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Not the song. I'm considering some long term plans to move to this area. If you live here, what town and how do you like it. What is the coldest it usually gets. I would consider Fla but I can't take the lower cost of living. So I need someplace that is warmer then NJ, is coastal, has good employment and fairly reasonable housing costs.

Depending on what you do, most employment in coastal areas will be seasonal. I know you spend time in Hatteras, so I'll use that as an example. Winters there, the natives go NUTS. Cabin fever. Lot of alcohol abuse (the bad kind, not the "fun" kind.")

Winters there, the natives go NUTS. Cabin fever. Lot of alcohol abuse (the bad kind, not the "fun" kind.")

This was what I had to point out to my sons when they used to say how much they would love to live there. Local guys with no teeth roaming the streets loaded at noon. The only locals who have a good life there are the transplants who have their own businesses.
No, an area like Hatteras wouldn't work. I"m thinking of some of the towns which have a large amount of retirees or that have a major college nearby. I"m considering Wilmington, NC or Charleston, SC as a couple of possibilities. Husband is a commercial hvac/r mechanic so he could look for work with a company or preferably in a hospital, school or university. I teach so I would take a pay cut to go south but I think it'd be worth the tradeoff.

I live in Charleston, and spent every day that I lived in Tennessee (not quite a year after college) wishing I was back here. In my opinion, there is no better city in the world (believe me, I've looked). Here's the thing though, living here isn't cheap. By comparison to some places I guess it is, but be aware that 1300 sq. feet in a decent location is easily going to run you $150,000+. Most subdivisions in Mount Pleasant are going to start closer to $200,000, and just forget the islands, you can't even get a lot on the islands for less than $300,000.
If you want to teach, the schools don't pay as well as they could, but it's not that bad (my fiancee's a teacher). I also see you're a writer, I'm not sure what your specialty is, but the local paper is notoriously tough to crack, and local marketing/advertising agencies are either small, or somewhat unorganized and impersonal when it comes to their hiring practices.
I'm not trying to discourage you, just trying to show you some of the hurdles you may encounter.
That said, this is a beautiful city, and one that lends itself to the literary mind. Nowhere has ever felt more like home to me, and I wish you success in your search for a home near the water.
Oh yeah, look for highs in the low to mid 90s in the middle of summer, sporadic snaps of mid 30s and 40s in the winter, and regular highs ranging from 60-80 through most of the year.

Oh, and if you do move down here, I'll be expecting a good deal on any HVAC work my house may need!

I've lived in Charleston several times and I think it has everything you're looking for. Last I heard the poplulation for the greater Charleston area was about 500,000. I think tourism is officially the leading industry but there are all sorts of year-round jobs.

It gets in the teens once or twice a year, 20's a handful of times. It snows about once a decade or so. For reference, Daytona Beach is about a 6 hour drive if you get a sudden urge to head south.

Sounds like your husband could try Roper Hospital or the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) for employement - both are downtown.

Housing costs vary depending on where you look and how far you want to commute. Summerville and Goose Creek are cheaper, but traffic is pretty heavy coming into downtown from there.

You might find some useful information here;
http://www.charleston.net

Let me know if you have any more specific questions, and I'll do what I can to get the answers.

PalmettoSon wrote:I live in Charleston, and spent every day that I lived in Tennessee (not quite a year after college) wishing I was back here. In my opinion, there is no better city in the world (believe me, I've looked). Here's the thing though, living here isn't cheap. By comparison to some places I guess it is, but be aware that 1300 sq. feet in a decent location is easily going to run you $150,000+. Most subdivisions in Mount Pleasant are going to start closer to $200,000, and just forget the islands, you can't even get a lot on the islands for less than $300,000.
If you want to teach, the schools don't pay as well as they could, but it's not that bad (my fiancee's a teacher). I also see you're a writer, I'm not sure what your specialty is, but the local paper is notoriously tough to crack, and local marketing/advertising agencies are either small, or somewhat unorganized and impersonal when it comes to their hiring practices.
I'm not trying to discourage you, just trying to show you some of the hurdles you may encounter.
That said, this is a beautiful city, and one that lends itself to the literary mind. Nowhere has ever felt more like home to me, and I wish you success in your search for a home near the water.
Oh yeah, look for highs in the low to mid 90s in the middle of summer, sporadic snaps of mid 30s and 40s in the winter, and regular highs ranging from 60-80 through most of the year.

