Anyone here from Charleston, SC?

[birdwatcher]

After much deliberation, my wife and I have decided to leave New England after living in the Boston/Portland, ME areas for the last 18 years.
I accepted a great job offer in Charleston after consulting there for a couple of months, after seeing how much lower the cost of living is and how affordable the housing market is there it was pretty much a no brainer.
The only bummer is I'm a huge Pats/Celts fan, so no more going to games and I guess I'll have to cough up some change for League Pass and all that crap.

Anyhow, I'm moving to John's Island in a week--does anybody have any tips, recommendations, or advice about the city and the area? Perhaps just something nice to say that will extinguish what few reservations I have about moving south?

[bballdog384]

I was in SC a couple months ago, and boy did they have some great peaches. I know its not much, but its something. Good luck with the move!

[lon3lytoaster]

I was there on a little vacation probably 3 weeks ago now. The people all seemed genuinely friendly and helpful, if that eases any fears. I saw someone wearing a C's jersey, so you won't be alone either.

Overall I'd go back again, I might not live there because I'm partial to Bangor, ME but I'd happily go back for another week.

[Roy H.]

My wife used to live in  Johns island and my inlaws live in Ravenel. I will pass your questions along.

[hwangjini_1]

charleston has some absolutely gorgeous areas that are directly from the "old south." it will be like being on the set of "gone with the wind."

aside from that, expect the streets to reproduce the old south's distain for order and urban planning. the same streets will meander and change their names multiple times since long ago each neighborhood would name "its" section of a street as it pleased. 

there are far worse places in the south than charleston. a nice enough city, but the south is quite different culturally from NE. expect also to learn to drive much slower and be faced with people who have no idea how to drive in rotaries....but of course, new englanders are infamous for their death defying rotaries. 

you should like charleston.

[Rondo2287]

After much deliberation, my wife and I have decided to leave New England after living in the Boston/Portland, ME areas for the last 18 years.
I accepted a great job offer in Charleston after consulting there for a couple of months, after seeing how much lower the cost of living is and how affordable the housing market is there it was pretty much a no brainer.
The only bummer is I'm a huge Pats/Celts fan, so no more going to games and I guess I'll have to cough up some change for League Pass and all that crap.

Anyhow, I'm moving to John's Island in a week--does anybody have any tips, recommendations, or advice about the city and the area? Perhaps just something nice to say that will extinguish what few reservations I have about moving south?

Do you have any family that will be staying up here that will let you hijack their tv with a slingbox?  That would be my suggestion for watching the games

[merkins]

After much deliberation, my wife and I have decided to leave New England after living in the Boston/Portland, ME areas for the last 18 years.
I accepted a great job offer in Charleston after consulting there for a couple of months, after seeing how much lower the cost of living is and how affordable the housing market is there it was pretty much a no brainer.
The only bummer is I'm a huge Pats/Celts fan, so no more going to games and I guess I'll have to cough up some change for League Pass and all that crap.

Anyhow, I'm moving to John's Island in a week--does anybody have any tips, recommendations, or advice about the city and the area? Perhaps just something nice to say that will extinguish what few reservations I have about moving south?

As a New Englander who has bounced around the south (mostly Florida) over the last 20 years, welcome.  We need more Celtics fans and interest in basketball in general.  After spending  part of a summer there 2 years ago, Id say it in many ways is not like the stereotypical south you hear about and to me is a great City.  Once you acclimate to the culture you may really enjoy the slower moving pace of life.

[Roy H.]

I can tell you Virginia on King's is a nice place to eat -- the scallops and grits appetizer is awesome -- and they're on restaurant.com, so even better.

I'm sure you've already noticed, but the pace is a lot slower down there.  Oh, and the streets are extremely narrow.  For authentic culture, go to a "low country" oyster bake.  There are some great golf courses down there; if you need some tips on where to play, I can ask my father-in-law, who is a golf pro.

Oh, and you're only a fairly short drive from Savannah.  That's a great little city to walk around, too.

More to come once I talk to the wife.

[hardlyyardley]

Have been there several times...last time in December....love the historic area.....highly recommend for first time visitors.....the horse and buggy tour...gives you a great feel for the area ...great walking city, especially after the tour....not shortage of outstanding restaurants....only had one bad meal....Hymans Seafood....a tourist trap

People I know who have moved there have loved it except for Hurricane Hugo in '89

[birdwatcher]

Great responses, all! Thank you. And Thanks to Roy in advance for picking your wife's brain. My wife is the whole reason we're moving. She went down to see me during my work gig and fell in love with the city, the beaches, the low country in general.I love the city so far, and driving in to Charleston is a lot like driving into Boston--a couple bridges are pretty much the only way in or out. It's really funny to me to hear people complain about the traffic, and if you live more than 10  miles out of the city, people think you are driving too far.

[Roy H.]

So, apparently my wife lived on James Island, rather than Johns.  Still, she says...

My wife says stay away from North Charleston.  It's just not a great neighborhood.  Downtown, on the other hand, is beautiful, and there's a lot of history there.  In terms of culture shock, she says it wasn't a huge deal.  A little slower, but there are a lot of northern transplants, so it's not bad. 

My wife says the battery is cool; it's beautiful, and occasionally you'll be able to see Dolphins swimming by.  King Street is a great place to shop (and as mentioned above, Virginia's on King is great Southern food; the grits and crab cakes in particular are recommended).  She likes California Dreaming as a restaurant, too; it's known for its potato soup, she says.

[arambone]

I went to C of Charleston for two years right out of high school in the late 90's.

One thing that will get really irritating are the confederate flag bumper stickers. "The South will rise again!", "North 1, South 0, Halftime".

The people are more stupid in general, but there should be enough smart people to keep you happy enough. Lots of northern transplants too.

It's quite geographically isolated, but the winters alone should make it worthwhile.

There are some cheap golf courses for year round fun, with lots of Canadian geese in the winter time.

If you go to Folly Beach, keep walking to the left to the end of the beach. It turns into an inlet where dolphins chill, and you can stand on the shore and watch them from like 5 feet away.

If you can get your hands on even one of those little tiny sailboats, it will be well worth it, and lots of dolphins in the harbor.

Great seafood.

You still might miss NE after a while, and you'll gain more respect for the intelligence of the average new englander, but there are some great people down there among the Rush Limbaugh/GW Bush worshippers.

CofC beat #1 ranked North Carolina when I was there, and we had a nice little riot (I just watched the vandalism), but I think the program has fallen off since then. Still should be a decent enough level of basketball to make going to some games worthwhile for sure.

You'll have fun, and will enjoy your visits home as well.

Good move.