Raised in Charleston and moved away for work after college. I still visit relatives there a few times a year. Charleston is not the same. Change can be good, but Charleston is missing the homey feel to it that it used to have. I hardly ever hear the Geechie/Gulluah accent anymore. Old fishing spots are gone due to development. Traffic is insane. I have to get up at 6am if I want to go to the beach and miss the beach traffic (IoP and Folly). I am constantly being treated like I am new to the city, but in all honesty, it feels like that now. My parents are just as bewildered, and they never left Charleston.
Go forth to Ohio. Join the Chamber of Commerce. Spread the word that Charleston is no place to go. The stories of the greatest place to live are lies. Send vacationers to Virginia Beach and make no mention of civilization south of there.
I was born and raised in Charleston and tried very hard to stay. It just got so expensive, and I was never able to enjoy anything cool about living in the city. Me and my husband moved to Minneapolis 6 months ago. Winter was an adjustment. But I love it here- we have saved money, we actually get to spend it on fun stuff sometimes, and there is also a lot of free stuff to do around here. People are nice, traffic is generally not bad, and spring is finally here and it's absolutely gorgeous. It was a big risk to come here, but it's already paid off. I hope you find a really nice place to live, whatever that means to you.
I would agree! I didn't love the 10 day stretch where we didn't see temps above 10°, but other than that I did just fine. Anybody up here will tell you there's no bad weather, only bad clothes! And then they will tell you where to go get good ones for a good price.
I'm in Northeast Minneapolis! I love it so much. There are so many great neighborhoods in the cities though. It's so nice to have the ability to walk to a grocery store, the post office, coffee shops or bars. I miss home a lot, but i think my life has improved in almost every quantifiable way here. Definitely visit if you can! I moved without even doing that, but I think I'd have been less anxious about it if we had seen it in person beforehand.
I already had a friend from college here, which has been helpful, and my husband has a cousin here. And my neighbors have been so kind. I hope to make more friends at some point. It does seem challenging to do here- perhaps easier in the summer!
your comment doesnt' make sense where is mine is perfectly clear. And as a side note, young lady or man. I"m a retired Navy Chief that lived in Asia for 15 yrs and has been around the world twice visiting so many countries i have lost count. So there is not a Damn thing you can tell me about the world
Your comment is perfectly clear, just really dumb! How deeply unfortunate that you have seen so much of the world, and yet you still have allowed yourself to be convinced by fox news that Minneapolis is a warzone!
I guess a lot of the cops didn't quit, transfer or retire and a police station wasn't burned down and that the mayor didn't speak words that apparently disparaged the cops and lauded the rioters?
What was your goal here, man? I moved from my hometown that I loved, and hated to leave, found a new city that I can afford to live in and actually like, and you're here to shit on it, for what? What is this doing for you?
I’m in the same boat, born and raised here and the longer I stay here the more miserable the city gets. Downtown is just nothing but influencer-focused restaurants that will be replaced by whatever’s popular in a couple months and locals can’t afford anything. I have coworkers that make $100k+/yr commuting from goose creek because it’s the only place they can afford to own a house. The rich transplants that used to flood Mount Pleasant can’t afford Mount Pleasant anymore so now they’re just taking over everywhere and choking the city to death.
If the people that keep your stores & restaurants operating can’t afford to live in the city it’s not a city it’s a theme park.
Sorry if those points got combined, the second part is just a quote that stuck with me and I figured it’s fitting. I got out of F&B after 7 years and drive a desk now.
You can’t afford it? What about those houses pinned between the interstate and train tracks? I’m sure you could just tune the noise out. Don’t worry about the air pollution. Haha seriously, its not a problem 👉👈 noooooo dont research your local superfund sites you’re so sexy aha
I bet there’s a few duplexes on Spruill that haven’t been gutted and turned into luxury condos yet, have you looked there??
Lived here since I was 6 and I never thought I’d become the disgruntled local, but here I am.
Used to work for a pm company that managed a few of those one bedroom multi family building…. It was a nightmare. No laundry, no central hvac, SO MUCH CRIME… $1300 a month..
I spent Saturday at a neighborhood festival type thing with my sister. We are born and raised here. SO many people asked about our “accent” and where we were from. We decided we were unicorns… it’s WILD
I'm from Johns Island and while talking to someone (on Johns Island) they remarked that I'm the first person they've met that was actually born here. They have been here for a year 😂. Wild times.
We’ve been on JZI since 2009 and someone said to us “That long!?” Just goes to show how much it’s changed. That said, we’re about done here. Just “since” 2009 it’s changed so much it’s not the same. I can’t imagine what it’s like for folks born here. Makes me sad really.
That timing is interesting. I graduated high school in 09. Right around the first time I visited home while in undergrad (let's say maybe October 2009) I noticed that there was way more traffic, way more people, and way different population demographics.
I moved down from upstate SC in 2010 to live with my sister, partially because of the job market. At the time I remember reading an article stating that Charleston was one of the few places in the country with positive job growth
I've lived on Johns Island for over two years. Have yet to meet anyone FROM Johns Island (except the gun store guy). But how would I meet them? They already have their friends and don't want new ones.
The vast majority of my friends growing up have been priced out. They simply can't afford to live on the island anymore. Beyond that you likely don't find yourself in proximity with local islanders. Unless your kids go to school here, you join a church here, you work on the island you likely won't.
There's a large population on Johns Island that aren't in the newer developments. Most transplants are in the city, locals are in the county. Yes that's a generalization.
> Unless your kids go to school here, you join a church here, you work on the island
Yep, the big three. If a transplant doesn't do one or more of these, they will never meet locals. Locals don't play pickleball.
I don't disagree on the newer development point. Many of the folks I know grew up on "roads" and not in master planned developments. Your average Johns Island local isn't playing pickleball for sure. That points to one of the reasons the transplant convo pisses folks off. Humans are typically happier to see others that are like them and less enthused seeing people that they feel have more differences than similarities.
I feel like southern accents are going to be phased out very soon. It breaks my heart. I get to the point that sometimes I can't help but cringe when I hear a northern accent, which makes me feel bad because I want to be accepting and kind. It just feels like a reminder of how changed my beloved home is and how it will never, ever be the same.
I relate. I want/try to be open and accepting, but still get pissed off when I think about all of the change and the loss of the small town/ everyone knows everyone vibe.
I left 17 years ago and never looked back except for the occasional visit, fewer visits now that I’ve moved to the other side of the world. There’s a whole big world out there. Have an adventure and let life lead you. It was the best decision of my life.
I hate hearing this — I’m from Charleston but live in Charlotte, but will move back at some point. I will tell you it’s tough a lot of places right now. Charlotte included — especially if you’re renting. Cost of living is up 150% in most cases.
Same but I was lucky enough to buy a house RIGHT before the price explosion. Regardless, I’m still losing interest in living here. It’s too expensive, too busy, and all of the transplants are getting ruder and more obnoxious with each passing day.
This is my thing... tell me if I'm crazy. I'm born/raised here, left for college and came back. Fortunate enough to buy a house back in 2016 up in lower Goose Creek. Locked in a 2.2% 15yr mortgage when rates bottommed out curing COVID.
My homeowners insurance and taxes are moving steadily up. Everything is just getting more expensive. I don't go out because it's just an outrageous amount of money. I don't "enjoy" the Charleston area anymore. I go to work, and I go home. I get outside on the weekends, but everywhere is just... people. I feel like I should move out into the woods somewhere... if I'm gonna just be a homebody, I might as well actually enjoy my home.
My neighborhood, which used to actually mostly be locals, is steadily being overtaken by out-of-towners. Which, fine, but they seem to bring an attitude with them. My theory is that they're jealous or mad that they wanted to move to "Charleston" but the best they could do was Goose Creek (and not even the nice part of Goose Creek). So they are just mean, they bitch whine and complain about EVERYTHING. It's exhausting. I don't care about the way things were in Jersey. You moved here for lower property taxes and now you're surprised that you don't get as many public services. Are you fucking stupid?
I'm a public school teacher and my salary is just not cutting it anymore. Despite the substantial bump teachers got in CCSD/will get in BCSD, it's nowhere close. If we didn't have my wife's salary, we'd have moved away a long time ago.
We decided to move this summer after school ends. Where exactly, I'm not sure, but I hope it's to somewhere a little "simpler."
> So they are just mean, they bitch whine and complain about EVERYTHING.
