Moving to SC

Well, it looks like I'll be moving to the Charleston, SC area soon. Can someone offer opinions as where to live? I will be working in Charleston and don't want too long of a commute.

Also, any top Ferrari mechanics in the Charleston area. I want to make sure my 308 is well taken care of.

Thanks in advance.

 

Karl Troy, European Raod and Racing. Karl has quite a history with exotic cars, dancers too I suppose. Worked on most of the 962's in their heyday. Great with Ferraries.

www.europeanroadandracing.com

843-747-1342

 

I wholehardily agree with David. I've met Karl and was impressed with his knowledge.
Regarding living in Charleston, the big question is $$$$.
Living on the Peninsula, near downtown is pricey, Mt. Pleasant is quite close
especially with the new bridge. Also west of the Ashley has many areas too.
The classic homes are in Charleston itself, parking there is difficult, homes with garages and even driveways are at a premium, but it is beautiful.
Happy Hunting, and when you get settled come up to Columbia, we have assembled a nice group of Ferrari addicts,and are always looking for more!

 

I live on Johns Island. I wanted to live on the waterway, but it is expensive. It is a little cheaper out here, and 2 new bridges in the past year have replaced turnkey bridges. Mount Pleasant is probably better if you have kids.

Karl Troy helped me a lot with my Maserati. I think he is a great guy.

 

Thanks guys. I guess I don't want to go above $400k...would prefer to stay around $300-$350k. I have a newborn, so I want a family atmosphere. Saw some homes online in Summerville, Goose Creek and N. Charleston as well as in the city...all seem great. I'm torn between an old home (c.1930s) and a newer brick home.

Is the city anything like, lets say, Jacksonville...I mean is it kinda dirty downtown? If I find a nice historic home, is it close to a bad area, or are there no such things in Charleston? I used to live in Philadelphia (Really bad areas) and now live near West Palm Beach (the city is an arm pit).

I'll probably be coming up with the wife next week, so I'll get to see what the area is like.

 

Call Charles Perry, as he lives in Summerville and is the FCA President for SC. Go to the FCA site, or you may find some of his post here.

 

Thanks JDAVID. I've been looking on line all night and Summerville seems to have good values. Plus he's the FCA guy in the region...good news for my 308.

Thanks again...please keep any tips coming. This is becoming very stressful...I need to sell my house and buy one in SC, close, and move preferably before August 8....HAAAAA, good luck to me.

 

I live on Johns Island as well. Very close to downtown (10-15 minutes). If you do not mind going out a little further, Wadmalaw Is is still somewhat affordable, and you might find something on water in your price range.

No kids so I do not have to worry about the public school system.

Karl Troy at Europeann R&R had taken care of my 308 before I sold it. I will be taking my 456 to him when it arrives in a few weeks. Highly recommend.

Jason

 

Boy, the F guys are comming out of the woodwork. Buddy Delanie and I just got back from the GP and FCA event, saw Charles there as well for the GP. We plan on having a get together here in Columbia in late July or August, and would like to invite anyone who is interested in visiting. Send me your email addresses if you don't mind so I can create a database for upcomming events.

By the way, we hit 130-155 on the GP track! It was more than I could have wished for. The meet next year is in Washington, and they plan to bring the orginal plane and family from whince the horse came from over from Italy.

 

The peninsula of Charleston gets a little better each year. There are no bad houses "South of Broad Street" but these historic homes are extremely expensive, and a garage is nearly impossible to find. A couple of people park their Rolls and Bentleys on the street. Between Broad and Calhoun St, the neighborhoods are getting better. If you go too far north/west of Calhoun St, forget it. It is not so subtle of a dividing line between nice areas and crack houses. South of Calhoun, you can walk safely at night.

Summerville is nice. There are historic areas and new subdivisions, alll with nice homes. Decent schools, etc. Resale overall is probably a little better than North Charleston or Goose Creek. I would try not to buy on Dorchester Road, however, because traffic is a nightmare.

 

I think Summerville is gonna have the better schools for your kids. I was in both Summerville schools and West Ashley schools and if you're looking for a good environment for your kids, I think Summerville is better. West Ashley is a case of the full spectrum, I know kids who got anything they wanted and live in huge houses and I know a kid who was killed in a driveby shooting, we all went to the same school. It really depends on where you work. Its atleast a 25 minute drive from Summerville to Charleston. The other place to look is Mt. Pleasent. Good luck.

 

Thanks to all. I hear great things about Mt. Pleasant and Summerville. I just found out my office will be in Goose Creek, so Summerville should be an easy commute, right?

I greatly appreciate everyone who gave their opinions here as they are very helpful. We are coming up this weekend to look around and would be driving around aimlessly if not for you guys.

