Originally Posted by Mein11
I've been fortunate enough to live in Raleigh, NC (6yr) and Charleston, SC (3yr now) and I'll say....., it's really hard to pick out of love for both. Grew up in Metro-Detroit for 23 years first, so my opinion is non-biased.
Raleigh is more in-land and the Triangle area was awesome. Between UNC, Duke, SC State, there are a lot of college-ish areas that tend to have some really good food spots, and night life (if you're into that). A lot more small BBQ golden ticket places with bomb ass food. The other great thing was the mountains weren't far, and neither was the ocean, so some weekends would go to the beach and surf (or attempt) and drive home. Wilmington was a bit of a hike, but not terrible as a person from MI. Blue Ridge Parkway wasn't far, which is a slow drive, but leads to so many gap roads and others that you could get lost on and end up at some shanty restaurant in the mountains.
Charleston. Close to the ocean, Mt. Pleasant, West Ashley, Daniel Island, etc. are all within a reasonable driving distance, the area just feels much smaller. I play tennis or golf mostly within a 30 minute drive from the northern Ladson area. There are a lot of...., go to..., places to eat and drink. Downtown, Shem Creek, and some coastal / beach bars, and the finding of new places kind of stops (to an extent). The BBQ here is so-so, the only place I religiously visit is Lewis BBQ downtown, the rest are okay at best. The weather here is preferred over NC as there are no "ice" storms in the midst of fall / winter changeover (roads glazing, random snows that shut the state down).
I'm rambling at this point, but it would be hard to choose one over the other, they both have great pros and "slight" cons. Hurricanes are not avoidable at either, the closer you live to the coast, the more prone you are to having a bad time. I've been fine through all living "in-land", getting a truck was a big benefit being able to drive through flooded areas.
You had more points of interest, and I'll say from buying a house, $125k got a nice 3br 2b in Knightsdale NC (outside Raleigh), the same footprint was $225k in Ladson area, SC. Property taxes have been fairly similar, both in HOA communities.
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