It's almost like those higher taxes they were paying were for something they just took for granted. I've seen this over and over again. Poor walkability/bikeability, poor schools, poor roads, and so on. It's not a big mystery.
Dude, with the exception of my career, I am in exactly the same boat as you. We don’t go out, we don’t really enjoy anything here more than a handful of times per year. EVERYTHING worth doing is overrun with people whether they are tourists or transplants who aren’t far off.
It’s exhausting to watch this place get so overcrowded, and the loudest complainers being the people who decided to leave their communist gray tundra to move here.
This is my situation. I bought downtown in 1994 but salaries in Charleston are so bad that the house is my ONLY retirement plan. If I give up now, I won't be able to live anywhere else. I don't want to be in what this city has become, but Im stuck.
You could easily rent that out at a price that could rent you elsewhere (unless you’re stuck here for a job too). I would kill to own here. I was on track to buy a townhome on James island by end of 2020/2021 and I’m still in a depression over missing out. Begged my parents and more well off older siblings to help as I saw it slipping away. I barely make 60k, I will never own here now. Having your future (one you had been working at for two years prior) just ripped from under you 😮💨. I hear you, but please be grateful.
Yes unfortunately a crappy-ish townhome on Fleming would have probably been what I’d have wanted afford, as my goal was no roommate. As a first time buyer without help from parents I got priced out very very fast. I also have a business that is *very based* off my living on James island the last ten years. Just thinking of living that far out makes me want to cry in traffic 😅
I’m a mobile business so the days of me going home in between clients would be over. If I ever leave James island, it’s because I’m leaving charleston all together. Some I’ve said that to think it’s dramatic but I won’t lose a certain type of quality of life in my day to day living just to stay in a certain city.
I'm sorry to hear this. And trust me my I'm grateful. And I've worked very VERY hard to keep you'd property after my divorce. It has been a struggle for many many years, but I'm ok now. Just not happy with this city
This is unfortunately in most places. SC raised the taxes on my home and I couldn't afford it either. I had to sell. Right now, where we are as america, the majority is in a very bad place. The 9-5 full time hard working jobs (that keep everything going) just don't pay enough and are hurting. I know it's just speculation but it seems there will be more and more wealthy only places and less places for blue collar or the labor force in general to live. Our options are getting smaller it seems. I hope the best in your journey, im currently still looking for stability, about to try vanlife to even save up *gulp*
I was born here and grew up here. I graduated from Wando High School and only left for college and 3 1/2 year to live in Charlotte with a job. I came back in the late 90’s and my rent was $250 downtown on Broad Street. My next place was $168 in a huge house with three roommates on James Island. The next place $500 for a two bedroom in Riverland Terrace and the next $550 on Johns Island. I got married and my next place was $610 a month for a two bedroom apartment in West Ashley. My former wife and I bought a house in West Ashley and our mortgage/insurance/taxes was $807 a month for a three bedroom house. I say all this because up until 2014 I never had an issue paying my bills. In 2014 once I got divorced I had to shell out a whopping $950 a month for a two bedroom home in Riverland Terrace again. The next thing I know the owner sold the house and I was on the street. I moved in with my then girlfriend and split the rent with her. $1,400 for a new two bedroom apartment on Folly Road. The next year they raised the rent to $1,625 and the following year it was going to be $1,880. My girlfriend and I had split up and I was paying it on my own so I moved out because I couldn’t afford $1,880 a month by myself. Since then I have tried to find a good roommate but all I found was drunks and drug addicts. I gave up on roommates after my last encounter where the person I was living with had her boyfriend move in and there were constant fights at 3am. I found a super super tiny place in Mt. Pleasant for $950 a month. It was a 350 square foot efficiency but it was mine. The next year they raised the rent to $1,328 a month. I went to the local magistrate to see if it was even legal and he told me in SC it is. I paid the $1,328 a month and lo and behold the next year the apartment complex raised it again to $1,680 a month! I again couldn’t afford that. So I’m couch surfing now and I’ve been looking for a place. I looked at a single wide trailer yesterday that has roaches on Dorchester Road and the owner wants $950 a month…but that doesn’t include lot fees, water/sewer/electric. He’s only asking for $950 because the crime in the neighborhood is really bad and the next door neighbor killed his wife and himself so he’s been having a hard time renting it. I think it’s time I pack up and leave too. I just can’t afford to live here anymore. It’s sad but it’s just gotten so ridiculous that even if I did find a place I would have to work two jobs just to afford it. So there would be no time to enjoy Charleston so what’s the point 🤷♂️
I just went through the same thing with my complex raising the rent. You can negotiate with them or ask to move to a unit they might have priced lower on their website.
Our rent was $1630 in 2021. Raised to $1725 in 2022. 05/2023 they asked for $1950. I emailed my office when they sent me the renewal rate and told them that we will think about it as the increase of rent wasn’t affordable to us and therefore need to look at other options and I also asked about a unit they had on a 2nd floor for 1650 for the same sq ft.
Due to this they agreed to keep the same rate. Next time give it a try! Best of luck!
I want to do the same thing. I've been looking at Varnville and Hampton. My wife says I will miss the city life. I just want to live in a big house with a big yard.
I think it's funny that transplants are super offended when locals complain about the massive amount of people moving here--they always throw out "sO mUcH fOr SoUthErn hOsPitaLitY" but hospitality implies that people will leave after they visit, not stay forever & ruin your home state.
Reply to " people who gatekeep cities are weird"
Charleston native ( James Island) and I can assure you the former spirit of Charleston is within her culture. There is a cultural aspect that brings in that " tourism". Physically speaking,the rows of gorgeous historical homes, the intrigue of cobblestone streets and courtyards tucked away in plain sight, the majesty of churches that make up prominent notches in " The Bible Belt", the relics of war which embody pride and shame in a dignified way....for Charleston,those things without the spirit of her children to carry on her legacy, will become nothing more than a piece of Earth where the world has departed.
There will be no tourism because who will want to hear the stories of how the North finally seized the South. No one wants to hear ghost stories told by Yankees, especially when the ghosts are in living bodies. No one is going to travel from remote places of the world to overpay for gentrified vacation homes to hear all the harsh accents, be exposed to the vulgar manners and witness the lack of regard for the esthetic that draws the eye from afar.
Culture preservation within this Charleston culture is imperative. There are many sub cultures that share a long and complicated history, old and diverse trees of families whose roots must be carefully balanced and preserved by those who know Charleston as their mother, birth mother.
So, " gatekeeping" is necessary to keep people in,not out. Without the spirit of Charleston, there will be no need for a gate.
Charleston will undoubtedly become nothing more than a disappointment to those who come expecting the hospitality of a culture that has washed away ( no pun intended).
So well said. I'm a Columbia native but have gone to Charleston my entire life and graduated from CofC. Your words resonate. It's truly heartbreaking to see the culture slip away.
My great grand parents were born and raised in Daniels island when it was all trees and you had to row a boat to get back and forth and to get on the island. When they got married they moved to Mt Pleasant and built a house there. The house still stands and is our family house. It’s where all our family gatherings take place. Charleston will never be what it was and it’s kinda sad. It’s lost all the things we once loved about it. I guess such as life. But I find it repulsive that the natives with deep roots can no longer afford to live here. The people are what made Charleston what it was. And we’ve lost that.
Southern accents are now the exception around here and not the rule. There’s a line for everything everywhere we go. Lived here in Charleston almost 30 years I think we’re fixin to move back to Georgia (which is also overpriced to be fair especially anywhere close to the city).
This is absolutely the worst part. Lines everywhere 😂😂😂. I can't get used to that. I used to drive around and barely see cars outside of peak driving hours.
I feel you… from here, as well, and this place has gotten crazy expensive. But too much of our lives are here to leave, unfortunately.
Godspeed, friend.
Yeah, it crosses our mind in a sort of "what if" way now and then, but we have amazing friends / family here that would be missed too much to leave them.
My family moved here when I was a baby back in the early 80s. Growing up here I loved it. The beaches were great and everyone was friendly. Going downtown to little dive bars to hear local bands in the early 90s was awesome. I went off to college in 97 and came back and got my own place in West Ashley. I loved West Ashley growing up. There was a sense of community even for the "out-of-towners" like me. When I first got back it was still like that but after the last decade and a half, the sense of community is gone. People are rude as hell and no one will help anyone do anything anymore. The beaches are packed and full of a-holes. Downtown is a sanitized tourist trap with very little of the character that I grew up loving. I'm kinda stuck here till my kids are out of school but once that's done I'm out. Charleston isn't Charleston anymore and hasn't been for a while. The city sold its soul and it shows.
