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- My wife and I lived in Charleston for a year and it was nice but not feasible for us long-term.
- We found the cost of living and booming population to be more than we could manage.
- So, we moved north to Florence, South Carolina, and found many upsides to living in a smaller city .
I’ve traveled a lot and lived in many places, from Frankfurt to New York City. But at my core, I’m a native South Carolinian and I’ve lived all over the state throughout the years.
So, I wasn’t surprised to find Charleston at No. 9 on US News & World Report’s list of the 15 best places to live in the South . It really is a great place, with its thriving economy, culture and arts scene, beautiful beaches, and many restaurants and bars.
My wife and I lived in a rental on James Island, a few miles from downtown Charleston, for a year from late 2020 to 2021.
We liked the area so much we intended to eventually buy a house there — but we later learned living there wasn’t feasible for us in the long run.