lmoneylsauce

My fiance and I are planning a trip to visit Savannah and Charleston next month. We are considering relocating to one of those places, as I used to live in New Orleans and LOVED it (but alas...Hurricane Katrina). I was wondering if any of you could help me read between the lines and explain the major differences between the two cities?

For instance, I get the sense that Charleston is a bit more upscale and has less crime than Savannah but beyond that--I'm not really sure. Is the crime as bad as people say in Savannah? I live in NYC now so it's not as if I'm a timid person...but some of the things people post on here about Savannah safety have concerned me.

And also, do you think that the "high society" (whatever that means) resents Northerners moving down to their cities? I read an article in Travel & Leisure that made it sound as if the old families of Charleston were very clique-ish and anti-Yankee and VERY "Old South." What do you think about this description...does it ring true? Thanks for your help!

GoTravel

I think the basic difference between true Charlestonians and true Savannians is that Charlestonians are snobby as hell and people from Savannah are one inch away from the nuthouse.

You'll never get close enough to someone from Charleston if you aren't from there. They are polite, will do business with you, be very gracious, but never accept you.

You will never see the inside of 'high society'in Charleston. The oldest deb ball in the US, St. Cecilia's Cotillian only takes girls who are legacies.

That is just how it is.

Truthfully, I think Charleston's crime rate is higher than Savannah's crime rate.

Of the two, I think you'd be happier in Charleston. It has much better dining and shopping.

lmoneylsauce

Really? Maybe Savannah has just gotten more bad press about the violence there, but that's interesting to note! I had sort of heard the same thing you mention about Charlestonians not really fully accepting transplants...but then again, not sure I'd want my daughters (if we have kids) to be part of a deb society. That's not really who my fiance and I associate with up here...LOL. Thanks for your input!

poss

I truly believe that once you spend 3 or 4 days in each of those cities you'll understand better than from anyone's comments what some of the differences are. We've visited each half a dozen times or more, and we much prefer Charleston-- but livining in a place can be very different from just visiting it. Still, I think you'll get a pretty good sense of the differences even on a visit.
By the way, I think there're lots of comparisons between the two on other Fodor's posts. If not exactly "comparisons," at least folks talking abt why they might prefer one over the other.

Dukey

Topping.

lmoneylsauce

Yup, I did read a lot of the other posts Thanks though!

This may sound ridiculous, but I'm kind of concerned about crime in these cities...can anyone give me an idea of how bad it is? I used to live in New Orleans and crime was pretty bad there, especially because regardless of what neighborhood you lived in--you couldn't escape it. My car was broken into probably once or twice a year, usually just petty vandalism (and I lived in a "nice" neighborhood) and most of the locals I knew had at some point in their lives been mugged. I'm not talking about people doing foolish things (like walking the streets at 4 am alone) but more like getting robbed on their way from parking their car to their doorstep, etc. etc....

NYC (where I live now) is a lot different just because there tends to be more people out, later at night & there's not as much opportunity for this type of crime in certain neighborhoods. If you live in a "nice" neighborhood it is a lot less likely for this kind of stuff to happen, whereas in New Orleans you could live in a 5 million dollar house and get mugged on your doorstep.

Any thoughts? Also, what are the public schools like?

BetsyinKY

I have never been to Savannah, but Charleston and New Orleans are two of my favorite cities, and I have been to both several times, so I can give you my perspective as a visitor. I had been to New Orleans at least three times before I ever visited Charleston, and one of my first thoughts when walking in Charleston was, "This reminds of New Orleans, only less gritty." In general, I have felt safer on the streets of Charleston than in New Orleans. There are neighborhoods in Charleston where I would not want to be on foot, but for the most part, the lower part of the peninsula is pretty safe. The areas above the Visitor's Center are a little dicier. When I was there for a week in October, there was a feature on the local news about citizens in this area forming patrols with the police to "take back" their area from drug dealers, etc.
I haven't spent much time in West Ashley, which is across the Ashley River from downtown, but I have been in Mount Pleasant/Isle of Palms/Sullivan's Island quite a bit and I've never felt like I was in a shady area.

Charleston doesn't quite have the music scene that New Orleans has, but it is definitely competitive in the food arena. There are so many great restaurants in the area and the food has some of the same influences as New Orleans food (African, Caribbean, seafood). Charleston also has beautful architecture and so much history. I keep meaning to go to Savannah, but I just love Charleston so much that I can't make myself venture on down the coast!

GoTravel

Charleston's high crime rate is actually in North Charleston (different city but most outsiders don't differentiate between the two).

Most of the crime is crime on crime (drug deals, gang violence against other gang members, etc). I have lots of friends who live in different areas of Charleston from the beaches to the suburban neighborhoods to downtown and they never even mention crime.

GoTravel

I forgot to add that the biggest basic difference in crime between Savannah and Charleston versus New Orleans is that Savannah and Charleston have never had the corrupt police force New Orleans has been plagued with for decades.

miller20621

Do the residents of Charleston & Savannah resent Northerners? Well, there is a popular bumper sticker down here that reads "We don't care how you did it up NORTH!". However, both cities have significant college, military & retirement populations, which brings a mix of cultures and personalities.

As a transplant, you'll never be part of the "old" South, but you probably didn't pick NYC for its elitists, either.

Are you planning to live in downtown, or the suburbs? From my limited experience (I lived btwn the 2 in Beaufort), Charleston is the more preferable city, *but* Georgia's state government is a little more progressive for residents.

lmoneylsauce

Very true about the police force in NOLA. But unfortunately, corruption doesn't stop there either...the superintendant of the public schools was fired because he had paid his father (a public school janitor) hundreds of thousands of dollars a year for "overtime" and for certain sums of money (or by hiring the "right" lawyer) you could have records misplaced or cases go in your favor (this at least, is what I hear from friends of mine).