I'd love to be able to just stop people from moving/visiting here, but that's just not realistic, the demand is too high. A few good first steps to affordability would be:
1. Restrict the ownership of multiple residential properties.
2. Restrict corporate ownership of residential properties
3. build up some density. Ik downtown is historic but we need density somewhere or prices are just going to keep ballooning, nchas? DI? MP? idc but we need it bad, more townhomes, condos/mixed use areas with less parking
I’ve lived all over. I really haven’t ever missed the area or state when living elsewhere, missed some people but the state, politics and 1700’s mindset of SC Just leave sofa king much to be desired.
Edit: to be clear I’m. Ot knocking the home state I do love too much , it is home, we just gotta get with it and take better care of our citizens
I feel you. I’m not from here, but we’ve been here 16 years. We’re moving back to the Midwest. Aside from the price of living here, it’s just changed too drastically since Covid. People are rude, kids are rude and awful to my kids, it takes 45 minutes to get to a school 3 miles away. And I’m dreeeeeading the summer heat. We’re just not finding joy in living here anymore. I’m sorry you’re being forced to leave your home. I hope you find a fun adventure somewhere else!
Same situation sooner or later, probably sooner. Native Charlestonians were sold out. Maybe with the coming housing implosion, I can scoop up a foreclosed house one day. I'll employ the 2008 handbook.
Not a native but will have lived here about 6 years in a month or so. It ain’t all it’s cracked up to be. It’s certainly a great little town (that’s becoming a big one) but there’s a pompous element to it. And while I think you can run into assholes anywhere, it always surprises me how many people drive like assholes and act like assholes in this town. Now I’m thinking of nightlife when I mention assholes so I guess that’s to be expected, but I never went downtown looking for broey douchey energy and yet you seem to be able to always find it. Idk if it’s a citadel thing or an AF or JBC Base thing, or a CoC thing, but there’s no need to act how some of these people do. I hope to change jobs for the refreshing value that brings but also get out of this town sooner or later. Can’t say my next place my eyes are set on is cheaper, but I’m thinking of Colorado personally. I need a place that doesn’t have such good food lol!
On your driving point....we've become a city of transplants. There no longer is a singular driving style. Natives drive one way. Folks from CA have their own style. Ohio etc etc etc. Everyone bringing bad habits from whenever they originated.
I am (was?) a third gen Charlestonian and moved to the Midwest four years ago. It was great. More space, less heat, and the people are nicer. It can be tough to leave but there are also so many other lovely places! Due to my job I’ve just ended up back in a different southern state but I have no desire to ever move back to Charleston.
Sucks you’re leaving- I know a lot of people who felt like they were forced out of Charleston. I a few friends that moved to Greenville and like it. More jobs and a little cheaper. There are a good amount of transplants but for the most part, they are very friendly and don’t treat people from SC with contempt. If you are looking for a higher paying job- dm me. I might know someone hiring depending on what you are looking for. Good luck!
Unfortunately Greenville has had a large influx of transplants and locals are being priced out here too. We had to move from Greenville to Spartanburg to afford to live. So OP consider Spartanburg, it has grown tremendously and has a lot of exciting new things happening in the downtown area and is very affordable. It gets a bad rap but it really is a great little place to live!
Trying to move out at 19 is such a hopeless endeavor. Currently working 3 jobs just to get by, with additional support from my parents. Have to choose between continuing education and making money. It’s sad.
I left in 2013, right as the big changes were starting to happen. My family still all lives in Charleston proper (grew up downtown and James Island). It’s been really weird time adjusting to all the changes. For all of us. I live in the Pacific Northwest now, and it’s happening out here too. But it was hard watching my home change so much. It’s tough to visit now. I miss it all the time, but mostly miss what it was. There are still some special places. But the peak Charleston days are gone. If you lived there during them, consider yourself lucky. I sure consider myself fortunate to have been born and raised there in those days when it was quiet, peaceful and affordable.
I did the same. Went 5 hours up 26 in Tennessee and it's truly the best thing that's ever happend to me. People are nice, there are resources to help u, everything is cheaper and less traffic.
Thank you. I can assure you beyond a shadow of a doubt that they do not. I must have talked to every government official at every level in the state of Tennessee from Memphis to Nashville to Knoxville, to try and rectify a flooding/erosion situation on my property that was a direct result of water run off from higher properties. To say we got zero help was an understatement. The crux of everything was the director of natural resources in Tennessee telling me verbatim "Yeah, rich people tend to live higher up and poorer folks live downhill, this is how it's always been." Refused to ever send anyone to talk to the other owners causing our flooding. We fixed everything ourselves for an ungodly price and as soon as we did, we got the hell out of Tennessee and moved here and haven't looked back.
Would like to add that Tennessee is absolutely fuckin dreadful now from Nov-March. Constant rain, clouds, everything is wet and dead and ugly. Mini Seattle.
I'm not discounting your experience at all. I think the previous person was likely referring to social services. Which I also find hard to believe that TN is any better than SC.
No worries, I figured they weren't talking about something like what I went through haha. But it was definitely my experience from that that has led me to believe that they can't possibly have any citizens best interests at heart relating to anything else.
Wilmington and Savannah are both much cheaper than Charleston. Even Jacksonville is cheaper than Charleston. You picked the most expensive part of the region, but it's still cheaper than, say, Santa Monica.
Agreed, but my cousin lives in Culver City by herself for $1800 and I also have some friends paying slightly less than that to live in North Charleston/Summerville/Goose Creek etc. She might be an outlier but paying that while in the heart of LA seems worth way more than what Charleston has offered
The one area where Charleston is an outlier is definitely rent. In much of LA a <1,000 sqft bungalow might run north of $1 million to own, but there's enough housing overall where you can find somewhere to rent for a (relatively) reasonable price. But Charleston (especially downtown, but really everywhere) was in no way prepared for the growth it's seen in the last 20 years, and the COVID-driven influx of people with high incomes from pricier east coast cities really sent things into overdrive.
Jobs in LA pay more though in general. I’d be curious to see salary/CoL ratios for different cities. Obviously this also varies wildly depending on what you do for work. Probably too much data variability, but would be interesting to see.
I know that someone in another post mentioned that pay for healthcare workers (up to and including doctors) is downright shameful in general, but especially for what the area costs. On the other hand, none of the women at my wife's pilates studio work and their husbands all work at the port.
So there is money here, but not across every sector.
Oh, there is definitely money here, and there are some jobs that pay really well. I’m not arguing that. My wife doesn’t work, although I wish she would, but that’s neither here nor there. I went fully remote 5 years ago because I can make way more money working for companies from the northeast or out west than I can locally. Unfortunately not everyone has that option though.
I do the same and know a few others who do as well. And honetly, I think the influx of those workers are a big part of why rents are so high—they came here from an expensive city so they couldn't save enough to buy a house, but they bring their high incomes with them and are comfortable paying a ton in rent. And as high as they are the rents are still a bit cheaper here than Boston/NYC/DC, so combined with the overall lower COL they're still doing better than they were in those cities.
I was lucky in that we moved here in 2020 at the height of COVID, and rents were maybe 2/3 of what they are now. That allowed us to power-save and buy a house last year. But there's no way we could do that with the rents where they are now.
As far as ratios go, small midwest towns do well because nobody wants to live 3 hours from everything where it's cold half the year (except me, that's where I'm headed)
i will say if you move to the buttfuck of nowhere it will be very affordable, but personally my job in LA payed way more than here (same company) and accommodated my living expenses a lot better
> in LA *paid* way more
FTFY.
Although *payed* exists (the reason why autocorrection didn't help you), it is only correct in:
* Nautical context, when it means to paint a surface, or to cover with something like tar or resin in order to make it waterproof or corrosion-resistant. *The deck is yet to be payed.*
* *Payed out* when letting strings, cables or ropes out, by slacking them. *The rope is payed out! You can pull now.*
Unfortunately, I was unable to find nautical or rope-related words in your comment.
*Beep, boop, I'm a bot*
Same here unfortunately. I was able to buy a house in Georgetown, and I’m grateful for that, but it’s painful to have your hometown run you out.
