Relocating to Summerville SC (the sequel)
Relocating to Summerville SC (the sequel)
3 years ago I wrote my first Blog on my website (which I had just built) and it was called "Relocating to Summerville?" and still today it has had far more reads than any other blog I have written. So I wanted to write a sequel to that Blog and talk about some big changes in my community as well as add a few things I left out 3 years prior... I will present to you my TOP 4 reasons as to why I love living in Summerville so here we go:
Reason to Love Summerville SC #1 - Great School Systems
My son was 2 when I wrote the 1st blog and he is now going on 6 years old and will be entering into the Dorchester 2 Public school system this year. My wife and I chose our neighborhood for many reasons, however, one of the most important factors for us was which school our kids would attend when they started attending public school. We chose to send our kids to Beech Hill Elementary which according to publicschoolreview.com, is a top 10% overall school and top 5% in math proficiency in the state of SC. We also have top 5% middle school and a top 10% high school in our district. Dorchester District 2 (DD02) ranks 10th out of 82 districts in the state and is best overall district in the Tri-county area (Dorchester, Berkeley, Charleston). Its hard to go wrong with any of them but if you want the best in the district be sure to check out this link to learn more about the schools within the district DD02 school rankings. There are also a few private school options in the area if that is the route you wish to take.
Reason to Love Summerville SC #2 - Super Affordable
The real estate market in 2021 has been INSANE to say the least and the entire country is seeing huge value increases on their properties. Summerville and the tri-county area are no exception to this sellers market however Summerville still remains a very affordable city to live in given your local alternatives. Between 1/1/21 and 5/1/21, the average 2000 square foot home in Summerville SOLD for $156 per square foot or $311,600. Lets compare that to some of the surrounding towns. You have a few cheaper options such as Goose Creek, Moncks Corner and North Charleston however refer back to my #1 reason above to see why I still feel Summerville is the best option.
Goose Creek - $282k
Summerville - $312k
West Ashley - $362k
James/Johns Island - $413k
Mount Pleasant - $511k
Reason to Love Summerville SC #3 - Location
People all over the WORLD come to Charleston to see our beautiful city and we consistently rank in the top 5 cities in the world year after year. However if you want to LIVE downtown Charleston, you better be ready to drop at least $800k to purchase a single family home in the city. I can pull out of my driveway in Summerville and be sitting at a table of any downtown Charleston restaurant in 30-35 minutes depending on traffic and parking. I can be sitting on one of many beaches in 45 minutes (although my favorite is Edisto and is about 65 minutes away). If your into fresh water, you can be on Lake Moultrie in 45 minutes. If you are relocating here for work, there are tons of jobs that are less than 15 minutes from Summerville including some of the largest employers in the area like Boeing, Bosch, Mercedes, Volvo, Sportsman boats, Scout Boats, iQor and many others. Walmart broke ground on a 3 million square foot distribution center in Ridgeville which is also less than 20 min drive from most of Summerville. Traffic can be a bear during rush hour but a rush hour commute to any of the above employers isn't more than 30-35 min on a bad day.
Reason to Love Summerville SC #4 - Summerville Life
I touched on several of the things I love about Summerville in my last blog so to avoid redundancy, go take a look at those and I will discuss a few more things I love about living here.
Sawmill Branch Trail - since my kids have got big enough to ride their bikes, I love loading the family up and going to hit the 6.1 miles paved trails at Sawmill Branch Trail. If you park on Bacons Bridge Rd and take a right on the trail, it leads you to a playground which makes for a great rest stop for the kids after a short ride...
Hutchinson Square - Our small downtown square was revitalized in 2018 and is now a super cool place for free Friday night concerts and other town events. Tons of neat shops and restaurants within walking distance such as Accent on Wine, Cuppa Manna coffee and the corner general store where they will still hand scoop you an ice-cream cone
Parks and Recreation - Summerville has several free parks to offer its residents including a huge development on the Ashley River with a kayak launch and Pavilion they are working on as I write this. My current favorite is Gahagan Park which offers tons of sports for ages 3 and up. I have sponsored T-ball and Soccer teams for my 5 year old but they offer many options for Youth Sports for the kiddos.
Grocery Shopping - This was my wife's pick however within 5 miles of our home we can go to Aldi, Walmart, Lowes Foods, 2 separate Publix or Food Lion. We have learned which store has the best meat, the best veggies and the best desserts! There is also a BJ's just off I-26 in downtown Summerville which is always on the monthly to-do list.
SUMMARY
My family and I chose Summerville 7 years ago and still VERY happy with our choice. We have had several discussions recently after seeing our neighbors sell their homes and walk away with 150k-175k equity from 6 years ago and are tempted to throw ours on the market, however we keep asking ourselves... "where would we move to" and we just we cannot answer that question bc there isn't anywhere else we want to be. If you, or someone you know, is relocating to Summerville or relocating to Charleston, have them give me a call and I would love to share more about my experiences living in Summerville South Carolina.