Thank you for distinguishing for me between the crime in North Charleston and the other areas--this is definitely what I was curious about. Every city has areas where this is true, but the one thing I didn't like about New Orleans was that there, it's inescapable--every neighborhood seemed plagued with it to a degree.

lmoneylsauce

We would definitely want to live in the downtown area. My fiance and I love going out to restaurants, bars & are in love with the beauty of the old homes in the historic districts so we would probably want to live there.

What makes Georgia's government more progressive than SC's? I do actually get the sense from things I've read that Charleston is more conservative...I am very liberal in my views...might this be a problem at all or will I be able to find local friends who don't vote for Bush..LOL?

GoTravel

To overgeneralize, Georgia mostly swings democrat whereas South Carolina is firmly republican.

However, Charleston is the exception to the above. It is a strong democrat city (Joe Riley, the town's beloved mayor of 20+ years is a democrat). Charleston also has one of the largest Jewish populations in the south. It also has several major universities (Citadel, College of Charleston, Medical University of South Carolina) a very strong arts presence (google Spoleto and Piccalo Spoleto) and all this is downtown.

Charleston has a very urban feel while retaining a small town walkable vibe.

Keep in mind, the above applies to downtown only.

lmoneylsauce

Thank you! That really helps put things in perspective and I am ok with living in a liberal city, even if it is in a more conservative state. We love art and my fiance is Jewish, so Charleston may end up being perfect. This may sound silly, but although he isn't very religious (just celebrates the typical holy days) I did worry about him being the only Jewish person in town. Is Savannah less religiously diverse than Charleston?

Here is what we are considering dining/seeing in both cities---any feedback would be appreciated! We'll have 2-3 full days in each city.

CHARLESTON
Anson Restaurant
Bookstore Cafe
Circa 1886
Magnolias
Peninsula Grill
Poogan's Porch
--Also am interested in going to see Drayton Hall (how far a drive is this), walking around town, gullah tours & seeing the art museum.

SAVANNAH
Elizabeth's on 37th
Mrs. Wilke's
Cleary's
Gottleib's
Lady & Sons
700 Drayton
Moon River Brewing Co.
--Would love to do some walking tours, some Midnight in the Garden stuff, tour of historic homes and a ghost tour.

Here is where we are considering staying in each city..we do want to stay in/near the historic district/downtown area so if any of these are far out please let me know:

CHARLESTON
Vendue Inn
Elliott House Inn
John Rutledge House Inn
Kings Courtyard Inn
Wentworth Mansion
Rutledge Victorian Guest House
1843 Battery Carriage House Inn

SAVANNAH
The Gastonian
Azalea Inn
Mansion on Forsyth Park
Eliza Thompson House
Joan's on Jones

aileen679

Savannah also has three large Jewish groups. Reformed, Conservative and Orthodox. They are all a large part of what is important in Savannah. The Reformed congregation puts on an annual food festival in one of the parks. It's Great! They call it Shalom Y'all.

I think you would find Savannah more relaxed than Charleston. But that probably more about where you happen to live. Savannah is not as old, (1743) and it doesn't see, tp be quite as important as to who your family was. OLD money goes back a couple more generations in Charleston. The traditions link Charlestonians to French and English royality (so they think, LOL) while Savannah was founded by people from the debtors prisons in England, and religious refugees from the Salzburger and Moravian areas. It does make a difference in attitude. If you don't move in the upper strata of society, you most likely would not notice much of a difference.

As far as crime.....well, let's hope that you won't be going into those areas where crime is really bad. Residents in both cities are familiar with what areas to stay out of, and which to be careful in, and which are not bothersome at all.

And BOTH cities are fed up with people moving in and almost immediatly start explaining how we should change so that we would be more like people "back home." You would not believe how hard some work to change things around. I think we can be forgiven is sometimes we forget our manners and tell the speaker to go "back home" if things are so much better there.

poss

One of our favorite things abt Charleston are the two wonderful gardens about 15 min away: Magnolia Gardens and Middleton Place. Not sure what's in bloom in Feb., but I suspect those places are handsome at any time. Drayton Hall we liked less well.
We also love Kiawah Island, abt an hour and a half away.

GoTravel

Excellent post aileen!

FWIW, Charles Town, South Carolina was founded in 1670.

Imoney, if the prices of Wentworth Mansion don't scare you, look at The Planters Inn and Market Pavillion. I love the WM but it is a short little hike away from things. Absolutely nicest place to stay in Charleston and one of the best restaurants no doubt about it.

lmoneylsauce

Thank you---I will definitely check those inns/hotels out! You are all helping to clarify for me the differences between the two cities immensely. Keep it coming...LOL!

BetsyinKY

I love, love, love Drayton Hall. It is the only plantation house on the Ashley River that survived the Civil War and the house has had very few improvements or modernizations since that time. The guides there are wonderful and guide takes a different approach with his/her tour. The senior guide, Bob Barker, actually knew the last Drayton to live in the house, so his tours are full of all sorts of personal accounts of Drayton family history. The tours are a fascinating hour, if you love history/architecture. It takes about 20 minutes to get to Drayton Hall from downtown, unless you get hung up in traffic in West Ashley. Drayton Hall, Middleton Place, and Magnolia Plantation are all within a few miles of each other, so you could easily visit more than one, if you have time.

lmoneylsauce

We really like history stuff so the plantation house tours sound interesting. I have done a bunch near New Orleans and loved them, so hopefully these will be great too!

What do you guys think about the hotel choices? Are they ok...I realized that Mansion on Forsyth is not in the "Downtown"...is it still worth staying at and is it true that it's in a dicey area of town?