<p>I was hoping some of you can give me some information on Columbia, SC. My H and I may possibly be relocating there shortly and do not know what life would be like there. I would appeciate positives and negatives (other than the summer heat). We are ocming from the Northeast. Both on our kids are in undergrad and grad school. They have 2-1/2 more years and then I am hoping they have jobs somewhere.</p>
<p>Any info or comment would be welcome.
Thanks,
Stressed once again</p>
<p>Inexpensive, pleasant-enough.</p>
<p>On the plus side:</p>
<p>1) Coming from the NE, you’ll be able to live in a much nicer place for less money.</p>
<p>2) The weather is spectacular much of the year. Spring is to die for with the azaleas in bloom and so forth. Winters are mild. You can almost play golf or tennis year round, certainly 9 months a year. Summers are crazy hot, but you just stay in the air conditioning for a couple months.</p>
<p>3) You are within an hour or two of fantastic beaches, the mountains, etc.</p>
<p>4) The state capitol and the major state university are both located right downtown, which probably gives Columbia a bit of an edge over comparably sized southern cities.</p>
<p>5) Good bar-b-q. Good breakfast biscuits. (Major culinary liabilities in the Northeast!)</p>
<p>All in all, there isn’t anything that makes you jump up and down and rave about Columbia, but it would a very pleasant, comfortable, affordable place to live.</p>
<p>You had better like eating pig, particularly with that vinegar sauce. You will be amazed at the number of biscuit serving chains. And Chick-fil-A has a fetishistic hold.</p>
<p>If it snows, which it does every once in a while, do not try to drive: the roads will be impassable and kind of like a demolition derby.</p>
<p>Expect men to hold the door for you. </p>
<p>Practice speaking slower. At least a third slower from the Northeast.</p>
<p>I haven’t spent significant time in the city but it has more of a functional downtown than many of the smaller Southern cities.</p>
<p>We have been to Columbia SC a number of times. It’s an interesting city. There are some lovely housing developments around some lakes that are very very nice! We have some friends who had a job relocation and bought in a lake community and LOVE it there.</p>
<p>Thanks for all your comments.</p>
<p>You make me feel that I shouldn’t be as concerned as I am. I am sure we will be able to find a nice house-hopefully in a community that we like. But what concerns me is how different we may be the people. Born and raised in NYC, although I do not live there anymore, (we are a little under an hour north of the city) it is still NY. How are NY jews going to adapt to SC.</p>
<p>
Sitcom material right there. :D</p>
<p>Two words: Waffle House.</p>
<p>Kidding aside, the people are very friendly, but the culture is quite a bit different. Definitely more laid back than NY. Columbia is a cute little city.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Yeah, I’m afraid it’s like “All in the Family” with the Jeffersons living next door. Southern style. ;)</p>
<p>Ah Jews in the South. They’ve been there a very long time. The history is really interesting because so many of the Jewish communities started with peddlers. And that is an amazing story. Young men would come to America not speaking any English and would hire themselves out to be itinerant peddlers, literally carrying packs of cooking pots and utensils and samples of dry goods on their backs and walking out into what was then still largely the American wilderness. This was back in the early 1800’s. A guy would find a place he liked and set up a store. He’d order goods from his peddler connections. He’d maybe have a girl set to marry him or he’d travel to a place where Jews lived to be introduced to one. This is how Jews came to own so many of the little stores in little towns and how they came to build many of the department stores you would find in any small town in the US. Peddlers walking, then taking the trains. You can find their remains in tiny towns all over the South and West. It’s kind of astonishing when you get into the subject. </p>
<p>BTW, these stores often sat in the weird world between white and black. There’s an interesting memoir by a guy who grew up in Jackson, MS. His family owned a department store so they had some money but they sold to the black community - because Christian merchants generally did not. That and being Jewish meant they were in between: dealing with blacks as customers - and as their employer - and dealing with Christians but never close to either group. Lots of resentments from both sides because that’s what happens when you’re in the middle: while people taking from blacks from one side, Jews dealing with blacks from the other.</p>
<p>BTW, the peddling tradition translating into stores then translated in real estate development. A number of Southern real estate developers have been Jewish.</p>
<p>But that aside, you’ll find every Southern city has a Jewish community. It won’t be particularly large, though with the University it will probably be larger than in other small cities. It will be relatively close knit and welcoming because they know what it’s like. A large part of my family grew up in exactly like this. One thing that always surprised me is the extent to which many Southern Jews maintain dietary codes, even if it means importing meat. </p>
