Going down next week to scope it out with some relatives for them.

What do we need to know, where to be, to avoid?

They will be commuting to the trauma center.

Sounds like most available starter homes are where there are HOAs...

For a few years, I was working in the NY / NJ area and home was in Central Florida. I commuted home from the job on weekends. The flight in the V-Tail was just on the edge of fuel range; in good weather, I did the trip non-stop, but if there was any possibility of weather problems I made a fuel stop so that I would have plenty of options.

Columbia was a good fuel stop, as the airport there had some of the lowest fuel prices on my route.

Last time I was there, I re-fueled and then borrowed the "crew car" (an ancient battered pick-up) to go to a nearby restaurant to grab a quick bite. It was a mom-and-pop restaurant, typical local southern place, nothing fancy. I ate, and on the way out I noticed a small table near the door with stacks of local flyers, brochures, etc. One of the pamphlets had a schedule for meetings and activities of the local Klan group.

quote:

Originally posted by V-Tail:
Last time I was there, I re-fueled and then borrowed the "crew car" (an ancient battered pick-up) to go to a nearby restaurant to grab a quick bite. It was a mom-and-pop restaurant, typical local southern place, nothing fancy. I ate, and on the way out I noticed a small table near the door with stacks of local flyers, brochures, etc. One of the pamphlets had a schedule for meetings and activities of the local Klan group.

The year that this occurred might be relevant here...

quote:

Originally posted by ChuckFinley:
Going down next week to scope it out with some relatives for them.

What do we need to know, where to be, to avoid?

They will be commuting to the trauma center.

Sounds like most available starter homes are where there are HOAs...

I grew up in New Orleans and now live in Charleston, SC. Columbia is the hottest and most humid of anywhere I've ever been It is called the armpit of the south for good reason.

quote:

Originally posted by nhracecraft:
The year that this occurred might be relevant here...

To be fair, he has a lot of years to choose from.

quote:

I grew up in New Orleans and now live in Charleston, SC. Columbia is the hottest and most humid of anywhere I've ever been It is called the armpit of the south for good reason.

I went to USC and while moving in my freshman year, we had a summer downpour and immediatly after it was over you could see the water rising off the backtop and going right back into the air. Columbia is the only place i've ever seen it rain up.


as for the city itself, its been 20+ years since I lived there so I'm not really qualified to say what is and isnt good about it anymore. I just pass through occasionally these days. Palmetto State Armory is always worth a stop.

Niece and her family moved there last summer. They like it there and the weather is better than Indiana where they left.
They got a lot of house for the money and I don't believe it has an HOA.
They are both in education.

Charleston is the place to be. Columbia has little in the way of nightlife and to be frank is very boring. The Klan is not a problem.
In a word it is dull.

I've spent a lot of time in Charleston - always had family there. Only drove up to Columbia once to go to the zoo.

It's a pretty nice zoo. Like most city zoos, however, it's not exactly in the middle of a neighborhood I'd be looking for property in.

I know that's not useful, but I felt like posting something. Unless your relatives like penguins. The zoo has a pretty good behind the scenes penguin tour that gets you up close and personal with them. In that case, this might be at least tangentially useful.

-Rob

Hotter than Houston, with less breeze and colder winters.

If they can commute in from Charleston/Summerville, I’d strongly encourage that.

The best bbq buffet is "Little Pigs" on Alpine road.

It's hot as the devil in the summer.

Can you give more details on "commuting to the trauma center"?

My grand mother and aunt lived in Columbia. I spent a couple months there. Grand mother worked at Dillard's. While they had very modern rentals, the Mexicans who lived there were pigs. The locals are risky drivers so caution. All the side streets leading to the main drag through town, side walks were covered in broken booze bottle glass. You could hear domestic disputes going on at night. We would walk to the Piggly Wiggly store and people were not so friendly because we are caulky Asian. Only thing I got to offer is FN is there so maybe you could tour the facility.

quote:

Originally posted by Edmond:

quote:

Originally posted by nhracecraft:
The year that this occurred might be relevant here...

To be fair, he has a lot of years to choose from.

Agreed, but it's the south, so it's not necessarily an issue exclusive or limited to Columbia, SC either...

I would bet money Vtail ate at a Maurice's BBQ and it was 20 plus years ago.

Ha...that's a good guess on Maurice's. Columbia is very much a southern city, but I wouldn't expect to find a lot of klan literature lying around in many public places these days. In all honesty, Columbia is probably preferable to the Charleston area, because the low country is full and the influx of outsiders has drastically altered the quality of life.

quote:

Agreed, but it's the south, so it's not necessarily an issue exclusive or limited to Columbia, SC either...

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
You are behind the times. I am a Yankee and have lived in the South for decades. The North has substanially more racial issues. I guess you think Mississippi Burning is a contemporary film.

Southerners tell non-PC jokes, and use the n word - and have their mixed race cousins over for Sunday dinner, go to a desegregated church, and still stay in touch with the other race person they dated in college.

Yankees cross the street when an “AA” walks down it, and complain how racist a southern state is which has a black senator, a gay senator and just had a governor of color…

quote:

Originally posted by ZSMICHAEL:

quote:

Agreed, but it's the south, so it's not necessarily an issue exclusive or limited to Columbia, SC either...

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
You are behind the times. I am a Yankee and have lived in the South for decades. The North has substanially more racial issues. I guess you think Mississippi Burning is a contemporary film.

Dude, we're talking about the Klan, as in the KKK (Ku Klux Klan)! It's no secret that it was founded IN the SOUTH, by Southern Democrats, and primarily operated/existed IN the SOUTH!

If you've lived in the 'south' for decades, maybe you're not as knowledgeable about 'the north' as you think are...

The Klan hasn’t had any real power, at least in SC, for decades.

Pretty much every professional and business owner in the WWII generation “had” to be a member, but those days are long gone.

Even the strange tiny dead town stuff was all but died out by 2010.

Aglifter is correct...it's no longer a thing. Best estimates are that the klan has around 3000 members in the entire country. It's conceivable that some rural SC town may have an active cell, but they have no power and aren't a source of fear and dread. I needed a spoiler alert on the gay senator thing, though...I thought Lindsey was just odd.