What is the lifestyle and living experience like in South Carolina?

[peevemagpie]

I recently got in contact with a former colleague and has offered me to join her in South Carolina. I have been teaching in one of the middle schools in our state for around 5 years now. I am really considering the offer however the relocation makes me nervous. What it is like to live in South Carolina?

 

[OldEngr63]

Over all, S. Carolina is a pretty nice, rather laid-back sort of place. It is not the intellectual center of the universe, but there are lots of nice people there, and life is pretty easy there. I would advise you to look seriously at the offer and not hesitate to accept it if it looks good.

 

[Greg Bernhardt]

I just left visiting Columbia. Nice town, nice people. Easy winters I bet!

 

[Doug Huffman]

I lived in Charleston, SC from 1971, when my submarine homeported there, until 2005, ten years after the shipyard was declared excess capacity and I was retired. Charleston is the intellectual center of some universe that may not be visible to others for its far remove from their Weltanschauung-worldview, kind'a over their intellectual horizon.

My daughter graduated doctor (earned) from the Medical University of SC School of Pharmacy there. The College of Charleston had a number of professors of math and physics that I enjoyed for many years. In one case, particularly for having great concert hall seats near Papa and his talented family.

I met Emilio Segre when he spoke at The Citadel.

I lived for two years as a bit of a boulevardier for the two years before we moved to make room for still more Yankees, retiring south for its life style and to tell us how to improve it. Boeing built nearby for the right-to-work laws. I was active in the gun rights community successful in legalizing ordinary gun carry in South Carolina.

 

[Dale]

What it is like to live in South Carolina?

I haven't lived in South Carolina, but I have lived in North Carolina, Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Colorado, Utah, Arizona, and Texas. Out of those I like North Carolina best, so South Carolina isn't too far from my favorite place out of a pretty decent sample.

 

[jtbell]

Easy winters I bet!

The climate varies a bit depending on which part of the state. Along the coast (Charleston, Myrtle Beach), snow in winter is very rare. In the "upstate" (Greenville, Spartanburg, Anderson) you can expect a good snowstorm or an ice storm every two years or so. Either last January or the year before, we had a snowstorm that shut down the college where I work for three days, even though the snow amounted to "only" 6 inches or so.

Summers are hot, from May to September. In the "midlands" (Columbia), you can expect a few weeks of 100F+ temperatures. In the upstate, 90F+ is common, and 100F+ is not at all unusual. It doesn't get that high along the coast, but it's still very humid.

Politically and culturally, the climate is very conservative overall. There are a few pockets of liberalism in the largest cities (Charleston, Columbia, Greenville).

 

[Medicol]

...have lived in North Carolina, Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Colorado, Utah, Arizona, and Texas...

That equals the number of companies I have quitted.

 

[Doug Huffman]

LOL Charleston weather; Charleston does experience the occasional hurricane. My little sailboat survived H. Hugo at anchor off a shore littered with the wreckage of 'yachts'. The hurricane destroyed my marina, so in due course Ataxia wound up on its trailer in my front yard. At Christmas time the freak snow storm drifted snow over its gunwales seven feet above the ground.

 

[jtbell]

I forgot about the hurricanes, it's been so long since Hugo (1989). That one went well to the east of us in the upstate, and clobbered Charlotte NC instead.

The following morning, our street was carpeted with leaves and little twigs that had been shaken off the trees. Amazingly, no trees or large tree-limbs were blown down. We didn't even lose our electricity.

We're probably overdue for another one.

 

[George Jones]

We're probably overdue for another one.

So if I flip a fair coin seven times, and get seven "heads", then "tails" is overdue? ;)

 

[Doug Huffman]

LOL I evacuated, as ordered, to Charlotte, NC. At least there we had topography to protect from the straightline winds. The hillside above my hideout was a mare's nest of trees twisted by the embedded twisters.

My handnotes book just happened to be open to Global Catastrophic Risks by Bostrom and Cirkovic (free at narod.ru). The Gambler's Fallacy is the level of their concern, "It hasn't happened yet, so it'll be soon." Look to (Vilfredo) Pareto's Distribution that gave us the 80/20 Rule.

 

[jtbell]

LOL I evacuated, as ordered, to Charlotte, NC.

You should have kept going up I-26 instead of turning onto I-77.

IIRC our college gymnasium was a shelter for evacuees that night.

 

[Doug Huffman]

I-26 to Exit 7, Murray Hill Road

 

[peevemagpie]

Thank you so much for all your input. My friend says of the same thing and I can say it myself when I moved there. I have actually accepted the offer and will be flying to Charleston as soon as I have dealt with my obligations in my present job. I have started to research on the things I should do when I get there and yes, it really seems so interesting, particularly the spots I can go to when I need to do my photography (amateur here so please do not expect so much. LOL). I understand that there are a lot of historical sites. One more thing, I got to be so interested with the http://www.lighthouseinn-ct.com/lighthouses-by-state/south-carolina-lighthouses/morris-island-lighthouse.html . Certainly a good spot for photos as well.

 

[Matilda Salazar]

If you have the time try to visit Family Kingdom amusement park, we went there last year and we all had an amazing time, magical place to be with your kids :)

 

[Doug Huffman]

The encroachment of Myrtle Beach on Charleston is part of why I left.