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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.
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