<p>This being Columbia, you likely won’t be asked where your horns are. You will stand out a lot by your accent. Even today, I see people tend to assume a New Yorker is Jewish but I think they are more likely to have prejudices about you as a New Yorker than as a Jew. So learn to talk slower. It’s easy. And smile, say hello, offer a few pleasantries in every conversation and you’ll find it’s pretty easy. Let the men hold the door for you. Basic stuff that lets Southerners feel they have better manners. </p>
<p>But - and this is a killer for me - expect your iced tea to be sweet. I hate sweet tea.</p>
<p>I’ve lived in all parts of the US and I have to say the people are the most friendly as a group in the South. You can get your iced tea unsweetened, but you have to be very specific and also remind them every time they come to refill you glass–and even then you may end up with sweet tea. </p>
<p>I think you should visit–you may be pleasantly surprised.</p>
<p>Spent part of every summer in Florence, s.car. You’ll see my grandfathers picture in the synagogue. He’d have Jewish movie nights, lots of scholarships to summer camps. Community way back then was small but tight. My friend, a psychiatrist, worked there for awhile and enjoyed the way of life. </p>
<p>Good luck</p>
<p>H and I were born and raised in NJ, moved to New England 13 years ago and are now in the process of relocating to Columbia, SC! We recently purchased a house in a lovely golf course community in the northeast area about 15-20 minutes from downtown. The house is comparable to those in our old neighborhood but at a fraction of the cost. Our realtor was wonderful so if you need a recommendation, send me a pm. H has started his new job and we’ve been splitting our time between the two locations while still selling the old house, with H more in the south and me, more in the north. We are planning on installing a pool to “enhance” our “Columbia, Famously Hot” experience. :D</p>
<p>We have found our new neighbors to be very friendly and welcoming, and several are transplanted from the northeast. We were invited to the neighborhood block party even before we closed on the house! The pace is definitely slower and more relaxed than the tri-state area. You may need to change your screen name :D. Coming from the northeast, it takes a little adjustment though our experience has seen significant pros with only minimal cons. It is nice to have people actually take the time exchange pleasantries (and mean it!) in everyday situations, but H does feel some business frustrations due to the lack of urgency that seems to be the prevailing atmosphere. He’s working on changing that in the office ;).</p>
<p>Sweet tea, bbq and fried chicken are plentiful, yet there’s also a Whole Foods, Fresh Market and Trader Joe’s (opening soon) along with some nice restaurants. There is decent shopping in the area but I think a big shopping spree may necessitate a trip toward Charlotte. Likewise, with the airports. CAE is very convenient, but CLT will offer better prices and many, many more options. We concentrated our house search to the north side of Columbia for this reason. Brush up on your defensive driving skills, we’ve seen some…um, creative driving maneuvers!</p>
<p>We’re really looking forward to the move and exploring a new part of the country, and plan to take advantage of our location and USC’s cultural and sporting events. Good luck.</p>
<p>I really appreciate all the responses. They have helped ease some of the unknown.
My-3-sons - I will definitely send you a pm once we have made a decision.</p>
<p>Learn to love college football. And get used to the hearing the term Gamecocks–often in the shorter form even in polite company. They have Starbucks and gracious older homes for a song.</p>
<p>My first college roomie was from there. She was/is very dear.</p>
<p>
I’ve been flying DD in and out of Charlotte, because even adding in the cost of the shuttle, it is costing $100-200 less than flying out of Columbia.</p>
<p>And most of the flights out of Columbia go to Charlotte anyway, so you don’t even save time.</p>
<p>
DW turned down the offer of a shirt that said ****S in 15 inch letters. Can’t imagine why. :D</p>
<p>Just think of all the nice vacation places you’ll have close by in South Carolina.</p>
<p>Kids say Yes, Ma’am and Yes, Sir. Driving age is younger than in the north. People expect to have a life as well as a job. Commutation patterns are not as extreme as in the NYC area.</p>
<p>Generally agree with the decriptions of ‘Carolina.’ Some SC residents stil insist on calling their home ‘Carolina’ notwithstanding that other place, i.e. Charlotte, Greensboro, Durham et al. LOL.</p>
<p>The Upland and Columbia are bit different from the rest of the state. I wasn’t particularly impressed with downtown Columbia, but there are pleasant diversions and entertainment. Fall Saturdays will be bustling with activities related to USC football games. Be prepared for mustard sauce B-B-Q. Watch your speed on the Interstate Highways. Dump your northeast license plates as soon as possible, as I never saw troopers pull over resident drivers on the stretch of I-85 between Gaffney and the Georgia state line. By the way, there is the ocassional hurricane but the effects will be restricted to the Low Country and no further north than Orangeburg.</p>
