Just Visit .... Don't Live Here unless you want to
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8/22/2007
Ah Charleston. You tricky city. You are beautiful, fairly inexpensive to vacation, and have both modern and historical ammenities. But if you are looking to relocate here WAIT! Read this posting and the posting by Brian to get the REAL story. I very briefly relocated to Charleston. I had visited the city several times and was given the impression that it was a very affordable place to live. What I learned is I can live in Charleston if I want to only make an average of $20,000 a year to a job that back home I made $45,000. That was of course if I could find a job. I was in Charleston for over 6 months and applied to over 90 positions and heard from only three employers that took a very long time to get back to you, and then only to offer a salary that wouldn't be even half enough you would need to accomodate the skyrocketing real estate prices there. Do not be fooled--- you do not need to be in an upper class neighboorhood, live downtown, or live by the beach to have soaring rent/real estate prices in Charleston. As Brian said in his post, there is no room for middle class in Charleston, you are either very poor and live in a bad neighboorhood(and yes, there are many) or you are struggling to make ends meet and have to reside with 3 roommates. Please, if you are over 30 years old like I am that roommate thing is not enticing. Average home price in Charleston = $250,00+ to START(and it gets terribly worse from there). Rent for a decent place start at about $750/$800 for a tiny 700 sq ft one bedroom apartment, no utilities included. If you think you may want to rent a home or townhouse, 2 bdrms begin at about $1200/month. When most jobs there only pay $10/hr (for pretty demanding positions) how can you possibly do it? What I learned in Charleston is there is three categories: A. You come from old money B. You are a student receiving help from parents and most likely have roommates C. You are retired and don't have to worry about finding a job. If you are none of the above and do not have an already outstanding paying job....good luck. If you think you are alone in hoping Charleston was a great relocation spot, think again. Everyone is flocking there with the same bird-brained idea I had which is really hurting chances of finding a job as there is much competiton. People only arrive to find sticker shock on everything from their car insurance raising and again especially real estate. Crime is pretty bad there and without a doubt stay away
Claire | De Pere, WI