That's it. I'm moving to SC

[Franklin]

Well, that's my decision. Let's see how it pans out. I started the ball rolling already. I just have to convince the that this is the right idea. She agrees and also wants to move, but we are afraid of the job situation right now. We have jobs, and right now they seem to be the biggest asset to have. Ask the unemployed folks around here, they can tell you that!! I was in those shoes for over a year and it is horrible on many levels!

Obviously I liked Myrtle Beach and SC in general. Now I just need to find a job there.....

There wasn't a real "music scene" that I could find there, and the couple of musicians I spoke to said that the paying gigs are becoming almost extinct and that solos/dous are getting all the paying gigs. Oh well, no more hippie bands for me I guess... LOL!

[Kap'n]

Good luck.

Other than liking the beach, why SC? When I was a kid, my Dad almost moved to Greenville for a job at the GE plant. I still thank him for not bringing me there.

[Offshore Angler]

And if memory serves, SC has a luxury tax. I've spent some time in SC since there are a lot of boatbuilders there. To me it was always a nice place to visit, but, well you know the rest.

[Cygnus X1]

Not sure of a luxury tax.
Property tax rates have dropped off dramatically since around 2001.
Sales tax is 5% , with 1 or 2 % local option.
Property values are generally lower than similar areas around the country. Anytime you get close to the beach then all bets are off though.
Other things to consider, the price of food, staples of life, gasoline etc. are amongst the lowest in the US.
Employment is still fairly plentiful with auto makers, bearing companies like SKF, Koyo etc.

What I like best is proximity from Columbia to the beach, Charleston, Blue Ridge Mountains, all within a 2 hour drive.
Back in the day, I understand-Greeneville was backwards.
Now with BMW and affiliated businesses-it is an entirely different place, with a lot of transplants!
It ticks some people off, but I notice most of the people who find themselves in white collar positions are generally "not from around here".
Even as a machinist I made more money coming in the door
as a former NY/AZ guy than many of the others that had been around for 10+ years.
More education, wider range of experience helps, but many of those people that hired me in "high" were yanks themselves.

I know Myrtle Beach is down about 20-30% in business like the rest of the US, but there still is quite a number of clubs there and things are busy.
It's no Nashville but I'm sure a full time musician could scratch out a living there.

[Franklin]

It doesn't have to be Myrtle Beach or SC, but my wife likes it there and I want a warmer climate. Well, I actually need one. While my sons may not get a better education at the public schools, they would have a better quality of life in general - at least I believe so.

[elicross]

I wouldn't move to SC unless I had a job already lined up with a strong, established company in an industry that's not having trouble (if there is such a thing). This is a bad time to move anywhere and just assume you'll find a job when you get there, but my understanding is that SC's unemployment is the second worst in the country, behind Michigan.

Just something to keep in mind while making plans. This could be one of the worst places in the country to be looking for work, if you came without a job lined up (or if you moved in, got settled, and then got laid off from the job you were counting on having).

[Cygnus X1]

, but my understanding is that SC's unemployment is the second worst in the country, behind Michigan.

True.
Two things happened to make the problem worse.
Prior state government administrations bloated the public sector. Those jobs were getting redundant and unnecessary, so they had to go.
The other is legacy fiber manufacturers that simply couldn't compete with Southeast Asia any more.
The odd thing is that the higher tech jobs that moved in gave many families a different lifestyle.
If the guy was a maintenance tech in the textile industry, and the wife was running the machinery, it was worth 70k between the two. Now the maintenance tech can earn that alone in one of those foreign owned companies while the wife pursues other interests, like real estate.

And then the highway money stopped, that had a large impact on this state as well.

There are still great opportunities around in various sectors.
Real estate values only went down about 15% on average compared to the much larger (well deserved) drop in other states. Those people that bought into bad loans and got upside down were hit just as hard as everywhere else. Self inflicted.
I know, I was warning some of my best friends not to "buy it just because the credit is there". I know three that lost their houses over it. Decent incomes, just far too deep in debt.
Nice Hummer...but can you live in it?

Sorry, it's a tangent.
I do like SC, I like the people, love the landscape...the weather is tolerable to me. Still a bit too cold in the winter but at least we have four seasons.

[muddy]

I like many areas of SC but Myrtle Beach isn't one of em. MB = tourist trap, the city has no character and it's basically a get out your wallet town with a steady stream of transients year round.

Way back in the day it was alright but now not so much.
I'd research other areas of the state before I relocated.

[elicross]

Well, if you've got the money to live on the beach, there are lots of nice towns near Myrtle Beach that aren't so touristy. My folks have a condo in North Myrtle Beach, and when I was a kid we used to go to Cherry Grove a lot. Everything's grown up a lot since then -- and the Pavilion is gone -- but I think it's still possible to find a decent beach town without dealing with the tourist traffic and tourist-town prices.

[Cygnus X1]

There are some real nice deals within comfortable driving distance to MB though.
Another thing to love about SC, the little pockets way off the beaten trail that are simply golden.

[Franklin]

Thanks for the input guys!

Sorry about the rant, it's theraputic for me!

