I'm interviewing in Charleston

Any Charlestonians care to give me the scoop on living here?

Be sure to have a good job with lots of moolah if you plan to live on the beach, Mount Pleasant, or the city (Charleston). The other areas are a little less expensive but not by much. The population of Charleston and the surrounding areas has exploded during the last ten years. Other than that the people are friendly, and there are a few transient folks here from other parts of the country because this is a very desirable area.
We have wonderful cultural events and symphonies. Plenty of art galleries with local and visiting artists.
We have wonderful restaurants. Good luck...And a welcome to Charleston if you decide to come here! :hippie:

is a small pocket of normalcy in a red-neck, right-wing, bible thumping, Repug state. I've lived here for 9 years now. I live in the country 40 minutes South of Downtown. I'm self employed. The state as a whole has a bad unemployment problem. But this area is growing rapidly, too rapidly actually, and that creates lots of employment advantages, depending on what field of work you are in. We have a decent music scene and some culture. We have three colleges in the area, College of Charleston, Charleston Southern, and Trident. Four if you count the Citadel. That tends to create a more liberal environment than the Upstate. The mass transit system sucks. Bus service that is somewhat adequate at best. We do have an "international" airport. Direct flights are hard to find. Mostly flights to area hubs such as Atlanta and Charlotte.
Most of the people are very friendly and polite. That Southern hospitality really is evident here. Even though our traffic is bad at times, rush hour, citizens tend to extend that courtesy in their driving habits as well. If someone is honking at you in traffic, there's a good chance they're not from here.
The Bubba system is alive and well in many aspects of life here. Certain jobs and organizations are hard to break into if you weren't born here and have a local pedigree going back a couple hundred of years. But with the amount of new citizens moving to our area, that system seems to be disappearing.
Weather is decent here. Winters are mild. Summers can get hot and very humid. It's snowed once in the 9 years I've been here. One Winter it never got below freezing all Winter. Great growing seasons if your into gardening. But the soil sucks, so you have to amend it. It's either really sandy or so much clay you could make pottery out of it, depending on where you're located.
You are minutes from the Ocean, and a few hours from the Mountains. It's easy to do a weekend getaway.
Cost of living varies depending on where you live and shop. Downtown and the beaches can be quite expensive to live. Parts of North Charleston are not safe to live in. High crime. But you can still find reasonably priced properties if you're willing to live a little further from Downtown.
This is the third place I've lived for any length of time. Central Illinois, South Florida and now here. I like this area better than the other two and could see myself living here throughout my working years and retiring here. I definitely think it's good points outweigh the bad ones.

I was born and raised in Charleston. My family is still in Charleston, Georgetown and Myrtle Beach.

"Four if you count The Citadel." How friggin' offensive. I am the only male in my family NOT to attend The Citadel, primarily because they did not offer my major when I went to college.

The only REAL colleges in Charleston are C of C, The Citadel and the Medical University of SC.
Trident is a "technical" college and Charleston Southern is the former Baptist College. The losers went to Trident and religious freaks to Baptist.

If you want to live in Charleston, the City, James Island and Mt. Pleasant are all great. Anything north of the city line on the peninsula should be avoided. That includes North Charleston, Moncks Corner, Summerville, Hanahan, et al. Stay downtown or try up by The Citadel.

There is not what I would call a "bubba" system. Old Charleston is very English/British. It is a class oriented society. There are no "bubbas" in Charleston, maybe outside the city.

Charleston's "International" airport as you call it...well, the designation is there because at one time, people from Atlanta and Charlotte flew to Charleston to travel internationally. I guess the name is just grandfathered.

Sorry to rag on you Woodcutter, but Charleston is my home, although I live elsewhere now. I will be returning at some point, either to my ancestral home or to property that we own south of the city on a rapidly developing island. In any case, you obviously don't like Charleston very much. That is too bad.

It is probably without a doubt the most wonderful, civilized city in the country.

"Charlestonian" It can't be faked.

Something Wicker This Way Comes :)

I am a proud Charlestonian. However, as I like to say...Southerner by Birth, Yankee by Choice.

I'm a student at the College of Charleston and I can tell you that living so close to both beautiful beaches and a bustling downtown can be quite invigorating, although even on-campus housing can be quite expensive. As its been said, the area is booming right now and that means house prices in even some of the more low income areas of the peninsula are shooting up, and it can be quite a commute from the suburbs like Goose Creek, Moncks Corner, or Summerville. It's the South, so there are a lot of conservatives, but in a big college town full of yuppies, with a nice racial/ethnic mix and a self-proclaimed reputation for being "cultured," you'll have a lot of diversity and won't have trouble finding people of like mind if you're worried about that. There is a homeless problem downtown and North Charleston and parts of the upper peninsula are pretty ugly, but it's a pretty safe - not to mention gorgeous and lively - city to walk around at night. I hope you decide to stop by for a spell.

and you'll have a very good idea of the place