200,000-300,000 is a bargain. In the Boston area suburbs you can't even buy a shack that needs to be torn down or total rehab for under 375-400,000the a half decent small 1,500 sq ft house aprox 50 years old will run you atleast 450,000 min. It's a joke. And with all this snow I got to go where it's warm

PARROT HEAD MIKE wrote:

PalmettoSon wrote:I live in Charleston, and spent every day that I lived in Tennessee (not quite a year after college) wishing I was back here. In my opinion, there is no better city in the world (believe me, I've looked). Here's the thing though, living here isn't cheap. By comparison to some places I guess it is, but be aware that 1300 sq. feet in a decent location is easily going to run you $150,000+. Most subdivisions in Mount Pleasant are going to start closer to $200,000, and just forget the islands, you can't even get a lot on the islands for less than $300,000.
If you want to teach, the schools don't pay as well as they could, but it's not that bad (my fiancee's a teacher). I also see you're a writer, I'm not sure what your specialty is, but the local paper is notoriously tough to crack, and local marketing/advertising agencies are either small, or somewhat unorganized and impersonal when it comes to their hiring practices.
I'm not trying to discourage you, just trying to show you some of the hurdles you may encounter.
That said, this is a beautiful city, and one that lends itself to the literary mind. Nowhere has ever felt more like home to me, and I wish you success in your search for a home near the water.
Oh yeah, look for highs in the low to mid 90s in the middle of summer, sporadic snaps of mid 30s and 40s in the winter, and regular highs ranging from 60-80 through most of the year.

200,000-300,000 is a bargain. In the Boston area suburbs you can't even buy a shack that needs to be torn down or total rehab for under 375-400,000the a half decent small 1,500 sq ft house aprox 50 years old will run you atleast 450,000 min. It's a joke. And with all this snow I got to go where it's warm

I'm just comparing to Nashville where people thought 600,000 for a 5000 sq. ft. home in a gorgeous neighborhood, close to town was obscene. I guess it's all in your reference point.

I second or third the Charleston reference, although the traffic is horrendous! (My opinion.) There is no off season for tourism any more...
No beach bums... The beach communities are great: Sullivan's Island, Isle of Palms. I used to work at the MedU (MUSC)... Great place, great people! Go visit for the Cooper River Bridge Run and Walk the first weekend in April... It's the last one before they tear down the century (I think) old bridge. Also, Daniel Island is newly developed (between Charleston and Mt. Pleasant) and hosts BIG name tennis tournaments.
I grew up in Summerville and get back a couple times a year, but again it has grown so much it's not the same... still charming though. The whole Tri-County area is very cosmopolitan, if you want that. Plus, garden plantations, marshes and lakes within close drive.
I don't miss it, though. I'm into small-town life now! It's a nice place to visit, but don't want to live there, glad I once did.

I guess it is, but be aware that 1300 sq. feet in a decent location is easily going to run you $150,000+.

I live in a small beach town whose population goes up 100x during the summer. Our town planners are allowing alot of changes that are driving out all of the year round residents. Taxes doubled in one year. The house behind me on a very, very small lot, no yard at all sold for 750,000. They promptly tore it down and put up a quadplex for summer rentals. This is the story all over here. I love a place with a small town feel but with the opportunities that a cosmopolitan area offers. My kids graduate from high school this year and they will all be off at college. We're still young and can accumulate plenty of time at a new employer so it's the perfect time to make a move somewhere warm. The thing that drives up the cost is that we won't move far from the coast again.