Possibly moving to Columbia SC
 

I'm in the final stages of interviewing for a great job in my field, and I found out today that I will be flown over to Columbia in early December for a final meeting before a decision is reached. Currently, I'm in Seattle, and have lived here for 14 years. I was born and raised in Glasgow. I've done all the City Data/Wikipedia stuff and I was a bit stunned by the high crime in Columbia.

Could any Brits comment on the subjective aspect of living in South Carolina? Clearly it's climatically different from Seattle/Glasgow, but what are the people like? How are white/black relations? Do people walk around a lot or is it like LA? Are people healthy or slobs for the most part? Lots of Bible-thumping? Are the coastal parts of the state interesting?

(BTW what's with all the emotion icons? Is it for children?)

Re: Possibly moving to Columbia SC
 

:ohmy:;)

Re: Possibly moving to Columbia SC
 

Well generally the South has higher crime rates than the North, Columbia and even Charleston, SC have high crime rates. And this is South Carolina, home of the now famous Joe Wilson (you lie!) and this is a very conservative "Bible thumping" state that has a gigantic proportion of loyal Republican voters. If this isn't your cup of tea, I wouldn't move to SC and just stay in WA.Of course if you don't mind, SC is a fine state. The high crime really is concentrated within the city limits, the city suburbs are generally pretty good as far as crime goes. But just remember don't make climate the number one factor in moving to another state, if you have kids the public schools in SC don't perform nowhere near as well as WA's.

People wise, I find Southerners in general to be hospital good people, as long as you do not talk politics with them (if you have liberal leanings) or make fun of their accent ;)

Well I hope I casted some light into your questions, of course the best people to ask for people that already live there, but I'm assuming you'd choose to live in a place outside of the city limits, like most professional Americans, you'll be alright as far as crime is concerned.

As far as race relations go, good question. I would assume that racism and racial strife in SC will be more noticeable than in the liberal Pacific Northwest. Remember, this is an ex Jim Crow state and slavery was its backbone since colonial times up until the Civil War. Though from my view, it's mostly the older white generations that don't seem to be as friendly to blacks as the younger ones are. Just beware of people flying the Stars and Bars outside their house or have said bumper sticker on their car :lol:

Re: Possibly moving to Columbia SC
 

Love that av :lol:

Re: Possibly moving to Columbia SC
 

My favorites are :rofl:,:frown:, and:thumbsup:......:lol:

Re: Possibly moving to Columbia SC
 

Thanks for your response.

I would be moving to Columbia SC for the money and career opportunity, not for the weather. Secondly, I'm more concerned about how blacks treat whites rather than vice versa (I'm white). Columbia looks to be 50/50 between the races and I was curious how that works: harmonious or not.

Not wanting to sound like a broken record, the crime per 100,000 people is three times that of Seattle concerning murder, rape and assault. I went to uni in Belfast in the mid-80s, so I know that violence can be localised and specific; is crime mostly black on black in the South, to your knowledge?

Regarding accents: I'm used to hearing funny accents as I grew up listening to English accents on telly.

Lastly, I knew I was in for a serious taunting regarding the icon remark!

Re: Possibly moving to Columbia SC
 

Are you afraid of blacks? Are you expecting to be treated fairly by whites but discriminated against by blacks?


I don't believe it is... but would it make a difference to you if it was?

Ian

Re: Possibly moving to Columbia SC
 

Having lived in the Caribbean for 12 years, I understand what he is saying. I personally don't see the colour of people's skin but others do. In Cayman, the crime is mainly against and within cultural groups hence here we see crime within the black Jamaican/gang community which is soul destroying for their community and also devastating for the country itself but allows a certain degree of confidence for the tourist/expat that he believes that he has a slim chance of being involved in this "warfare".
Whenever I am in Atlanta, I feel that I have to go the extra mile to show that I am "sans couleur" which I am ashamed that I have to feel, given that I spent 22 years of my life in the UK where multi-racial society was the norm and bloody marvellous. Also within Charlotte, NC crime tends to be "black on black".
But a country that has a TV channel entitled BET - Black Entertainment TV - isn't it instigating racial segregation? Could there be a channel WET - White Entertainment TV????? Holy Moses - not in this PC society!!

I've only been to Columbia, SC once but I LOVE SC - I know I only "live" 4 miles from the NC border but many of my neighbours are real SC folks who moved near to NC for jobs, and they are so cool, a bit religious not too forceful but down to earth and love to have a good time.

Can't comment on Columbia but the beaches in SC are fantastic, Folly Beach is delightful, rustic, laid back, Isle of Palms, Sullivans... and even Hilton Head if you like the refined travel experience - we loved cycling on the beach on New Years Day..

Re: Possibly moving to Columbia SC
 

Pretty much everything ChrisfromUSA said is true. I live on the coastal SC area although these days I'm not there much.

Hot and humid as hell in the summer and cool to cold in the winter but it's a short winter. Plenty of churches, mostly Baptists and Evangelists. However I think somewhere like Alabama is worse for the religion everywhere thing. Very Conservative. Fine if that's your thing (it's not mine). Certain areas are heavily black especially along the I-95 corridor like Marion County. Those areas tend to be forgotten by the local politicians. Look like ghetto towns. On the plus side the cost of living is cheap mostly except in my area they just voted to increase sales tax to 9% That's higher than NJ!

Columbia is the State capital so is maybe slightly more cosmopolitan in comparison. Although I used to fly there a lot, almost every night spent there but never really got to see much of it because I was there overnight only. The downtown area seems much like many Southern cities. A mix of residential outside, business, bars, hotels and restaurants inner city. Easy access to I-20 (east/west) and I-77, I-26 (north/south). I'd say the nicest town in SC would be Charleston.

I'd imagine it will be a culture shock coming from the liberal NW. One claim to fame for SC...it has the joint highest high school dropout rate in the country (53%, FL is equal highest) so this now famous gem from the Miss Teen USA contest sorta proves that (unfortunately) LOL

Re: Possibly moving to Columbia SC
 

Fair play - she was doing well until she opened her mouth...

Re: Possibly moving to Columbia SC
 

Bet she's a Palin voter ;)

Re: Possibly moving to Columbia SC
 

Just that comment alone tells me you will fit well in the deep south! :lol:

Re: Possibly moving to Columbia SC
 

I have decided to book a holiday to coincide with the interview; this should allow me more time to get a feel for the state. I have rented a car so that after my interview I shall travel to Charleston. I'm looking forward to seeing all the "old" buildings. Thanks for the tips regarding the coastal areas to visit, I think I'll give 'em a shot.

Perhaps I'll give "y'all" an update upon my return.

Re: Possibly moving to Columbia SC
 

Miss SC actually said later that she didn't hear the question and got so flustered that she just rambled about Iraq and stuff. Why didn't she just say "Huh?"

Re: Possibly moving to Columbia SC
 

I dug a little more deeply into the crime stats: many of the murders in SC were/are black guys killing black guys. The number one cause of death amongst black men aged 18-21 is homicide. In 2005 two thirds of homicide victims in SC were black; one third were white. Lastly, black women are five times as likely to suffer domestic abuse in SC than white women. An inconvenient truth perhaps. So, yes, I think it is relevant that I'm white and most crimes are against blacks. Sorry if the truth hurts, but I'd rather know the facts than live in a bubble.