<p>As for Jewish communities, there is a longstanding Jewish tradition in South Carolina, particularly in the Uplands. Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke is a native South Carolinian, for example. Incidentally, South Carolina was one particular southern state that historically also had a prominent Catholic population, among the majority protestants. So if you’re Catholic you won’t feel like a novelty among your neighbors (unlike a northeastern acquaintance who settled not far from Charlottesville VA many years ago and was greeted with some discomfort by his protestant neighbors, but that’s another story).</p>
<p>I was born and raised in Washington DC and then at the age of 22 found myself living in SC (still here 28 years later). I lived in Columbia for several years (college & 1st job) and now live about 1 1/2 hrs away. Son at South Carolina, so we go down often (including the football games).</p>
<p>Here are my observations:</p>
<p>People are very friendly but not very direct. They can be turned off by the type of directness people exhibit in NY (personally I like knowing exactly what people think but here, ‘politeness and niceness’ are what people value, not necessarily the truth or intellectual discussions).</p>
<p>Beautiful place to live - weather great (though Columbia tends to very hot and humid in the summer). Many winters (and I live in the Upstate near the mountains) I never wear more than a light jacket.</p>
<p>Columbia has the most ideal location. 2 1/2 hours to Charleston and the beaches. 2 hours to the mountains. Charlotte is 1 1/2 hours away.</p>
<p>Cost of living is very reasonable.</p>
<p>Sweet tea - yep - served everywhere. I personally only drink water but if you don’t like your tea extra sweet, ask for unsweetened or 1/2 and 1/2.</p>
<p>Columbia is all about the Gamecocks. On football Saturdays be prepared to stay away from downtown Columbia, traffic is horrendous. Though even if you aren’t into college football, it’s worth going to at least one game. We have an awesome pre-game show and stadium. And tailgating here is a major all-day event.</p>
<p>Like most college towns, lots of bars and good restaurants. </p>
<p>Since Columbia is the state capital and also home to the state flagship university, there are a lot of state employees living there as well as university employees.</p>
<p>From what I hear, Lake Murphy is a nice place to live and reasonably priced. If you decide to live downtown, the Shandon area is considered one of the nicest (charming, older homes). A lot of the downtown area housing is full of college students, so be careful about where you live down there. Many people live in the neighboring suburbs - Lexington, Cayce, etc. Downtown Columbia is nothing special except for some good restaurants and the university. Five Points is where the college students hang out. The ‘Vista’ is where most of the nice restaurants and shops are located though some of my favorite restaurants are located in or close to Five Points.</p>
<p>I’m very under impressed with mall shopping options in Columbia but Charlotte is so close you can always make a weekend trip and shop to your heart’s content if you want more upscale shopping.</p>
<p>Politics and religion - sore subjects with me. As a liberal ‘northerner’ I am still shocked to this day with how frequently people in SC just naturally assume everyone is conservative. It’s taken for granted. I live in the most conservative part of the state (commonly known as the ‘Upstate’), Columbia is less so and Charleston borders on liberal. There are really plenty of liberals here, they are just sort of quiet about it (I have no idea what your political affiliation is, just trying to give you an idea what to expect).</p>
<p>Same is true for religion. There is often an assumption that everyone is a church going Christian. Some people talk non-stop about their faith. It took me a long time to learn to just smile and nod and not get upset or worse, into an argument. </p>
<p>It took me some time to adjust but now I like it just fine. People are really very friendly and helpful and you will meet a lot of northern transplants. There seems to be a vibrant Jewish community in all the large cities in SC and people are very respectful of them. Good luck!</p>
<p>I am going to preface this comment by saying that I was born and raised in NY but have lived in GA or SC since 1989. There are many things that I love about the South but there are a few things that can be disturbing.</p>
<p>Be prepared for the “where do you go to church?” question, which will come from anyone and everyone. It’s a very Southern way of evaluating strangers. Based on your answer, people will instantly make assumptions about you. It’s also used as a way to connect. Since a majority of people in the South proudly go to church people often know where others go to church. If you mention a Temple, if they know a neighbor or coworker that goes there they will tell you about them. </p>
<p>Be prepared for racism. The confederate flag flew over the state house until about ten years ago. A confederate flag still flies on the state house grounds. Maurice’s BBQ, a Columbia landmark, prominently flew the flag at all their locations until just recently. We lived in Florence, SC, where some bars and restaurants were membership clubs. Fees were inexpensive but guess which race got memberships? In true Southern fashion, I have learned to communicate my displeasure with racism and President bashing without being rude. </p>
<p>South Carolinian’s LOVE their state flag. The navy background with the white Palmetto tree and crescent moon are on anything and everything.</p>
<p>Good luck with your move.</p>