Should i live in charleston

For us, moving from Los Angeles, Charleston is considerably more affordable. In downtown Charleston specifically, the cost of living has risen quite a bit in the last twenty years.

The Charleston area as a whole is expanding and there is a lot of real estate opportunity beyond downtown Charleston! As I mentioned above, the cost of living in Charleston is going up. But, when compared to the major cities of the US, Charleston is considerably more affordable.

Real estate is more reasonable, taxes are lower, gas is cheaper and so on. On the other hand, compared to other small cities, Charleston is relatively expensive because it is so highly desired. Compared to the national average though, the cost of living is lower in the Charleston area not downtown Charleston. The quality of life in Charleston is extremely high! There are so many reasons that make the quality of life high.

The traffic is not bad, weather is great most of the year, the people are kind and generous, the city is beautiful and clean, and there is so much to do. A note on the traffic: like anywhere, the traffic can definitely be better or worse depending on which part of Charleston you live.

It is also all relative. However, keep in mind that we moved from Los Angeles. So, to us, the traffic could never be bad. Our friends that moved to Charleston from other major cities like Atlanta and New York City feel the same way as us. Downtown Charleston is also a walking city.

So if you live downtown, you can easily skip driving in favor of walking, biking, or golf carting. In my mind, it all goes hand in hand. The quality of life is so high in Charleston that people are very happy. Since people are so happy, people are welcoming, friendly, and kind. The slower pace of life outside of a major city and the nature of Southern hospitality both play a roll in the positive atmosphere of Charleston as well.

When you walk down the street in Charleston, people say hello. The people of Charleston are proud to call Charleston home and are warm and inviting in return! Other than the summer months, the weather in Charleston is pretty glorious. In the winter, it can be cozy coat weather one day and warm beach weather the next day. Our autumns and springs are magical!

The weather is one of the things we love the most about Charleston because it allows us to live active lives outside on land and on the water. The food in Charleston is unbelievable! We love our old favorites but there is also always something new opening to try.

Charleston is home to multiple James Beard Award winners and is considered by many to be a premier food hub in the South, on the East Coast, and in the whole country. For a small city, Charleston has world class cultural opportunities. Downtown Charleston has been a construction zone since , with at least two cranes hovering over the skyline at any given time since then. No neighborhood in downtown Charleston has been left untouched, and that growth is extending throughout the area.

There is a serious risk that the rising property values and shifting of the local economy to accommodate tourists may turn Charleston into a museum. That is, full of historic sites but not a lot of people actually living downtown, akin to Venice. The process is slow, but steady, with each grocery store or local hangout getting sold and turned into an expensive restaurant, hotel, or luxury condo complex.

Some common roads to keep an eye on and avoid when possible during busy times include:. Charleston again does not compare to the Northeast in terms of taxation. But that may not be the whole story for everyone moving here. As I mentioned before, the beaches near Charleston are fantastic. And people come from all over the South and Midwest just to have their beach vacation here. For example, you can easily hit the beaches at the end of the day after you get off work, if only for a few hours before the sun goes down.

For such a small town, the airport here is quite good. The Charleston International Airport is convenient from anywhere in town and easy to get through in terms of lines and security.

Plus, there are plenty of connections to other places in the United States. But you can easily get a flight to one of the major international hubs, like JFK in New York City, and travel out from there. Nestled on the coastal edge of South Carolina, Charleston is surrounded by ocean on one side and vast expanses of rural farmland on the other. Towns and cities in the South in general are fewer and farther between than the Northeast.

As such, there are few quick day trip opportunities from Charleston, but plenty of road trips. A few of the most popular road trips from Charleston include:. The Lowcountry and its marshes and creeks is the perfect place for all sorts of water-based outdoor activities :. The Lowcountry has its name for a reason though: it is flat, with few exceptions. In that regard, biking in Charleston is a breeze. Plus, hiking is non-existent. If you miss hiking as I do , you have to drive at least 4 hours to the Upstate of South Carolina or western North Carolina.

No list of things you need to know about Charleston would be complete without mention of the weather. Most of the year, the weather is consistently fantastic. August and early September can be brutal in terms of heat and humidity, and there are usually two weeks in February that are brutally cold.

Charleston has had a major flooding episode almost every year the past four years or so. They were either hundred-year floods or hurricanes. Find a historic map that shows what former roads and streets downtown used to be creeks or marsh. Then remember to never go near those streets during heavy rains, high tides, and especially when both happen at the same time. My low-to-the-ground station wagon never sounded the same after I foolishly tried to drive across the peninsula during the hundred-year flood.

At the same time, Charleston gets colder than people realize before moving here. There is a two-week period in about February when most native Charlestonians go on vacation to warmer places. Seriously, though, you better like summer here, because we have a long one. Winter typically feels like a long autumn period for Northerners, while Spring is a short burst before the long slide into summer.

The hottest months are June through September, with August being the worst. But October, November, and often December are fantastic months. People sometimes forget this, but we are in hurricane country. Also, my cousin who works as an engineer reminds me on a regular basis that Charleston is on a fault-line as long as the San Andreas fault. The last earthquake caused more damage to Charleston than the Civil War. While most of the United States bundles up in the wintertime, snow is a rare occurrence in the Holy City.

Summer temperatures typically range from the mids to the low 90s. With companies like Boeing, Bosch, and Volvo, jobs are generally plentiful. In , Boeing will consolidate their Dreamliner production strictly to South Carolina, bringing even more offerings to the workforce. Pre-pandemic in , the unemployment rate in Charleston was 1. Charleston is home to many exceptional educational institutions. Read our blog on private schools to learn more. This community enjoys easy access to Kiawah and Seabrook perks like access to private beaches or Bohicket Marina.

The Charleston area is home to a variety of coastal towns with so many things to do. If your heart is still set on relocating to Charleston, SC, then congratulations on this new and exciting chapter in your life! With over 42 years of experience in the Charleston real estate market, our team has the local knowledge and finesse to find your home in the South Carolina Lowcountry.