greenville, sc vs. mt. pleasant/charleston, sc?
 

One's bigger and on the water; what are the other major differences besides housing costs? Any insights are welcomed. Thanks!

Off topic since I can't comment on house prices, but I love all three of these places.

Greenville has one of the best small city downtowns in the country: restaurants galore, minor league baseball, festive parks, touring orchestras, shows, country music, at the Civic Center, all in a walkable neighborhood.

My sister and her husband live in a penthouse condo on McBee Street and love it at a price that would make a New Yorker sob.

Mountains, not beach, though.

And a wonderful university and I think a first class museum. I know Charleston also has a university, but I think Furman contributes more to the town in not competing with the historicity of Charleston. And Charleston isn't Mt. Pleasant.
And I believe there is a beautiful retirement community there, if that is the aim also.

Thank-you, both.

Are you comparing these location to NYC or CT? I think where you are moving from will have an impact on which you would prefer. If so, I'd say Charleston over Greenville.

She's only inquired about Mt. Pleasant and the beaches there really.

Charleston is in her title
Based on her previous posts I don't think she will like Greenville

Are you looking for a place to live?

I gave up compare and contrast when I graduated from undergrad. I don't know enough about Greenville to do an A paper anyway. It's a nice town to visit, and I know people who live there. They come to Charleston every chance they get.

Ask specifics at city-data.com if you have relocation questions.

Looking for a smaller city setting. Don't want to be stuck in the suburbs. What are rentals like in Charleston? Where are they? Greenville has an interesting vibe going, little micro-city vibe. Realtors in the Charleston area push for Mt Pleasant, say it has easy access to the city, less expensive real estate, but we don't want to buy, just rent perhaps.

You probably need to trust realtors and not travel people. Sue is great but we don't know "who" you are, where you come from, and for sure Sue probably doesn't know a lot about rentals in Charleston or maybe even Mt Pleasant. Mt. Pleasant is a BIG city--and like any, has "neighborhoods"--just like Charleston--OR Greenville.
Visit and look. Fodor's is a travel board, not a real estate board.

Suewoo knows Mt Pleasant very well.

Greenville has a nice little downtown, but it's a REALLY little downtown. Only a few blocks. It's nice what they've done with it, but there's not much of it...at all. It's not what someone used to a city would call a city. Suewoo called it a town and Greenville really is more of a town than a city. To me, there's less going on than Athens, GA. I was curious and Athens is double the size of G'ville. Then I checked Augusta GA and its 3x the size. Athens is a very cool big town/small city but it's SMALL. The Greenville-Spart area is big...but it's suburban sprawl. Anyway, if you are looking for good restaurants and stuff to do I just don't think Greenville is what most people are looking for. Real estate is a steal, it's a good (conservative) area in which to raise a family and it's easy to zip down to Atlanta for stuff to do or up to Asheville for mountains or down to Charleston for great restaurants and the ocean. But it's not much of a destination town/city...although the renovated downtown is nice enough. I just think relocating to Greenville is a tough relo for someone moving from the Northeast. Charleston has much more going on. Mt. Pleasant is a suburb of C'ton but a nice one. Real estate IN Charleston is very expensive and rents are as well. A family member bought a house in Charleston for the kiddo because it made more sense as an investment and was cheaper in the long run that renting for four years. If you can find a suitable place IN Charleston, that would be great. If you are looking at Mt Pleasant, suewoo knows it well. If you want something on the water, the islands would be good choices. I think you would be bored to tears in downtown Greenville.

My dear BFF is a realtor in Charleston, so I know some third hand stuff about rentals. Google Melinda Mitchell and contact her if you are inclined.

I never felt stuck in the burbs in Mt P, but I was in the old section near the harbor. Everything I needed was close by, and I could be downtown in 20 minutes. If you end up out 17 it might feel burbish. There are new apartments on Coleman (350 unit building in my old hood-made it easier to leave!) that might be what you are looking for. But coastal living will not be cheap. The closer you get to the ocean the higher the price. I sold my house for almost 3x what I paid for it.

I did overstate, and Sue is a great and reliable source. But when moving to a place I do think you have to go and spend time there to understand how things "work".

Thank-you all! The difficulty I'm finding with realtors is that few want to handle a rental rather than a sale. I wondered about how small town Greenville actually was, Starrs thanks a lot. You paint a good picture.
My husband looked at the Elan apts on Meeting St in downtown Charleston but doesn't want to pay $3,000.00 a month for 2 bedrooms or even 2500.00. But, you're right. This is a travel board and I wanted the opinions of those who had traveled to Greenville and I got them.

Anything in the Historic District will cost you. Lots. It's prime real estate.

Look at Beaufort.

My friend has rental properties and is happy to help people find them. But you can usually find them yourself. She stays very busy, and it would be ( I THINK) faster to search on your own.

The best way to find a rental is to come down, drive around and investigate yourself. Seriously.
(A conversation this weekend with friends who needed to do the same)

Beaufort is an excellent idea. A neighborhoody feel, close to lots of things. Excellent choice.

$3000/month in Charleston sounds about right.

How much do you want to be near the coast? When you say you're looking for a smaller city setting with an "interesting vibe" I immediately thought of Chattanooga, TN. I'd certainly choose it over Greenville.

If you want to "try out" an area, monthly rentals of vrbo.com units in Jan-March time frame is always an option.