Special thanks to Mr. Perry for all his assistance and hooking me up with a realtor.

Anyone know a good mortgage guy?

 

Maureen Runey, First Citizens Bank. 843-763-0258. She has been wonderful with all of my loans/mortgages.

Jason

 

If you're going to be working in Goose Creek, I wouldn't even bother with Mt. Pleasent. That would be the worst drive you could get in Charleston I think. Summerville would be a good place to look.

 

That's what I'm hearing too. Summerville seems to be the best place for us to move. Can't wait to check it out...coming up this weekend.

 

Sort of out of place, but if you decide to do anything touristy in Charleston, I highly recommend doing a ghost tour in downtown Charleston at night. I've done pretty much everything there is to do in the area and that was my favorite. I did the one that advertises that they have "ghost finder" gadgets, so I can say that was a good one to go on. Enjoy your stay and I'm sure you will find it to be a very pleasent place to live. Summerville definately has that small town atmosphere. I haven't lived there for almost 9 years so I can't help you much in regards to what housing developments to look into in Summerville. Definately let us know how everything goes, as a former Charlestonian I always like to hear what other people think when they visit.

 

I'll definitely post upon my return. As for the ghost tour...ummm, well, I uh, have a 17 day old newborne and...uh...SHE would be too scared

HAAA...I just told my wife about the Ghost Tour and she said "HELL NO!!!! It would scare me to tears!" Laughing my ars off as I type.

Thanks again to all who posted. I hope to meet all someday soon.

 

I've shot grenade launchers at tanks and done all kinds of craziness in my youth and there were times when I was about to pee my pants on that tour. Definately not one for a young family. It definately got spooky when we were standing where someone had died and the lights started flickering. These are city run lights, not lights installed by the tour company...

 

Hi Eric - looks like we passed each other going opposite ways. I lived in Cary before moving to Charleston. In fact, my parents still have our old house (now a rental property) in Kildaire Farms. It's stunning how much Cary and the surrounding area have grown up since we were there...

 

Hey Charles...we getting ready to come up to SC...long trip ahead.

You know, I have never ridden in a Testa Rossa...any chance on your driving me around the block?

I'll call you later. Thanks again for all your help and referrals.

Gil

 

Charles, its definately an interesting move either way. Cary doesn't have the deep rooted culture that Charleston has. There aren't really any main places to hang out and do things like there are down there. The most interesting thing to me is how much larger the population in Cary is as compared to Charleston. Driving though both I would easily estimate Charleston to have twice the population of Cary, which is not even close to being the case. Charles, where are you at in Charleston? I lived in Canterbury Woods in West Ashley, which if you aren't familiar with that neighborhood, its right next to Shadow Moss. I live off of Old Apex Rd. in Cary. The other interesting difference is the economic difference. Driving around Cary these days, there will be a BMW or Mercedes at 90% of the stop lights you go through. The income scale in Charleston is far more polar, atleast from what I remember and from what I have seen when I go back. Median household income in Charleston is around 23k I believe, where as in Cary it is 77k. I'll be down there atleast twice this summer, probably on the Ducati, so I'll get in contact with you guys before I come down and see if we can meet up some time. Good luck again on the house shopping. I went to Rollins Elementary School for 4th grade in Summerville and that was a really good school from my experience, so you may want to try to get into that district. Hopefully I will see you guys soon.

 

I'm in Summerville just off Hwy 61. My office is in West Ashley. I know Canterbury well as my first house (that I shared with my brother) was in Shadowmoss.

We used to travel to Apex all the time as one of the best barbecue restaurants of all time was there - OT's. I understand that when the owner finally got to retirement age none of his kids wanted the business, so he shut it down rather than sell it. Very sad for us...

 

Where are you at in Summerville? I wish I could remember the name of the neighborhood that my uncle lived in, but it was off of Bacon's Bridge and it was after Dorchester Rd. but before Old Trolley. Now he lives in that area between Middleton Place and Summerville that is off to the right if you are heading towards Summerville.

I'm not into the NC BBQ, I like tomato based, so I don't know any of the local BBQ places except for the ones I happen to drive by. This is very interesting. Like I said, if you guys would like, I'll stop by and meet some fellow F-Chatters next time I come down.

 

Heretic!! You are hereby excommunicated from the South!!

Sounds like you're Uncle is just up the street from me. If you follow Hwy 61 towards Summerville, where it splits and the right fork goes into Hwy 165/Bacon's Bridge, I'm on the left fork (Hwy 61) about a mile up.

 

HAHA, I don't know if it was the case when you lived up here, but now Cary stands for Concentrated Area for Relocated Yankees and I happen to plop right into that categorization. I'm originally from Ohio