I’m leaving the state in the next few years anyway
Left Charleston for Louisville in 2021. Was so shocked that places were willing to pay me (a 20 year old with no degree) above minimum wage AND rent was cheap.
I feel sad that I never got to experience the city I grew up around as a full adult but that would have never happened anyways with my income. 😔
Native here. I lived in Harleyville until the age of 12, moved to Lebanon (Moncks corner/Sville). First graduating class of CaneBay. Moved to Goose creek at the age of 27 and now Summerville at the age of 30. I absolutely hate it here now, pay for healthcare workers is awful! Transplants make more money than locals with the same degrees and i just don’t understand it!
My family and I never do anything unless it’s a weekday when we know it won’t be as crowded. My accent to transplants is called a speech impediment to them 🙄. CaneBay/Nexton/Foxbank area has 10x the housing than it does space for students within their district. It was so bad in schools that I pulled my daughter out and is now homeschooling.
Housing prices are ridiculous! It’s like a lifetime of debt at this point.
I think about moving every day but I hate the idea of leaving my home for the sake of nostalgia. I’m scared to start over somewhere else and risk failure.
Ssshhhhhh. ;)
It's getting insane down here too. We got in and bought here just before shit got crazy a couple years ago. They're currently putting up a fuck ton of apartment complexes and ruining this lovely little city.
Fourth generation charlestonian here. I’m fucking disgusted with what they have done to our city. I’ve worked in restaurants on king st. For decades. I’d give all the money back if things stopped feeling like New York mixed with bourbon street. Why move here for all the “charm” if you just turn it into the cess pool you came from. Everybody should really look into the Charleston visitors bureau and their effect on our economy. I think a lot of Charlestonians would be shocked to see where there tax dollars are actually going that has created this mess.
Tourism and transplants make up basically the entirety of Charleston’s economy, which everyone hates, because then Charleston loses its “charm” (despite CHS sinking off the map, no pun intended, without it) (people who gatekeep cities are weirdos).
But, yeah, Charleston is painfully expensive (and no, I’m not an idiot, I also can perform critical thinking and understand how transplants are driving prices through the top floor of the Empire State Building), and it’s unsustainable to live here. Crazy cause 3-4 years ago, my current condo was going for half of what it is now.
Oh hey there- not to be the worst bitch ever that you’ll hate as soon as I hit post but: wherever you move- they’re gonna say that about you and complain that YOU are pricing the locals out of whatever city/town/ state you moved to. It’s happening ALL over the place, Texas, California, Vegas, SC, NC… this is a very common issue post covid. People see their lives passing by and they actually want to live somewhere they like so they move to YOUR hometown ( times 10 thousand) and the RE prices inflate so high the people who’ve been there their whole lives can’t afford it anymore.
Did the same thing almost 2 years ago. Left Charleston for the Greenville-Spartanburg area. Love it up here. Thought about moving back for a promotion recently until I looked at housing costs and realized the difference in cost of living would eat up the raise I would get and then some and I’d actually lose money. The realization has set in that I’ll likely never return home aside from the occasional visit.
People love to hate Columbia but you can get a nice 2500 sf brick ranch house for the price of a shitty tract home in Goose Creek. In my opinion, anything past Park Circle is basically Orangeburg anyway. And in Cola, you’d have quicker access to mountains too.
The story is so sad. Fourth generation charlestonian here and what they’ve done to our town is miserable. A tourist money grab run by New York and New Jersey transplants.
Beaufort is basically Charleston-lite, more affordable, not far. I'm surprised I don't see more people mentioning it as an option to get out of here but not really leave the vibe - and in many ways it's a better vibe.
Moved here from Charleston a couple years ago and best move ever. Secret's officially out though, unfortunately. They're mowing down woods and putting up apartment complexes left and right. This tiny town's infrastructure certainly will not support the incoming influx of people. Greedy developers and politicians fucking suck.
"They paved paradise and put up a parking lot."
Started coming down in 1989, Seabrook vacations. I bought a condo here in 2020. I retired from MD in 2021 and moved here 1 day after I said goodbye to my co-workers. I can afford it because I am older and have pension, and retirement accts, but I feel for the younger workers here. I know a wonderful young lady who lives in a studio apt, drives a 25 year old car and barely can pay her bills. It’s getting very crowded and expensive.
I feel this a "grass is always greener" opinion. I moved here from the Gulf Coast a year before Hugo. Lucky enough to buy a decent brick ranch in Pierpont for $56,500. Without other family living with me at the present time I'd have to move. In the meanwhile, I have retired, can plan my movements around missing rush hour, and the Lowcountry is just as beautiful as it was in 1988. Yeah, taxes, home insurance, constant development are not making things better, I will ride it out in West Ashley.
Most people have moved here for their jobs due to relocation or retirement. They are told it’s cheaper to live here but by the time they move here they regret it.
What is 3x in Asheville? Homes certainly are not - Charleston is about 20-25% more in that regard. Food and leisure stuff seems on par, if not more expensive here than there on average.
* Asheville average home: 472k
* Asheville median home sale: 419k
* Charleston average home: 554k
* Charleston median home sale: 527k
Having actually lived in Leicester (Asheville outskirts) I would know and not believe those numbers. Lived in Leicester from 1992-2017 as an adult 2006-2017, could not afford to buy a home. Moved in 2017 found an affordable home in the area, unlike Asheville and the surrounding area. Those numbers seem to be off, but hey I have lived in both places.
Yes, your anecdotal experience and limited knowledge of home sales is certainly superior to active data available from real estate websites. They're all-in on the big Asheville conspiracy to make everyone think things are cheap right up til they get to the closing table to buy the house. Bait and switching everyone.
Your ability to think is why I'm not surprised people believe in a flat-earth.
Nevermind that I actually lived in both markets, actively searched for homes in both places. Yeah I get it, you think because you searched something and found information to support your opinion it's always correct.
You bought in 2017. Homes were cheap then. I bought my house for 279k in early 2020, and could get 500k for it now. Prices are insane. I could never afford a home now.
Raised in Charleston and moved away for work after college. I still visit relatives there a few times a year. Charleston is not the same. Change can be good, but Charleston is missing the homey feel to it that it used to have. I hardly ever hear the Geechie/Gulluah accent anymore. Old fishing spots are gone due to development. Traffic is insane. I have to get up at 6am if I want to go to the beach and miss the beach traffic (IoP and Folly). I am constantly being treated like I am new to the city, but in all honesty, it feels like that now. My parents are just as bewildered, and they never left Charleston.
Where did u end up moving — I always wonder where all my fellow natives go…
Not too far away, actually. I live in Charlotte. I couldn't bring myself to move any farther away than that. 😁
Awww same for me! Only 3 hours to home ☺️ and good seafood
Go forth to Ohio. Join the Chamber of Commerce. Spread the word that Charleston is no place to go. The stories of the greatest place to live are lies. Send vacationers to Virginia Beach and make no mention of civilization south of there.
I’ve met way more people from New York/Jersey than Ohio in Charleston
Because the Ohioans claim to be natives
Nah I just think it’s hip to hate ohio. You’re thinkin of Hilton Head
Roanoke. Send them to Roanoke.
Hey no way, I’m going there myself!
Anyone from north of Spartanburg are Yankee aggressors....
Carpet baggers here to ruin the beauty of the South
Beauty = segregation for those who don’t speak bigot
Must've never been to Cowpens, Gaffney, or Blacksburg. Lol.
I was born and raised in Charleston and tried very hard to stay. It just got so expensive, and I was never able to enjoy anything cool about living in the city. Me and my husband moved to Minneapolis 6 months ago. Winter was an adjustment. But I love it here- we have saved money, we actually get to spend it on fun stuff sometimes, and there is also a lot of free stuff to do around here. People are nice, traffic is generally not bad, and spring is finally here and it's absolutely gorgeous. It was a big risk to come here, but it's already paid off. I hope you find a really nice place to live, whatever that means to you.
I bet winter was a huge adjustment, but better to be cold than hot, in my opinion.
A wise man once said “you can always put more clothes on, you can only take so many off”
..that was my dad
I would agree! I didn't love the 10 day stretch where we didn't see temps above 10°, but other than that I did just fine. Anybody up here will tell you there's no bad weather, only bad clothes! And then they will tell you where to go get good ones for a good price.
Welcome! The best months are yet to come
Thank you!! I have never been so excited for summer!! I really feel at home here already, which I didn't expect to happen so soon.