What a great idea!!

Gretchen is right. Renting any where you are thinking of moving -- renting for a whole year -- is the rational thing to do. We did it before we bought our "winter" condo in Richmond, and we had done it before we bought a condo in Naples, FL.

But if Greenville is too small, why suggest Beaufort, which is a small town?

wasn't thinking about the size of the town. Beaufort is close to the ocean, near enough to Charleston and Savannah for day trips.

Which Beaufort? S.C.? Trying to find the place to spend part or most of the year. We're getting killed with taxes and heating costs up North but we'll spend part of the year on the Cape.

I was looking for a place that had galleries, good restaurants, a vibrant theatre scene, a place that wouldn't shut down off-season as the Cape sort of does, has a sports venue, etc. Does Charleston have a vibrant theatre and sports scene?

Is Charleston a nice place to visit but not so great to live there?

Charleston is a fabulous place to live.
Expensive.
But fabulous.

http://www.beaufortsc.org/

Beaufort is a small town (yes) but in between Charleston and Savannah and would give you a good mix of things to do there (near the water) and a lot more options nearby. It's a great mix. And less expensive than Charleston.

You need to come and stay for a month or three and check the area out.

It may sound silly but read of some of Dorothea Benton Frank's books to get a taste of lowcountry living.

http://www.amazon.com/Dorothea-Bento...477555&sr=8-26

That's not silly at all. I think I just finished a Dorothy Benton Frank book; I'll check the title later.

So, Charleston has the same vibrant downtown scene as the much smaller, Greenville? Seems like they packed a lot into the small city/large town that is Greenville.

I would have been happy in Augusta, GA if the Riverwalk hadn't become a creepy ghost town. Now, it's just the suburban sprawl of Evans, etc. that draws young families there. It's not where we want to be.

To me Charleston has just gotten their entire act together in the last 30 or so years and it is humming. Their mayor literally saved the historicity of it from urban renewal, College of Charleston became THE place, and of course The Citadel. But it is also humming with tourists from what I see (not as a resident) because of that salvation. It is just a wonderful city--I think the most "European" of American cities with its walkability, history, quaintness.
I think Greenville may have come along that same path, but isn't the same thing at all.
When you go, visit a wonderful bookstore--The Blue Bicycle.

It's not correct to state that Greenville is smaller than Charleston. Be careful comparing city sizes by the reported population numbers. Some metro areas are actually much larger than the official city population.

While there are only about 60K people in the city limits of Greenville, there are over 450K in Greenville County (the largest county in the state). Charleston has 123K in the city limits and 350K in Charleston County. I was surprised to find that Greenville county also has almost 1.5x the population density as Charleston County.

Having said that, I think you may be expecting too much from downtown Greenville, which while nice, will not give you the same level of restaurant/art/shopping/activities options as Charleston. But with Charleston, you get much higher rents and lots and lots of tourists around all the time.

Thanks, everyone, for painting an objective and attractive picture of both places.

How conservative are both places?

"It's not correct to state that Greenville is smaller than Charleston"
I may have missed it but I don't remember reading anyone saying that.

"Having said that, I think you may be expecting too much from downtown Greenville, which while nice, will not give you the same level of restaurant/art/shopping/activities options as Charleston"
Exactly.

"I would have been happy in Augusta, GA if..."
No. You would not. Believe me, you would not. No matter the "if".

suewoo: city data.com was a great resource. Greenville's out as an option.

out.

You will have to deal with SC politics as they are today. As a mid-19th century politician said--and geez, how true today--South Carolina is too small for a republic and too large for an asuylum. LOL

The Cape is a tourist destination for most of the year. We're not sure if we want to deal with another tourist destination during our time off the Cape, which is my concern regarding Charleston.

Augusta, Evans GA specifically, is home base to some of our children and grandchildren. We don't want to live next door to them but closer would be nice.

I'll take a peek at Beaufort.

Charleston is not Ptown or the cape. There is no "tourist season" in Charleston. Half the stores do not close with wait staff commuting to Key West for the other six months.

You have some interesting preconceptions about some of these towns/cities.

But if you know Augusta as you have recently indicated and consider it viable, then Greenville may work for you after all.

While tourism is Charleton's main industry, it's a living breathing city: people work there, raise familes, etc. There are always tourists in the Historic District, but if you live out from there you don't notice any unless you are at the beach in summer. Didn't you just go to Charleston? Did you walk around the HD? That's the "scene".
http://spoletousa.org/
http://www.milb.com/index.jsp?sid=t233

You might want to google SC politics.

I guess my best advice is, if you want to live part of the year in Charleston, don't expect for it to be cheap. many people want to relocate because they think it's cheaper but Charleston is not. It's a very desirable place to live, getting stacked up with people from off, and its popularity keeps drawing national attention.

Sue nailed it--near the Market and that area it will be teeming.
But it is such a wonderful charming city near the ocean, history, things to do. Other places are that way also. You pays your money and you takes your choice?
The very things that saved Charleston's historic buildings have made it a destination for people to buy Battery homes for their pied a terre from NYC (articles in the paper).

Thanks again.

We pays our money in the Northeast; I know the lovely places in the world aren't accessed cheaply.

I WISH I could afford to buy a little pied a terre along the Battery!

The best advice is to live in these places for an extended period of time and try to get a feel for their pulse. You've all helped so much.