please tell me about South Carolina

[renee o'neill]

Tell the good and bad,where to look for a small farm ,and jobs.I cant find a local paper or realtor maybe on the move soon. Thanks


PS have looked on united country .com

[Marianne]

We lived there for 26 yrs., hubby was born & raised there. Our little farm is (was?) in New Ellenton, just outside Aiken, and across the Savannah River from Augusta, Ga. Great medical, schools OK, Aiken county is rather high on taxes, but not terrible. Friendly people. Plenty of shopping and restaurants of all kinds. Employment opportunities. We left because the heat and humidity were killing me (I have heart issues, severe ones), that part is terrible. I wish we could have folded our little farm up and brought it with us. I miss our long growing season, too. And I miss all my peeps from there. Our place is in closing right now, or I'd offer it to YOU! We also have family in the Greenville area, a much better climate, I think. Foothills of the mountains. I would go there if we ever left here and returned to SC.

[Marianne]

You also can look at local papers online now. Good luck! Not a bad place to be!

[renee o'neill]

where would you avoid?

[MushCreek]

We are currently building a homestead in northern Greenville County. I like the proximity to the mountains, yet the convenience of having a nice smallish city (Greenville) within a reasonable drive. Taxes would be lower in neighboring Pickens County, which is more rural.

Weather- They have a true 4 seasons, but winter is pretty light depending upon what you are used to, It snows a couple inches once or twice a winter, but usually melts before noon. The ground doesn't freeze solid. Ice storms are probably the biggest hassle. Summers can be very hot, but there is relief once in a while. We are from FL, and by comparison, SC summers are much nicer, with cooler nights and much lower humidity. We have found that being close to the mountains, you get a nice breeze on a summer evening as the cool air seems to slide down off the mountains. This effect doesn't seem to reach Greenville much. We are 15 miles north of Greenville.

Some people complain about taxes. They do have personal property tax on cars and boats, etc. There is also income tax. On the other hand, property taxes are low in most areas, as are gas taxes. It seems like you pay, no matter where you live.

Greenville itself is surprisingly cosmopolitan. If you were blind-folded and dropped into downtown Greenville, it would be a while before you guessed you were in the deep south. Some of this is due to the huge BMW plant, as well as Michelin and others which bring people from all over the world. There is a huge variety of good restaurants in downtown Greenville, if that's your thing. Greenville-Spartanburg airport is small, but is starting to get a decent number of flight options, now that Southwest Airlines is there. Greenville is home to George Hincapie, a world-class cyclist, and bicycling is very popular in the area. Other activities that are good in the area are hiking the mountains, and there are several good-sized lakes nearby.

The east and south side of Greenville, such as Simpsonville are a lot like other typical suburban areas, with a lot of subdivisions and the usual shopping malls, fast food joints, etc. To the north and west, it is much more rural, which is why we prefer it. The further out you go, the cheaper the land, generally speaking. Since we both need to work in or near the city, we opted to be a bit closer, and paid $10K an acre for 7 wooded acres, all of which could be workable if we were to clear it.

The upstate seems to be doing a bit better than the rest of SC for employment, but it depends a lot on the kind of work you are looking for. Pay scales are low, but so is the cost of living. Depending upon your wants and needs, I would say the area is worth considering. Let me know if you want any more details.

[sewsilly]

I live on the farmstead in the upstate and have a home on the coast. The taxes in the tourist areas are killers.

I am friends with the fellow who owns the upstate United Country.
What, exactly, are you looking for?

I can also point you to papers, though virtually everything is online now.
Though the best house/land deals are, as always, word of mouth.

dawn

[farmmom]

Originally Posted by renee o'neill

where would you avoid?

Marietta! It's where I live. I found out after I moved here that this little town is a notorious den of thieves. You can't get any law enforcement quickly as we have no police force, and have to wait for the county to respond. We do have 2 fire departments though. This is Redneckville to the max!

[MushCreek]

I'll second Marietta. It's a shame that such a pretty area has a town that looks.... rough. I go through there fairly often, and it doesn't look like a place I'd want to live.

Closer in to Greenville, Berea and San Souci are rough areas as well.

We're out past Travelers Rest, which is one small town that seems to be on the upswing, They spruced up Main Street, there are several nice little shops around, and a small but good Farmer's Market during the summer months.

[oz in SC V2.0]

We lived in Beaufort for 20+ years.

In that time,it went from a sleepy little coastal town to an overcrowded retiree haven.

It also has recently had a LOT of crime for such a small place...armed robberies of businesses almost weekly.

There has always bee property crime there,not that the local media made it known.

On top of that,it is incredibly expensive and good paying jobs are few and far between.

We moved to the western part of NC.

[Txrider]

I always preferred western NC, NE of Greenville and east over towards Tennessee. One of the spots I would really love to live if I didn't want to stay close to family in Texas.

[ginnie5]

Do not come near Chester/Fort Mill area. It is growing by leaps and bounds and Charlotte is sprawling out towards the area. Traffic in the last 10 years has more than tripled. Taxes are going up too.

[BarbadosSheep]

I live in the midlands. If I had my choice of where in SC to live though, I'd pick the upstate area, north of Greenville. I LOVE the coast but it is far too expensive to live there and there is always the danger of hurricanes. The midlands is very hot in the summer, but with sandy soil it's also VERY easy to garden and erect fences. But the foothills.....simply gorgeous. Greenville and surrounding area is an awesome city with lots to do.