Retiring to South Carolina
 

Which city, town, area would you suggest for someone to retire to - that is NOT the coast. My husband and I are considering moving to South Carolina in 2 years and I just wanted to get your suggestions.
We are relatively active, like scenery, history, local markets, and just driving around to see the outdoors.
We live near the ocean so coastal areas are not of interest to us.
Just want to get input before starting to make formal plans.

You'll get more and better info here:
http://www.city-data.com/forum/

Greenville hands down. Vibrant downtown with great restaurants and is becoming a real foodie destination. Great Farmers Market on Saturdays and the Peace Center books acts from Broadway, Jazz musicians and everything in between. It sits on the Reedy River and has a wonderful paved walking trail or you can ride your bike on an old train bed called the Swamp Rabbit Trail. The mountains are right outside of town.

Greenville. You also need to say if you want a long term care retirement community or an adult retirement community or what.
NC has lovely ones also.

Thirding Greenville.

Greenville also has an international community which originated around Michelin and BMW but is expanding significantly. It's a pretty terrific place, all in all, though there is still a strong redneck presence in the area, so it isn't heaven. Just don't read the "Letters" page in the Greenville News.

There is a Publix downtown, so if you are coming from Florida, you wouldn't even have to change groceries.

Well, please don't forget it has a fine university also which will broaden the offerings possible.

Thanks all of you! I HAVE been looking a Greenville and it's surrounding area.
Gretchen - We would probably look for an Active Seniors type of development but we are open to living in a neighborhood setting.
Some may think we are crazy to leave Florida but the very hot almost year round weather is getting to us and we really want to have a change of seasons.

Please continue to offer advice everyone!

I am not fan of the high humidity levels of the Carolinas in the summer and I would look for something dryer.

Greenville is on up toward the mountains. I think it might be a bit better. There is a very nice retirement community near Greenville--maybe more up in the mountains you might take a look at. Can't remember the name.

You have never said where IN Florida you live and that makes a HUGE difference but good luck in your search.

Dukey, We live in N.E. Florida. I have been here my whole life and I am seriously thinking we need a change. Yes we have the ocean very close by and we don't have to shovel show, but the almost year round heat is getting to us both (the past 3 "winters" we have had only about 14 days of actual cold weather). I want to start seeing something besides flat landscape every day.
The city we live in a rather large and the crime rate is getting out of control. If not Greenville we will definitely look at areas around there or maybe even look just inside North Carolina.

Keep the suggestions coming.

My neighbors in NYC just bought a house in Greenville after looking around the state. They did a lot of research beforehand. They will be spending this summer there. From what I've read in the last few years, Greenville is an up and coming "food city," along with its other attributes. So if that means anything to you....

http://gardenandgun.com/feature/city...outh-carolina/


From TIME (see April):

http://time.com/money/4616864/travel...ts-save-money/

We looked into Greenville and made a visit. Yes, the downtown area is cute and there are lots of restaurants. It's also very walk able, which we love. But, go anywhere outside of that and you'll definitely know you are in SC. It was just too country and churchy for us. Very, very conservative too. But, to each his own.

I can vouch for everything said so far (I have family in that part of the country and am by birth Southern). Greenville is pretty (the campus of Furman University is actually very beautiful) and the downtown is walkable. The presence of the university, plus a business-friendly environment that has attracted several major international companies to do US manufacturing in that area, has meant lots of new dining and entertainment options (comparatively speaking)-- although you'll never mistake downtown Greenville for the Village or SOMA in San Francisco.

I can't speak for one's tax burden when living there, but I will say you can get a LOT of house for your money-- $200/sqft seems typical for the region (of course, in my southern CA neighborhood we're getting north of $500/sqft-- and this is a CHEAP area). The climate seems to be more temperate than other parts of that region, and I've never heard relatives complain about horrible winters (I prefer the weather where I live, but hey, choose your battles!).

On the other hand, my mother hated living there, and since she is Southern too, you would think she would have loved it. But she'd chosen a dull, isolated neighborhood with nothing fun around it.

I visited last year for several days, and I can also say that we were taken to one good beer bar. The restaurants we hit, however, were mediocre at best; one Southern breakfast joint was downright terrible, and one "Thai" eatery served pretty lamentable fare, although they were very nice. There were a couple of good Downtown joints, but nothing that I would characterize as "foodie heaven" (and no, I'm NOT a snob, I just like good food). The city is still working on increasing entertainment options, so this seems to be a priority. Good for them.

Political environment? Conservative, conservative, conservative. I'll say no more. That may be an attraction for some.

In the final analysis, Greenville is a mid-sized Southern city with everything that entails, plus really pretty surroundings. Living there won't break the bank, and as long as your entertainment needs are realistic (it's not a cultural hotbed or a center of innovative, progressive arts), I think you'll be just fine.

<<please don't forget it has a fine university also which will broaden the offerings possible.>>

You mean Bob Jones U.?

;-)

If you dislike Greenville because of its conservative politics, I'm not sure you'd be happy anywhere in South Carolina.

NO Big Russ.
At the moment almost anywhere is lamentably deplorable. I'm not sure where these folks are going in the south to "escape" that. Charlotte? There are lovely towns around us, even in SC like Fort Mill or Rock Hill (where you can escape NC income tax). We still have to put up with our neanderthal legislature and its antics but the living is good.
North of us we have a beautiful lake and numerous communities around it. We are 3 hours from the beach and 2 hours from the mountains.

If you want somewhere with seasons, that is far from flat, why not look at Asheville? Also a good crafts and food location.

As someone who hates the hot and humid summers in the NC Piedmont, I can't see moving from Florida to Greenville as offering much relief.

Thanks, DurangoDave, I wasn't sure! Always good to be enlightened.

LOL ;)

For the OP: Asheville, NC does check your boxes quite nicely, so don't rule it out (it might be a bit pricier in regards to real estate than Greenville, SC). Just a heads-up: Don't forget to look closely at the health care options in whichever area(s) you focus on. Greenville seems to come up OK In that regard, but you will want to ask around to make sure.