Reviews & Comments
North Charleston, SC
Metro Charleston -
8/21/2010I was stationed at the Charleston Naval Station in the early 90s and have regreted leaving ever since. Being a Navy guy meant I traveled a lot and had my girlfriend from my previous based area of Newport move down to the 'Lowcountry' to live with me. We got married sometime after and we set to stay but she became pregnant and there were complications with the baby and also we Navy folks were in the middle of decommissionings and base closures so I decided to get out of the service a little early and move north to here NE hometown of Fall River, Massachusetts.
The 'Southcoast' area here is OKAY, however the quality of good paying jobs are scarce, the housing costs are high, a person must commute a much a 1-2 hours each way to find decent work, the Fall River community itself tends to be one giant eyesore with lots of crime for a small town, and the weather as a whole stinks with snow staying on the ground longer than should be humanly expected! And because of a poor job outlook, the people tend to be pretty negative and take a 'glass half empty' attitude.
With all of that said, we have lived in another place besides in the northeast and that is Louisville, Ky. but for some reason my wife hated living there and the Greater Charleston area seemed to bring both the communities of Louisville and Southern New England together as far as we were concerned. We have a teen daughter now who is in to the arts and a 10 year old son who is gifted in the big 3 sports of basketball, baseball, and football and we as parents want a better opportunity for him to take advantage of those skills than what is here in Mass. We were very happy when we lived in SC before and are hoping to maybe catch 'lightning in a bottle' a second time and do what we should have done before and that is settle down and buy that 'southern cottage'. Any and all thoughts and advice would be much appreciated. ALSO, if the Charleston area might not be THE PLACE, please make some suggestions as to which southern or midwestern community might be a better fit for a family to finally settle down! Thanks!!
Fall River, MA
Currently Fall River and looking to move South! -
8/14/2010Fall River is a FORMER mill/factory town of years gone by. Much the same as people from other NE communities, a majority of the population are stuck in a rut with thoughts of the past in the heads. They are SO regional in that a 50 mile commute to Boston is considered a 'big deal' and 'far away!' Granted, because of the population living very close together the drive time to Boston isn't the same 50 miles as it would be further west. Nevertheless, many of the people in the community look back and pine for days gone by and take poorly to change!
People here to their credit are rather friendly inspite of their community being on the brink of a financial depression. The majority of the city is an eyesore in terms of both private property and city street cleanliness. The cost of living is moderate compared to both the Greater Boston and Greater Providence areas which are much higher! Also grocery shopping prices are reasonable too and other things such as dining, retail, etc. are reasonable as well. However, because of the TERRIBLE job opportunities, the overall lack of solid income disables people from trying to get up and become more upwardly mobile...much like the poorer SECTIONS of MAJOR Cities like NY, LA, ATL, CHI, PHILLY, etc.
Believe me, no disrespect to the people of Fall River, they seem to do their best with the hand dealt to them...it's just that their is very little opportunity to TRULY be success living in the area here. Most of the jobs are in retail, grocery stores, fast shopping places (i.e. gas, milk, bread, and soda type places), fast food, mom and pop type pizza shops, other restaurants, and handy man type work. Definitely not much to choose from with providing for a wife and 2 kids!
The weather overall here is terrible and unpredictable! The summers are hotter in the entire New England area than they were 10 years ago which is probably due to global warming. However, the winters are the killer! Lots of snow, sub zero temperatures, crazy wind chills, and worse...once it snows, it tends to linger for a few months while all along it becomes a hazard due to the poor cleanup conditions from either the city or the state. Imagine being at a Redsox game at the end of May and having to take cover from the bleachers due to the wind, cold, and snow showers! Pretty depressing!! Dealing with winter type weather for 6-8 months has obviously toughened the people up to being depressed and a 'half empty' skeptical bunch!
With all of this said, here is my goal...I want to move somewhere Va. Ky. south to Florida across to Texas or Oklahoma if need be. I am a democrat but am willing to make a few sacrifices and move to a red state! :) Bottomline, this is what I am looking for...a place that is warm more than its not because my wife and kids have asthma and experience terrible colds in the winter. A friendly clean city that is relatively low in crime. A great place to live, work, and play. A place considered a GREAT PLACE TO RAISE A FAMILY! A place where my kids can look back and say "this was a great place to grow up!!" A mid sized city that may or may not have major sports teams (ala Cincinnati, Orlando, Jacksonville, Nashville, San Antonio, Charlotte, OKC, Raleigh, etc.) or cities on the cusp like Louisville, Lexington, Hampton Roads, Charleston, Savannah, Gainesville Fl., Fort Myers, Sarasota, Tulsa, Mobile, the rest of Florida, greater ATL, etc.
First and foremost, I need a good paying job with lots of potential! I am flexiable to where ever and look forward to it as a challenge! I have a 10 year old son that is gifted with both size and speed and football is impossible up here because of national size guidelines and we need a community that embraces youth sports and will enable him to reach his fullest potential because he also good at basketball and baseball. We would prefer to be relatively close to a beach and aren't too worried about hurricanes because we used to be a navy family and kind of got used to that stuff while living in Charleston. An awesome public school system is a must and having a higher education choice in the community or vecinity is of premium value. also affordable property either rental or purchase is a must along with low crime which creates a safe environment to both work and play. Basically I guess I am looking for the most livable community possible, with warm weather, lots of jobs and opportunities, abundant amounts of education and the arts, tons of beach, golf, and other recreational opportunities, top notch youth sports, opportunities to see college and or pro sports, friendly caring people in the community, and the like the biggest bang for the buck!!
Sorry for the long winded story on my part and please get back to me with a list of potential places, advice, and or suggests as soon as the time permits. Thanks!