I hear you elicross, but there are no guarantees in life. I almost took a job within my own company 2x that would have resulted in being laid off by now. My company and our products were "recession proof", not this time around. We are still making money, but they laid off 1000s of people and are closing dozens of factories -some just built. They are taking "proactive" steps to better position us in the marketplace when the economy turns around. Too bad the corporate geniuses don't understand how our customers feel about all of our restructuring and the deteriorating service and quality. We are one of the highest price fine mist sprayers in the market, and our customers did not care since they had excellent quality pumps and excellent service. That and the mark up on fragrance is sometimes over 1,000%, we were all living high on the hog for a long time with too many employees making too much money.

Once the market dropped 30% everyone freaked out and lowered their inventories as much as possible (many to the point of crippling themselves!) and now everyone is starting to scramble to try and get inventory for the Christmas season. Guess what? We laid off a bunch of people and closed some factories, we are already not able to keep up with the open order book and are way over capacity. The customers are wanting to get pumps ASAP, but our lead times at best are 8-10 weeks if we don't need to get anodized metal which is almost always unique to each pump. That can incrase the lead times.

Even molding the unique finished components takes a while, and people are starting to want stuff ASAP as we held stock for them. Everyone is up shits creek at the moment, many of our big customers are on credit hold and that is causing even more problems because we are not working with them, we are cutting them off left and right.

Nope, we've increased our prices again. Instead of working with the customers to "see each other through the hard times", we are being short sighted moron's who either listen to the guys dropping shit from their ivory towers or get fired for not being a yes man.

We've destroyed what made us worth the extra money, and now we are just the guys with the expensive pumps. The name is no longer synonymous with excellent service and quality.

That's just the tip of the iceburg, I can't even start on what sending production to China has done except lose lots of huge customers. Some have gone as far as to set up their own exclusive suppliers instead of dealing with China. The China business is mostly cosmetic packaging and they are moving the operations to CT. They are laying off 10 people in WI and hiring two people here to manage it and one transplant. They don't care that the 10 people they layed off in WI could not handle the workload.

So, I have no idea what tomorrow holds for me here. I plan on either getting a new job down there or working remotely for my current company.

If we can sell our house here and find work there, we're going. There is year round work in SC, and I'll find something. I don't know if we would buy another house right away though, and definitely would not if we didn't sell this one. I don't need no stinking mortgage holding me back!

[Cygnus X1]

-- and the Pavilion is gone -- but I think it's still possible to find a decent beach town without dealing with the tourist traffic and tourist-town prices.

Yes, we LOVED the Pavilion.
My boys and I would run around like fools from arcade, to amusement ride, back to arcade, the race track...and cheap!
Plus a real boardwalk.
Sweet wife and I spent many romantic nights along there too.
From the "Gay Dolphin", to the Bowery, and everything in between.
Just going up on top and sitting on the benches was cool to watch the cruisers passing by at night.

[Franklin]

Way back in the day it was alright but now not so much. I'd research other areas of the state before I relocated.

I plan on doing more research, SC might not be the perfect place for us, but I have to also make the wife happy. I like being near the ocean, so I don't want to be inland 2 hours. I want 5-10 mins, tops. Maybe Charleston, Hiltonhead, or NC/ Outerbanks will be a better choice.

[muddy]

Perhaps I'm just partial, but North Carolina beaches are the best on the Eastern Seaboard imho.

I live on the mainland adjacent Topsail Island NC, great place to live. Yes we have or "difficulties" with outlanders and all, but for me it's a most cool part of the world.

The Outer Banks, the Inner Banks, Down East, the Low Country, it's all pretty good.

But, what ever you do don't move here?! ;-]

[elicross]

Well, it's true that there are no guarantees in life. But life's not a daily roll of the dice, either. You can make your luck better by your actions, and you can make it worse, too.

There's no question that you can do your absolute best to do everything right, work your butt off, and still end up without a job...but you make it a lot more likely if you leave a job you've already got on the assumption that you'll find something else in a state with the second worst unemployment in the nation (at a time when the whole nation is in serious economic trouble).

[Cygnus X1]

Well it's a buyer's market Franklin.
Not sure where to direct you for specific employment.
Check the area business directories for feelers.

If you are well trained and experienced, there are still many open doors here.

[Cygnus X1]

..but you make it a lot more likely if you leave a job you've already got on the assumption that you'll find something else in a state with the second worst unemployment in the nation (at a time when the whole nation is in serious economic trouble).

Again, that trend started well before the current economic conditions caused by...well let's not go there.
(Ahem National Politics).
It was a natural flux that would have happened regardless.
Part of the problem is talent not keeping up with opportunity.
Higher tech jobs can't be filled with untrained worker bees.

That is why, as I said...there is so much migration happening.
The numbers are not like as in Michigan, where they are doing everything they can to protect jobs that are simply union promises gone awry.

[muddy]

Unemployment is very high in NC and especially Eastern NC right now. Good jobs are very tough to find and many folk are having to do whatever to survive.

I've never seen so many college grads working in one local grocery before!