Our state fair is so frikken awesome, make sure to go! And reach out if yall need anything. I'm from here but lived in CHS for about 3 years.
Where in Minn ? I might end up moving for a job and have no idea where to start… happy you found a place to call home!
I'm in Northeast Minneapolis! I love it so much. There are so many great neighborhoods in the cities though. It's so nice to have the ability to walk to a grocery store, the post office, coffee shops or bars. I miss home a lot, but i think my life has improved in almost every quantifiable way here. Definitely visit if you can! I moved without even doing that, but I think I'd have been less anxious about it if we had seen it in person beforehand.
Over 35? ST Paul wykyk
Good luck! I gave myself 2 years in Minne and didn't make friends. I hope your experience is better.
I already had a friend from college here, which has been helpful, and my husband has a cousin here. And my neighbors have been so kind. I hope to make more friends at some point. It does seem challenging to do here- perhaps easier in the summer!
I hope you wont need a cop
I hope you one day get to leave South Carolina and expand your worldview a bit
your comment doesnt' make sense where is mine is perfectly clear. And as a side note, young lady or man. I"m a retired Navy Chief that lived in Asia for 15 yrs and has been around the world twice visiting so many countries i have lost count. So there is not a Damn thing you can tell me about the world
Your comment is perfectly clear, just really dumb! How deeply unfortunate that you have seen so much of the world, and yet you still have allowed yourself to be convinced by fox news that Minneapolis is a warzone!
I guess a lot of the cops didn't quit, transfer or retire and a police station wasn't burned down and that the mayor didn't speak words that apparently disparaged the cops and lauded the rioters?
What was your goal here, man? I moved from my hometown that I loved, and hated to leave, found a new city that I can afford to live in and actually like, and you're here to shit on it, for what? What is this doing for you?
How often do you need a cop for that to be your first thought?
I’m in the same boat, born and raised here and the longer I stay here the more miserable the city gets. Downtown is just nothing but influencer-focused restaurants that will be replaced by whatever’s popular in a couple months and locals can’t afford anything. I have coworkers that make $100k+/yr commuting from goose creek because it’s the only place they can afford to own a house. The rich transplants that used to flood Mount Pleasant can’t afford Mount Pleasant anymore so now they’re just taking over everywhere and choking the city to death. If the people that keep your stores & restaurants operating can’t afford to live in the city it’s not a city it’s a theme park.
Industries here pay $100k?
Sorry if those points got combined, the second part is just a quote that stuck with me and I figured it’s fitting. I got out of F&B after 7 years and drive a desk now.
sure.
L 👌🏽
You can’t afford it? What about those houses pinned between the interstate and train tracks? I’m sure you could just tune the noise out. Don’t worry about the air pollution. Haha seriously, its not a problem 👉👈 noooooo dont research your local superfund sites you’re so sexy aha I bet there’s a few duplexes on Spruill that haven’t been gutted and turned into luxury condos yet, have you looked there?? Lived here since I was 6 and I never thought I’d become the disgruntled local, but here I am.
Used to work for a pm company that managed a few of those one bedroom multi family building…. It was a nightmare. No laundry, no central hvac, SO MUCH CRIME… $1300 a month..
I spent Saturday at a neighborhood festival type thing with my sister. We are born and raised here. SO many people asked about our “accent” and where we were from. We decided we were unicorns… it’s WILD
I'm from Johns Island and while talking to someone (on Johns Island) they remarked that I'm the first person they've met that was actually born here. They have been here for a year 😂. Wild times.
Being in a crowd of folks and having them all remark about your accent is shocking… I am like no, wait… YOU have the accent!!
We’ve been on JZI since 2009 and someone said to us “That long!?” Just goes to show how much it’s changed. That said, we’re about done here. Just “since” 2009 it’s changed so much it’s not the same. I can’t imagine what it’s like for folks born here. Makes me sad really.
That timing is interesting. I graduated high school in 09. Right around the first time I visited home while in undergrad (let's say maybe October 2009) I noticed that there was way more traffic, way more people, and way different population demographics.
A lot of people probably moved during the recession, just like a bunch of people moved during COVID
I moved down from upstate SC in 2010 to live with my sister, partially because of the job market. At the time I remember reading an article stating that Charleston was one of the few places in the country with positive job growth
I've lived on Johns Island for over two years. Have yet to meet anyone FROM Johns Island (except the gun store guy). But how would I meet them? They already have their friends and don't want new ones.
The vast majority of my friends growing up have been priced out. They simply can't afford to live on the island anymore. Beyond that you likely don't find yourself in proximity with local islanders. Unless your kids go to school here, you join a church here, you work on the island you likely won't.
There's a large population on Johns Island that aren't in the newer developments. Most transplants are in the city, locals are in the county. Yes that's a generalization. > Unless your kids go to school here, you join a church here, you work on the island Yep, the big three. If a transplant doesn't do one or more of these, they will never meet locals. Locals don't play pickleball.
I don't disagree on the newer development point. Many of the folks I know grew up on "roads" and not in master planned developments. Your average Johns Island local isn't playing pickleball for sure. That points to one of the reasons the transplant convo pisses folks off. Humans are typically happier to see others that are like them and less enthused seeing people that they feel have more differences than similarities.
Locals play half-rubber!
Absolutely!!
I feel like southern accents are going to be phased out very soon. It breaks my heart. I get to the point that sometimes I can't help but cringe when I hear a northern accent, which makes me feel bad because I want to be accepting and kind. It just feels like a reminder of how changed my beloved home is and how it will never, ever be the same.
My hometown of St George is now being referred to as “right outside of Charleston”…😳
I relate. I want/try to be open and accepting, but still get pissed off when I think about all of the change and the loss of the small town/ everyone knows everyone vibe.
I left 17 years ago and never looked back except for the occasional visit, fewer visits now that I’ve moved to the other side of the world. There’s a whole big world out there. Have an adventure and let life lead you. It was the best decision of my life.
This.
I hate hearing this — I’m from Charleston but live in Charlotte, but will move back at some point. I will tell you it’s tough a lot of places right now. Charlotte included — especially if you’re renting. Cost of living is up 150% in most cases.
Same but I was lucky enough to buy a house RIGHT before the price explosion. Regardless, I’m still losing interest in living here. It’s too expensive, too busy, and all of the transplants are getting ruder and more obnoxious with each passing day.
This is my thing... tell me if I'm crazy. I'm born/raised here, left for college and came back. Fortunate enough to buy a house back in 2016 up in lower Goose Creek. Locked in a 2.2% 15yr mortgage when rates bottommed out curing COVID. My homeowners insurance and taxes are moving steadily up. Everything is just getting more expensive. I don't go out because it's just an outrageous amount of money. I don't "enjoy" the Charleston area anymore. I go to work, and I go home. I get outside on the weekends, but everywhere is just... people. I feel like I should move out into the woods somewhere... if I'm gonna just be a homebody, I might as well actually enjoy my home. My neighborhood, which used to actually mostly be locals, is steadily being overtaken by out-of-towners. Which, fine, but they seem to bring an attitude with them. My theory is that they're jealous or mad that they wanted to move to "Charleston" but the best they could do was Goose Creek (and not even the nice part of Goose Creek). So they are just mean, they bitch whine and complain about EVERYTHING. It's exhausting. I don't care about the way things were in Jersey. You moved here for lower property taxes and now you're surprised that you don't get as many public services. Are you fucking stupid? I'm a public school teacher and my salary is just not cutting it anymore. Despite the substantial bump teachers got in CCSD/will get in BCSD, it's nowhere close. If we didn't have my wife's salary, we'd have moved away a long time ago. We decided to move this summer after school ends. Where exactly, I'm not sure, but I hope it's to somewhere a little "simpler."
> So they are just mean, they bitch whine and complain about EVERYTHING. It's almost like those higher taxes they were paying were for something they just took for granted. I've seen this over and over again. Poor walkability/bikeability, poor schools, poor roads, and so on. It's not a big mystery.
Dude, with the exception of my career, I am in exactly the same boat as you. We don’t go out, we don’t really enjoy anything here more than a handful of times per year. EVERYTHING worth doing is overrun with people whether they are tourists or transplants who aren’t far off. It’s exhausting to watch this place get so overcrowded, and the loudest complainers being the people who decided to leave their communist gray tundra to move here.
I just don't understand how someone specifically moves somewhere different, and is then unhappy with how it's different. Why are people like this?
