I have a good shot at a job in SC. For those of you who have moved from a predominantly "4-season" state/province to one with a much warmer and possibly wetter setting (or vice versa), do you love or hate (or meh) the climate & culture change? Any regrets, advice, etc?


Weighing the pros/cons:
Pro's - more $, more room for advancement, stronger company, more warm biking months

Cons - All family and most friends are in WI and the midwest, I'd miss snow...a lot, all the hassles of moving (selling the house, etc), I know no one in SC

Thanks for your input!

Where in South Carolina? That can be a big factor.

By the way, as my wife and I moved from Ohio years ago where all our family is located, to North Carolina - we have no intention to move back nor do we miss it.

Fountain Inn

That's just a few miles south of Greenville, the cycling hub of SC and the home of George Hincapie. What's not to like.
Once you've been there a season or two and without snow (riding all winter) you won't miss that white crap.

That's cold, so to speak. I miss a lot about Ohio. I especially miss it right around now when it's pretty much essential that I change between work and commuting clothes ever day.

But, like RonH says, 4 season riding is awesome. Not to say that people don't do it in snowy climates, too, but I was always one for putting the bike away in late fall and pulling it back out in the spring. No more. Now that I live in North Carolina, the bikes never stop rolling.

For me, the biggest adjustment is the warmer months when high temperatures and humidity conspire to make me into a rolling sweat factory. Not that I didn't ever see those days up north, but they were the exception, whereas here they are pretty much the rule for 3-5 months of the year. It means I have to pay more attention to clothing, sun screen, and hydration then I ever did before. The trade off is that I can bike to work in January without special tires. It's a trade off I'm more than willing to make.

You're running late, the smart people from Wisconsin have already gone south

Great place to move to. You'll be right outside of Greenville, home of the US Pro Cycling Championship. You probably will get a good four season climate there as opposed to me down on the coast.

Not a straight road around Greenville. Looks like I'll be buying a new GPS

And what's the deal with no basements? You'd think they'd want to take advantage of the cooling that mother Earth offers for free. I did some checking of soils map in the region and the reason does not appear to be geologic. Is it just the added cost?

I just heard some people having this conversation the other day. I don't know if anyone really was talking from any knowledge on the subject, but it was suggested that a relatively high water table combined with a high clay content in the soil meant it was easy to get water in the basement and hard to get it out, so unless you wanted to cool off by swimming under your house, the basement might be problematic. I know that my apartment complex doesn't even have a proper foundation. All the buildings are on supports that keep them a couple of feet off the ground. I don't know if that's related but it does make me think flooding is an issue.

Yes, water in the basement is something I am well-versed in. My Mom's house had issues for years largely due too a predominantly clay soil.

A term I have stumbled upon is a "walk-out"...a sort of half-basement for houses built on enough of a grade where the lower level might be a den or rec-room opening out patio doors onto a deck, for example. I can't help but think about the basement factor what with the bizarre number and severity of tornadoes just in the last month.

As always, Wikipedia to the rescue:

I would guess that the Southeast at times falls into the "wet climate" area and definitely into the compact soil category. But I expect the real reason, which is something that I had never considered, is simply that, according to the article, you need a buried concrete foundation in the midwest, so you might as well put in a basement. Down here you don't need one, so it's an added expense, plus increased flooding potential. Recent tornado issues do make a case for a basement, but I've been down here over 10 years now, and that's the first time I've seen anything like that. Living in Ohio, I seem to remember tornadoes being a much more common occurrence, although seldom with the damage we've seen here recently. More common down here are hurricanes, which come with a lot of water, so, again, flooding becomes more of an issue. Even with the wave of tornadoes we saw a few weeks ago there was flooding. So while you might think with all the attention the southeast has gotten lately that tornado shelter would be an issue, it really isn't an issue most of the time, and when it is an issue, a basement that's rapidly filling up with water might not be the safest place to take shelter.

Well it's all but certain that I'm on my way to SC. Just some formalities...drug test, physical, etc. Now to find the right house...I'd rather not rent and be moving all over again in a year or so.

Does anyone have tips on what to look for and what to avoid in a house in the southeast? I'm shooting for 3 bed, 2 ba, 2 car garage, big dog-friendly yard, decent shade trees, near work (cycle commutable), not a busy street, etc. I've pretty much given up the idea of a basement.