Dispite what your skills are and how qualified you think you are (and I'm sure you are), I'd caution against relocating anywhere without a firm good offer in hand.

[elicross]

Again, that trend started well before the current economic conditions caused by...well let's not go there.

I haven't come close to "going there." I'm not insulting South Carolina or its current government or any other government. I'm speaking only of the reality in this country in general and SC in particular. I haven't said a lonesome word that would even imply who's to blame for it, because it doesn't matter in this case. The situation exists, and until it improves I don't think it would be wise to leave a job you already have on the assumption that you'll be able to find a new one in any other state, least of all South Carolina.

That's my opinion, based on my understanding of the facts. I'd wait for the economy to get considerably better before I considered leaving my current job. That has zip to do with politics.

[Cygnus X1]

These are corporate, some are filled internally with folks moving from SC to TX for example.
This place is hiring, though not posted here:
http://www.cmc.com/Job-Openings.aspx

And I know they aren't the only ones.
IT and Safety are big winners for the company.

I hear the same stories for SKF, INA bearings, BMW, FN Manufacturing...etc.
If you're a button-pusher, tough luck.
If you have accounting, compliance, IT or managerial skills backed up with engineering, there are holes to fill.

Sorry eli, I was <cough cough> the one that brought up the politics.
No need to "protest".

[Gris]

Man, you should investigate Jax FL and our beaches in particular.

[elicross]

Sorry eli, I was <cough cough> the one that brought up the politics.
No need to "protest".

I wanna take that apology in the spirit in which it was intended, but the "<cough cough>" and the quotation marks make me unsure how it was intended.

[Offshore Angler]

Jax would be a lot better choice IMHO. It's also not dependent on military spending like a lot of SC.

[Franklin]

My only concearn is finding a job, then moving and then at some point losing that job. Finding a job isn't that easy in that area of SC. I don't know a lot about JAX, but my wife has aunts and uncles who moved there.

What is the job market like there? It's probably better than Myrtle Beach!! LOL!

[Offshore Angler]

Jax rocks. It's beautiful city that seems to renew itself constantly. Plenty water ( heck half of the highways in town are long bridges ), good jobs, and far enough up the coast that it stays out of the lion's share of the hurricanes. You can weekend in Daytona, and it's far enough away from Orlando to keep the tourists away. It's not so much a destination location as it is just a nice place to live with good weather and lots of ocean. It's really, IMHO, one of the sleepers in the best places to live category.

[Franklin]

Thanks for the input Chuck!

[Gris]

Plus, if you wanna check it out first-hand, you know you can stay free with me or my mom at the beach... ;-)

[jerryjg]

I've been thinking of moving to Montana. It doesn't take much land there to grow a small lucrative crop of dental floss, or to raise some pygmy ponies.

[Franklin]

Plus, if you wanna check it out first-hand, you know you can stay free with me or my mom at the beach... ;-)

Thank you Sir! I may take you up on that.

[jerryjg]

" 'Ban de Solie' for the San Tropei tan"

[gibsonjunkie]

My ex wife had family in SC. The areas like Myrtle Beach are pretty cosmopolitan and a New Englander would fell at home - heck, half of Connecticut seems to retire to Myrtle Beach. Inland I always felt that it was very different culturally. Slower pace, still some racial sensitivities but right neighborly people. You need to look into education. A lot of folks prefer private schools (so you need to think about that) although the people I knew made those decisions because of race rather than quality of schools. Frankly, that was also almost twenty years ago and I'm sure some things have evolved since then. In some areas, like where the family lived (Bishopville, to be exact) you would see a huge mansion sitting right next to a tarpaper shack. Very strange.
We used to spend a lot of time fishing down there - great bass fishing!!!! You won't see many trout, but BIG bass down there. We used to stay at a cabin on Lake Murray (in Prosperity - home of Minnie Pearl! - near Columbia) and it was awesome fishing!

[Cygnus X1]

We used to spend a lot of time fishing down there - great bass fishing!!!! You won't see many trout, but BIG bass down there. We used to stay at a cabin on Lake Murray (in Prosperity - home of Minnie Pearl! - near Columbia) and it was awesome fishing!

What?
You're saying Minnie Pearl is (or was) just a few miles from where I live?
I didn't know that.

True on the schools. And not much has changed in many rural places despite throwing a lot of money at the problem.

[gibsonjunkie]

I understand Prosperity used to be called Frog Level at one point in time. My ex's uncle owned WAGS radio until Hugo knocked his tower down and he decided to retire rather than get it fixed. I used to enjoy his gift of gab. He always told the best stories....

[Cygnus X1]

I understand Prosperity used to be called Frog Level at one point in time. My ex's uncle owned WAGS radio until Hugo knocked his tower down and he decided to retire rather than get it fixed. I used to enjoy his gift of gab. He always told the best stories....

And thus the world gets ever smaller!

I built a ham type homebrew receiver a few months before Hugo.
The ham guys were reporting from different areas what was happening all through that night and I listened.
I heard about that tower when it fell!

No, I was not familiar with the station, but I remember the various reports and recall that one as it happened.