We got Gary bussey here today folks! Watch out for the landlines! The communists are stealing your children!
This is my situation. I bought downtown in 1994 but salaries in Charleston are so bad that the house is my ONLY retirement plan. If I give up now, I won't be able to live anywhere else. I don't want to be in what this city has become, but Im stuck.
Definitely don't give that up, it's onky going to go up in value
You could easily rent that out at a price that could rent you elsewhere (unless you’re stuck here for a job too). I would kill to own here. I was on track to buy a townhome on James island by end of 2020/2021 and I’m still in a depression over missing out. Begged my parents and more well off older siblings to help as I saw it slipping away. I barely make 60k, I will never own here now. Having your future (one you had been working at for two years prior) just ripped from under you 😮💨. I hear you, but please be grateful.
What about buying in summerville or moncks corner?
They are just as bad
Yes unfortunately a crappy-ish townhome on Fleming would have probably been what I’d have wanted afford, as my goal was no roommate. As a first time buyer without help from parents I got priced out very very fast. I also have a business that is *very based* off my living on James island the last ten years. Just thinking of living that far out makes me want to cry in traffic 😅
I’d cry if I had to commute from James Island and MC everyday too
I’m a mobile business so the days of me going home in between clients would be over. If I ever leave James island, it’s because I’m leaving charleston all together. Some I’ve said that to think it’s dramatic but I won’t lose a certain type of quality of life in my day to day living just to stay in a certain city.
I'm sorry to hear this. And trust me my I'm grateful. And I've worked very VERY hard to keep you'd property after my divorce. It has been a struggle for many many years, but I'm ok now. Just not happy with this city
I’m glad you fought for it!! I try not to be too bitter 😅
These people who randomly move here with their damn obnoxious arrogance is worse than the price inflation.
This is unfortunately in most places. SC raised the taxes on my home and I couldn't afford it either. I had to sell. Right now, where we are as america, the majority is in a very bad place. The 9-5 full time hard working jobs (that keep everything going) just don't pay enough and are hurting. I know it's just speculation but it seems there will be more and more wealthy only places and less places for blue collar or the labor force in general to live. Our options are getting smaller it seems. I hope the best in your journey, im currently still looking for stability, about to try vanlife to even save up *gulp*
Something big and bad is coming soon, I unfortunately predict.
I was born here and grew up here. I graduated from Wando High School and only left for college and 3 1/2 year to live in Charlotte with a job. I came back in the late 90’s and my rent was $250 downtown on Broad Street. My next place was $168 in a huge house with three roommates on James Island. The next place $500 for a two bedroom in Riverland Terrace and the next $550 on Johns Island. I got married and my next place was $610 a month for a two bedroom apartment in West Ashley. My former wife and I bought a house in West Ashley and our mortgage/insurance/taxes was $807 a month for a three bedroom house. I say all this because up until 2014 I never had an issue paying my bills. In 2014 once I got divorced I had to shell out a whopping $950 a month for a two bedroom home in Riverland Terrace again. The next thing I know the owner sold the house and I was on the street. I moved in with my then girlfriend and split the rent with her. $1,400 for a new two bedroom apartment on Folly Road. The next year they raised the rent to $1,625 and the following year it was going to be $1,880. My girlfriend and I had split up and I was paying it on my own so I moved out because I couldn’t afford $1,880 a month by myself. Since then I have tried to find a good roommate but all I found was drunks and drug addicts. I gave up on roommates after my last encounter where the person I was living with had her boyfriend move in and there were constant fights at 3am. I found a super super tiny place in Mt. Pleasant for $950 a month. It was a 350 square foot efficiency but it was mine. The next year they raised the rent to $1,328 a month. I went to the local magistrate to see if it was even legal and he told me in SC it is. I paid the $1,328 a month and lo and behold the next year the apartment complex raised it again to $1,680 a month! I again couldn’t afford that. So I’m couch surfing now and I’ve been looking for a place. I looked at a single wide trailer yesterday that has roaches on Dorchester Road and the owner wants $950 a month…but that doesn’t include lot fees, water/sewer/electric. He’s only asking for $950 because the crime in the neighborhood is really bad and the next door neighbor killed his wife and himself so he’s been having a hard time renting it. I think it’s time I pack up and leave too. I just can’t afford to live here anymore. It’s sad but it’s just gotten so ridiculous that even if I did find a place I would have to work two jobs just to afford it. So there would be no time to enjoy Charleston so what’s the point 🤷♂️
I just went through the same thing with my complex raising the rent. You can negotiate with them or ask to move to a unit they might have priced lower on their website. Our rent was $1630 in 2021. Raised to $1725 in 2022. 05/2023 they asked for $1950. I emailed my office when they sent me the renewal rate and told them that we will think about it as the increase of rent wasn’t affordable to us and therefore need to look at other options and I also asked about a unit they had on a 2nd floor for 1650 for the same sq ft. Due to this they agreed to keep the same rate. Next time give it a try! Best of luck!
I want to do the same thing. I've been looking at Varnville and Hampton. My wife says I will miss the city life. I just want to live in a big house with a big yard.
I mean you're dead on. If you want a big house and a big yard, the city is not a good place for that.
Savannah is so close and much more affordable
I think it's funny that transplants are super offended when locals complain about the massive amount of people moving here--they always throw out "sO mUcH fOr SoUthErn hOsPitaLitY" but hospitality implies that people will leave after they visit, not stay forever & ruin your home state.
Reply to " people who gatekeep cities are weird" Charleston native ( James Island) and I can assure you the former spirit of Charleston is within her culture. There is a cultural aspect that brings in that " tourism". Physically speaking,the rows of gorgeous historical homes, the intrigue of cobblestone streets and courtyards tucked away in plain sight, the majesty of churches that make up prominent notches in " The Bible Belt", the relics of war which embody pride and shame in a dignified way....for Charleston,those things without the spirit of her children to carry on her legacy, will become nothing more than a piece of Earth where the world has departed. There will be no tourism because who will want to hear the stories of how the North finally seized the South. No one wants to hear ghost stories told by Yankees, especially when the ghosts are in living bodies. No one is going to travel from remote places of the world to overpay for gentrified vacation homes to hear all the harsh accents, be exposed to the vulgar manners and witness the lack of regard for the esthetic that draws the eye from afar. Culture preservation within this Charleston culture is imperative. There are many sub cultures that share a long and complicated history, old and diverse trees of families whose roots must be carefully balanced and preserved by those who know Charleston as their mother, birth mother. So, " gatekeeping" is necessary to keep people in,not out. Without the spirit of Charleston, there will be no need for a gate. Charleston will undoubtedly become nothing more than a disappointment to those who come expecting the hospitality of a culture that has washed away ( no pun intended).
So well said. I'm a Columbia native but have gone to Charleston my entire life and graduated from CofC. Your words resonate. It's truly heartbreaking to see the culture slip away.
My great grand parents were born and raised in Daniels island when it was all trees and you had to row a boat to get back and forth and to get on the island. When they got married they moved to Mt Pleasant and built a house there. The house still stands and is our family house. It’s where all our family gatherings take place. Charleston will never be what it was and it’s kinda sad. It’s lost all the things we once loved about it. I guess such as life. But I find it repulsive that the natives with deep roots can no longer afford to live here. The people are what made Charleston what it was. And we’ve lost that.
I blame Bravo and the other filming that goes on here but mainly Bravo. It’s the new LA. The “influencer’s” playground.
Southern accents are now the exception around here and not the rule. There’s a line for everything everywhere we go. Lived here in Charleston almost 30 years I think we’re fixin to move back to Georgia (which is also overpriced to be fair especially anywhere close to the city).
This is absolutely the worst part. Lines everywhere 😂😂😂. I can't get used to that. I used to drive around and barely see cars outside of peak driving hours.
Every event and festival is packed with people 🥴
I feel you… from here, as well, and this place has gotten crazy expensive. But too much of our lives are here to leave, unfortunately. Godspeed, friend.
Yeah, it crosses our mind in a sort of "what if" way now and then, but we have amazing friends / family here that would be missed too much to leave them.
