Retirement in Aiken, South Carolina
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12/11/2014
Retired in 2002 after 36 years in metropolitan NYC. Established three major criteria for retirement community: 1) Low cost of government (taxes), 2)warm winters, and 3) equestrian focus. Spent two years, including 150 days on the road, evaluating all U.S. east coast equestrian communities, from Cape Ann, Mass. to Wellington, Florida. Aiken, S.C. bubbled to the top: 1)very low property taxes (for seniors), and very low state income taxes (for seniors), 2)beautiful winters, and 3) a very wide range of equestrian activities plus a town (Aiken) with a powerful equestrian history going back to the late 19th century. In addition to these three major criteria, Aiken is 4)a beautiful and vibrant little town with 5)the number one small public university in the southeast, University of South Carolina Aiken. Also, 6)the pace of life is relaxed, 7)there are a surprising number of regular cultural events for such a small town (population approx. 30k), and 8)there are multiple fine golf courses, a reflection of the close proximity of the Masters in August (30 minutes from Aiken) and the Palmetto Golf Club in Aiken, the second oldest golf club in the U.S., redesigned in the early 1930's by the same course designer who designed the Masters. In addition to the polo fields, steeplechase fields, racetracks, etc., Aiken has multiple fox hunts, dressage events and a vast equestrian trail network. At the heart of Aiken's equestrian activities is Hitchcock Woods, a 2,252 acre private (in a trust) equestrian preserve with 75 miles of equestrian trails maintained by the Hitchcock Woods Trust. Three activities are permitted in the Woods: 1)riding a horse, 2) pulling a carriage with a horse, and 3)walking. Other than a horse drawn carriage, no other wheeled vehicles and no other activities are permitted in the Woods Hitchcock Woods is not a public park and is not managed by the City of Aiken. It is Aiken's crown jewel. South Carolina's capital, Columbia is one hour north of Aiken. Charlotte, North Carolina and Charleston, South Carolina are each 2.5 hours from Aiken. Atlanta, Georgia is 3 hours from Aiken.
Now the negatives: 1)June, July, August and September are hot, 90's and, sometimes, over 100. Very humid. Many of our friends go north for this period, especially to Saratoga, N.Y., Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine, closing up their Aiken homes. 2) Locals are polite but wary of non-southerners. When they speak of "the war," they do not mean WWII. They mean the Civil War or, as they refer to it, the "War of Northern Aggression" or the "War Against the States." The school textbooks to some degree reflect this sentiment. 3) The "Southern Accent" can, sometimes, be difficult for a non-Southerner to fully understand. This problem is compounded by Southern expressions not commonly used outside the South. 4)The local work ethic is not what non-southerners are used to. 5)There is very little professional, gainful employment due to the lack of an industrial base. The major employment from the early 1950,s until the early 1990's was the Savannah River Site or SRS which, at its height, employed over 35,000 engineers, physicists, chemists, etc. It was one of the three most important nuclear sites in the U.S., the other two being Hancock in Washington and Los Alamos in New Mexico. Today, SRS employs approx 8,000 and that number continues to decline. Aiken's main demographic today, consequently, is retired seniors. If you are an equestrian, active or former, Aiken is a retirement dream come true, probably the best on the east coast of the United States.
David | Aiken, SC