented atmosphere and if we dont end up on the water I'd like to be within an hour of the beach. Can anyone give some insight as I've never visited SC before.
Thank you very much!
Well, the 3 main cities are Myrtle Beach, Charleston, & Hilton Head/Beaufort in SC. While all 3 have some things in common, they are all different in many ways as well. One thing you will find, is that all 3 are going to have a higher cost of living than you will find in Charlotte which is mainly why we didn't choose them when relocating from Ohio and settled on Columbia as it is 2 hours from the beach. Myrtle Beach & Hilton Head are mainly tourism locations and are significantly smaller than Charleston, however, both have been growing in the past couple of decades. But the 'grand strand' in Myrtle Beach is very commercialized and built up mainly for tourism; Hilton Head, while also a tourist hot spot, I find to be much more desirable as the island seems cleaner, better kept, and not as much touristy type traps, plus being 150 miles or so farther south, the water is a little warmer.
I think Charleston though would be your best bet, you can find reasonable - although still a little higher - housing costs in Summerville area for example, the sacrifice is you are half hour from downtown Charleston & 30-45 minutes from the beaches. There are a lot of younger families in this area, and probably more job opportunities. Charleston metro area at ~ 630k people is about 2.5 times the size of Myrtle Beach's (about 240k) and HHI/Beaufort has about 135k people. Of course they will seem much larger from May - September as there are literally millions of tourists that frequent both places as well as Charleston each year.
The only 'inland' towns to consider really are Florence or Conway outside of Myrtle Beach as well as Summerville which I mentioned earlier. Neither Florence or Conway are very large, but real estate can be significantly lower, so if your husband can find a comparable job, may want to consider those as well. Also, Savannah, GA is about 45 minutes from HHI and right across the SC/GA border, it is a neat city, somewhat comparable to Charleston, would be worth your time to check out.
Also, have your husband find a job before moving! Our unemployment rate is 9.5% right now, so it's not exactly easy to find just anything, especially when a lot of the jobs in those areas are tourist/service type jobs - not sure what he does, but make sure he gets something lined up first.
Thanks, his company has 3 offices in SC and they service a good portion of the state so he could basically live almost anywhere and have a job and they have even more offices in GA so luckily the job part is covered its just a matter of us choosing two locations we evenly like and them seeing which location could use him more. Charleston has definately been on our list to visit, which we are going to try to visit places a few times and check out everything for ourselves.
This may sound silly but ive never been so im going to ask and i know all cities have thier "spots" that they arent proud of but someone here told me Charleston is a very dirty city, I could continue to ask people I know but Id rather get info from people who have actually lived there.
Now being that we came from Hampton Roads area of VA before moving here, Ive seen dirty (Portsmouth, Hampton etc) so Im curious if anyone can give a comparison b/c i would personally think Charleston would be ten times better than those two.
Either way just looking for positive and negative feedback on the cities
This may sound silly but ive never been so im going to ask and i know all cities have thier "spots" that they arent proud of but someone here told me Charleston is a very dirty city, I could continue to ask people I know but Id rather get info from people who have actually lived there.
Now being that we came from Hampton Roads area of VA before moving here, Ive seen dirty (Portsmouth, Hampton etc) so Im curious if anyone can give a comparison b/c i would personally think Charleston would be ten times better than those two.
Either way just looking for positive and negative feedback on the cities
You may want to pose this question on the Charleston forum as you will probably get more responses. Having only visited and having a few family members there, the main consensus I've always taken away is to avoid North Charleston as it is very crime-ridden. But try posting it on that forum for a better response.
N. Charleston is VERY crime ridden! You find your crime infested, run down & indistrial areas primarily in between N. Charleston & Charleston in an area called "The Neck". Other areas to consider avoiding due to crime &/or pollution issues are Hanahan & Goose Creek.
Take a look at Beaufort, its convenient to Charleston, Savannah, and HHI (all are about an hour away). While there is a lot of "very active" retirees, there are tons of young families there as well. I just posted info on another thread about some of the shopping, restaurants, (limited but there is a small selection and growing). The beauty of the area is incredible though. Its worth a look!
Other areas to consider avoiding due to crime &/or pollution issues are Hanahan & Goose Creek.
Wrong....I grew up in Hanahan, my father and sister still live there and neither have had any problems with crime. I live in Crowfield Plantation in Goose Creek and shop at a few places here and have never felt unsafe.
Look at Bluffton! We love it - only 20 minutes from the Hilton Head Island beaches and located on the May River with TONS to do. Tons of young families near a quaint downtown...Bluffton Park is a great neighborhood. We love it.
It depends on what you are after, but Charleston is by far the largest city you mentioned. As a result, you will have access to great restaurants, beaches, and a solid arts scene. It is certainly touristy, but also has a nice base of people already living and working in the area. That is important, because you don't get as much of the "booming in the summer, dead in the winter" vibe that often comes with places like Myrtle Beach.
I cannot speak for Hilton Head, but it is a little more isolated from everything else. Cost of living is going to be higher than other places along the SC coast, but it is certainly nice. It really depends on what you are after.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