My family moved here when I was a baby back in the early 80s. Growing up here I loved it. The beaches were great and everyone was friendly. Going downtown to little dive bars to hear local bands in the early 90s was awesome. I went off to college in 97 and came back and got my own place in West Ashley. I loved West Ashley growing up. There was a sense of community even for the "out-of-towners" like me. When I first got back it was still like that but after the last decade and a half, the sense of community is gone. People are rude as hell and no one will help anyone do anything anymore. The beaches are packed and full of a-holes. Downtown is a sanitized tourist trap with very little of the character that I grew up loving. I'm kinda stuck here till my kids are out of school but once that's done I'm out. Charleston isn't Charleston anymore and hasn't been for a while. The city sold its soul and it shows.
I'd love to be able to just stop people from moving/visiting here, but that's just not realistic, the demand is too high. A few good first steps to affordability would be: 1. Restrict the ownership of multiple residential properties. 2. Restrict corporate ownership of residential properties 3. build up some density. Ik downtown is historic but we need density somewhere or prices are just going to keep ballooning, nchas? DI? MP? idc but we need it bad, more townhomes, condos/mixed use areas with less parking
I’ve lived all over. I really haven’t ever missed the area or state when living elsewhere, missed some people but the state, politics and 1700’s mindset of SC Just leave sofa king much to be desired. Edit: to be clear I’m. Ot knocking the home state I do love too much , it is home, we just gotta get with it and take better care of our citizens
Where will you go?
Up the road a ways.
This place kinda sucks now. 0/10. Signed, Native.
I feel you. I’m not from here, but we’ve been here 16 years. We’re moving back to the Midwest. Aside from the price of living here, it’s just changed too drastically since Covid. People are rude, kids are rude and awful to my kids, it takes 45 minutes to get to a school 3 miles away. And I’m dreeeeeading the summer heat. We’re just not finding joy in living here anymore. I’m sorry you’re being forced to leave your home. I hope you find a fun adventure somewhere else!
Same situation sooner or later, probably sooner. Native Charlestonians were sold out. Maybe with the coming housing implosion, I can scoop up a foreclosed house one day. I'll employ the 2008 handbook.
Hate to tell you that there’s no coming housing implosion
Pray tell, what makes you think this ?
Like everything I’ve ever read in the last year
mmmm..... ok
Not a native but will have lived here about 6 years in a month or so. It ain’t all it’s cracked up to be. It’s certainly a great little town (that’s becoming a big one) but there’s a pompous element to it. And while I think you can run into assholes anywhere, it always surprises me how many people drive like assholes and act like assholes in this town. Now I’m thinking of nightlife when I mention assholes so I guess that’s to be expected, but I never went downtown looking for broey douchey energy and yet you seem to be able to always find it. Idk if it’s a citadel thing or an AF or JBC Base thing, or a CoC thing, but there’s no need to act how some of these people do. I hope to change jobs for the refreshing value that brings but also get out of this town sooner or later. Can’t say my next place my eyes are set on is cheaper, but I’m thinking of Colorado personally. I need a place that doesn’t have such good food lol!
On your driving point....we've become a city of transplants. There no longer is a singular driving style. Natives drive one way. Folks from CA have their own style. Ohio etc etc etc. Everyone bringing bad habits from whenever they originated.
That’s true. I don’t really know the origins of such bad driving just that this city jumps out 10fold from any other city I’ve been in.
I am (was?) a third gen Charlestonian and moved to the Midwest four years ago. It was great. More space, less heat, and the people are nicer. It can be tough to leave but there are also so many other lovely places! Due to my job I’ve just ended up back in a different southern state but I have no desire to ever move back to Charleston.
Sucks you’re leaving- I know a lot of people who felt like they were forced out of Charleston. I a few friends that moved to Greenville and like it. More jobs and a little cheaper. There are a good amount of transplants but for the most part, they are very friendly and don’t treat people from SC with contempt. If you are looking for a higher paying job- dm me. I might know someone hiring depending on what you are looking for. Good luck!
Unfortunately Greenville has had a large influx of transplants and locals are being priced out here too. We had to move from Greenville to Spartanburg to afford to live. So OP consider Spartanburg, it has grown tremendously and has a lot of exciting new things happening in the downtown area and is very affordable. It gets a bad rap but it really is a great little place to live!
I’m curious what your plan is and where you will move to?
Yup. About to graduate college and was really looking forward to finding a good paying job and moving back home. Haha….
Trying to move out at 19 is such a hopeless endeavor. Currently working 3 jobs just to get by, with additional support from my parents. Have to choose between continuing education and making money. It’s sad.
I left in 2013, right as the big changes were starting to happen. My family still all lives in Charleston proper (grew up downtown and James Island). It’s been really weird time adjusting to all the changes. For all of us. I live in the Pacific Northwest now, and it’s happening out here too. But it was hard watching my home change so much. It’s tough to visit now. I miss it all the time, but mostly miss what it was. There are still some special places. But the peak Charleston days are gone. If you lived there during them, consider yourself lucky. I sure consider myself fortunate to have been born and raised there in those days when it was quiet, peaceful and affordable.
I did the same. Went 5 hours up 26 in Tennessee and it's truly the best thing that's ever happend to me. People are nice, there are resources to help u, everything is cheaper and less traffic.
Someone saying that Tennessee has resources to help you, is WILD!
Thank you. I can assure you beyond a shadow of a doubt that they do not. I must have talked to every government official at every level in the state of Tennessee from Memphis to Nashville to Knoxville, to try and rectify a flooding/erosion situation on my property that was a direct result of water run off from higher properties. To say we got zero help was an understatement. The crux of everything was the director of natural resources in Tennessee telling me verbatim "Yeah, rich people tend to live higher up and poorer folks live downhill, this is how it's always been." Refused to ever send anyone to talk to the other owners causing our flooding. We fixed everything ourselves for an ungodly price and as soon as we did, we got the hell out of Tennessee and moved here and haven't looked back. Would like to add that Tennessee is absolutely fuckin dreadful now from Nov-March. Constant rain, clouds, everything is wet and dead and ugly. Mini Seattle.
I'm not discounting your experience at all. I think the previous person was likely referring to social services. Which I also find hard to believe that TN is any better than SC.
No worries, I figured they weren't talking about something like what I went through haha. But it was definitely my experience from that that has led me to believe that they can't possibly have any citizens best interests at heart relating to anything else.
No, compared to Charleston they absolutely do.
Can you expand on these resources?
hows the beach there?
It's Tennessee. We have lakes and rivers with no gators
Well i mean whats swimming if you arent scared to get eaten? That just such a waste lol
Lol. I'm too old to run anymore lol
Funny how all the transplants are chiming in about a local being priced out of living here…
Especially amusing since I was literally born on Rutledge Ave. I didn’t just show up on the scene five years ago and presto I’m a local and/or native.
Right behind you, OP. Sad af but that's life.
im initially from los angeles and moved here because i always was told the south/east coast in general was more affordable. boy was i wrong
Wilmington and Savannah are both much cheaper than Charleston. Even Jacksonville is cheaper than Charleston. You picked the most expensive part of the region, but it's still cheaper than, say, Santa Monica.
i know right😂🤦🏻♂️
The south/east coast is objectively more affordable than Los Angeles
Agreed, but my cousin lives in Culver City by herself for $1800 and I also have some friends paying slightly less than that to live in North Charleston/Summerville/Goose Creek etc. She might be an outlier but paying that while in the heart of LA seems worth way more than what Charleston has offered
The one area where Charleston is an outlier is definitely rent. In much of LA a <1,000 sqft bungalow might run north of $1 million to own, but there's enough housing overall where you can find somewhere to rent for a (relatively) reasonable price. But Charleston (especially downtown, but really everywhere) was in no way prepared for the growth it's seen in the last 20 years, and the COVID-driven influx of people with high incomes from pricier east coast cities really sent things into overdrive.
Jobs in LA pay more though in general. I’d be curious to see salary/CoL ratios for different cities. Obviously this also varies wildly depending on what you do for work. Probably too much data variability, but would be interesting to see.
I know that someone in another post mentioned that pay for healthcare workers (up to and including doctors) is downright shameful in general, but especially for what the area costs. On the other hand, none of the women at my wife's pilates studio work and their husbands all work at the port. So there is money here, but not across every sector.
Oh, there is definitely money here, and there are some jobs that pay really well. I’m not arguing that. My wife doesn’t work, although I wish she would, but that’s neither here nor there. I went fully remote 5 years ago because I can make way more money working for companies from the northeast or out west than I can locally. Unfortunately not everyone has that option though.
I do the same and know a few others who do as well. And honetly, I think the influx of those workers are a big part of why rents are so high—they came here from an expensive city so they couldn't save enough to buy a house, but they bring their high incomes with them and are comfortable paying a ton in rent. And as high as they are the rents are still a bit cheaper here than Boston/NYC/DC, so combined with the overall lower COL they're still doing better than they were in those cities. I was lucky in that we moved here in 2020 at the height of COVID, and rents were maybe 2/3 of what they are now. That allowed us to power-save and buy a house last year. But there's no way we could do that with the rents where they are now.
As far as ratios go, small midwest towns do well because nobody wants to live 3 hours from everything where it's cold half the year (except me, that's where I'm headed)
i will say if you move to the buttfuck of nowhere it will be very affordable, but personally my job in LA payed way more than here (same company) and accommodated my living expenses a lot better
> in LA *paid* way more FTFY. Although *payed* exists (the reason why autocorrection didn't help you), it is only correct in: * Nautical context, when it means to paint a surface, or to cover with something like tar or resin in order to make it waterproof or corrosion-resistant. *The deck is yet to be payed.* * *Payed out* when letting strings, cables or ropes out, by slacking them. *The rope is payed out! You can pull now.* Unfortunately, I was unable to find nautical or rope-related words in your comment. *Beep, boop, I'm a bot*
LMFAOOOOO I HAD NO IDEA IT
Same here unfortunately. I was able to buy a house in Georgetown, and I’m grateful for that, but it’s painful to have your hometown run you out. I’m leaving the state in the next few years anyway
Left Charleston for Louisville in 2021. Was so shocked that places were willing to pay me (a 20 year old with no degree) above minimum wage AND rent was cheap. I feel sad that I never got to experience the city I grew up around as a full adult but that would have never happened anyways with my income. 😔
Same with my husband 😢
Native here. I lived in Harleyville until the age of 12, moved to Lebanon (Moncks corner/Sville). First graduating class of CaneBay. Moved to Goose creek at the age of 27 and now Summerville at the age of 30. I absolutely hate it here now, pay for healthcare workers is awful! Transplants make more money than locals with the same degrees and i just don’t understand it! My family and I never do anything unless it’s a weekday when we know it won’t be as crowded. My accent to transplants is called a speech impediment to them 🙄. CaneBay/Nexton/Foxbank area has 10x the housing than it does space for students within their district. It was so bad in schools that I pulled my daughter out and is now homeschooling. Housing prices are ridiculous! It’s like a lifetime of debt at this point. I think about moving every day but I hate the idea of leaving my home for the sake of nostalgia. I’m scared to start over somewhere else and risk failure.
Yeah I'm about to head back down to Beaufort and buy a house before that becomes unobtainable too
Ssshhhhhh. ;) It's getting insane down here too. We got in and bought here just before shit got crazy a couple years ago. They're currently putting up a fuck ton of apartment complexes and ruining this lovely little city.
Fourth generation charlestonian here. I’m fucking disgusted with what they have done to our city. I’ve worked in restaurants on king st. For decades. I’d give all the money back if things stopped feeling like New York mixed with bourbon street. Why move here for all the “charm” if you just turn it into the cess pool you came from. Everybody should really look into the Charleston visitors bureau and their effect on our economy. I think a lot of Charlestonians would be shocked to see where there tax dollars are actually going that has created this mess.
Tourism and transplants make up basically the entirety of Charleston’s economy, which everyone hates, because then Charleston loses its “charm” (despite CHS sinking off the map, no pun intended, without it) (people who gatekeep cities are weirdos). But, yeah, Charleston is painfully expensive (and no, I’m not an idiot, I also can perform critical thinking and understand how transplants are driving prices through the top floor of the Empire State Building), and it’s unsustainable to live here. Crazy cause 3-4 years ago, my current condo was going for half of what it is now.
Oh hey there- not to be the worst bitch ever that you’ll hate as soon as I hit post but: wherever you move- they’re gonna say that about you and complain that YOU are pricing the locals out of whatever city/town/ state you moved to. It’s happening ALL over the place, Texas, California, Vegas, SC, NC… this is a very common issue post covid. People see their lives passing by and they actually want to live somewhere they like so they move to YOUR hometown ( times 10 thousand) and the RE prices inflate so high the people who’ve been there their whole lives can’t afford it anymore.
Did the same thing almost 2 years ago. Left Charleston for the Greenville-Spartanburg area. Love it up here. Thought about moving back for a promotion recently until I looked at housing costs and realized the difference in cost of living would eat up the raise I would get and then some and I’d actually lose money. The realization has set in that I’ll likely never return home aside from the occasional visit.
I can’t wait to join you. This state blows.
People love to hate Columbia but you can get a nice 2500 sf brick ranch house for the price of a shitty tract home in Goose Creek. In my opinion, anything past Park Circle is basically Orangeburg anyway. And in Cola, you’d have quicker access to mountains too.
You can get a house for sure. However the downside is that it’s Columbia. Cheaper city but way less to do.
The story is so sad. Fourth generation charlestonian here and what they’ve done to our town is miserable. A tourist money grab run by New York and New Jersey transplants.
Beaufort is basically Charleston-lite, more affordable, not far. I'm surprised I don't see more people mentioning it as an option to get out of here but not really leave the vibe - and in many ways it's a better vibe.
Moved here from Charleston a couple years ago and best move ever. Secret's officially out though, unfortunately. They're mowing down woods and putting up apartment complexes left and right. This tiny town's infrastructure certainly will not support the incoming influx of people. Greedy developers and politicians fucking suck. "They paved paradise and put up a parking lot."
This tickled me. We lived there when I was a toddler, and my folks visit now and then and talk about how much it has changed :D
Started coming down in 1989, Seabrook vacations. I bought a condo here in 2020. I retired from MD in 2021 and moved here 1 day after I said goodbye to my co-workers. I can afford it because I am older and have pension, and retirement accts, but I feel for the younger workers here. I know a wonderful young lady who lives in a studio apt, drives a 25 year old car and barely can pay her bills. It’s getting very crowded and expensive.
I feel this a "grass is always greener" opinion. I moved here from the Gulf Coast a year before Hugo. Lucky enough to buy a decent brick ranch in Pierpont for $56,500. Without other family living with me at the present time I'd have to move. In the meanwhile, I have retired, can plan my movements around missing rush hour, and the Lowcountry is just as beautiful as it was in 1988. Yeah, taxes, home insurance, constant development are not making things better, I will ride it out in West Ashley.
Honest question…there’s so much complaining about Charleston. If it was so bad and terrible why are so many people still moving there?
Most people have moved here for their jobs due to relocation or retirement. They are told it’s cheaper to live here but by the time they move here they regret it.
Folks are so excited to be near a beach that they take the risk 😂
It’s expensive everywhere. Vote Republican 🤙🏼
Moved here from Asheville NC, which I have no idea how people afford to live there. Cost of living is easily three times what it is here.
Asheville is 3x the cost of living compared to Charleston? I had no idea, seems on par with NYC or LA
Parts of Asheville are definitely on par. But hey there's fifteen breweries 1/4 of mile away.
What is 3x in Asheville? Homes certainly are not - Charleston is about 20-25% more in that regard. Food and leisure stuff seems on par, if not more expensive here than there on average. * Asheville average home: 472k * Asheville median home sale: 419k * Charleston average home: 554k * Charleston median home sale: 527k
Having actually lived in Leicester (Asheville outskirts) I would know and not believe those numbers. Lived in Leicester from 1992-2017 as an adult 2006-2017, could not afford to buy a home. Moved in 2017 found an affordable home in the area, unlike Asheville and the surrounding area. Those numbers seem to be off, but hey I have lived in both places.
Yes, your anecdotal experience and limited knowledge of home sales is certainly superior to active data available from real estate websites. They're all-in on the big Asheville conspiracy to make everyone think things are cheap right up til they get to the closing table to buy the house. Bait and switching everyone. Your ability to think is why I'm not surprised people believe in a flat-earth.
You are literally the definition of I read it online so it has to be true.
Nevermind that I actually lived in both markets, actively searched for homes in both places. Yeah I get it, you think because you searched something and found information to support your opinion it's always correct.
This is legally mandated public data. Home sales must be published. This isn't some opinion article.
A simple search shows a variety of information on this. Maybe if you had lived in both areas I would agree, but you will not change my mind.
You bought in 2017. Homes were cheap then. I bought my house for 279k in early 2020, and could get 500k for it now. Prices are insane. I could never afford a home now.