Myrtle Beach good for families? (Conway, Georgetown: sales, 2015, waterparks)

[beach2015]

We are looking to move to the Myrtle Beach area. but with lots of questions first. My wife and I are in a somewhat unique situation with both of us being retired and having kids in middle school and elementary school. We used to live near the ocean on the west coast but the cost of living was outrageous. After looking around it looks like the Myrtle Beach area has an affordable cost of living with the beach feel that I really miss. Is Myrtle Beach a good place to raise a family, or is it just a resort type town with lots of retirees? I would like to find a place within several miles of the ocean within our price range. There seems to be a few on the market, but lots of them are in Surfside Beach. Are both areas good for families with good schools and accessible shopping? Any input to help with our search would be appreciated.

[KavH]

There are lots of neighborhoods with kids - while there are a lot too with just "old folks" , you can find plenty with a mix.
As in any town there are good areas and ones to stay away from. It all boils down to the exact where you want to be - north or south, blocks from the beach or within a short drive. My advice is to come here and look. Drive around neighborhoods in the afternoon ( after school gets out) and see just how many kids are out and about.

[tjgiardi]

Hi Beach,

I did my undergrad in Conway near Myrtle Beach a few years ago, and I have to say, the public schooling system is terrible down there. A lot of my local friends can vouch for this. Very, very behind on the times. A truly fun and entertaining, not to mention affordable environment for vacationers and schoolers... or again vacationers, hehe, but I really would recommend looking elsewhere for raising children here. No nutritional options, high crime (and i mean that), and not a lot of room for growth in business.

I had an amazing time attending schooling there but had a first-hand view of what it would have been like to raise children there. Eh.

[emsman]

Surfside Beach is a nice community but the area is growing fast in and around it. Because of that the traffic in that immediate area is awful, and in the summer it's worse. Myrtle Beach city its self has good and bad areas, there are lots of drugs its seems. No place is perfect.

There is lots to do in the area and shopping is great, but I can best describe the area as a "destination", not really a place to live in my opinion.

As far as crime and safety, you can go to the City of Myrtle Beach website and look for P2C under the police dept.. That will allow you to see every police report filed, Horry County Police (the county around Myrtle) just went live with there public reporting system also. While it doesn't mean it's all bad, its kinda neat to be able to see it.

If you truly love the area I recommend from Surfside Beach south to Georgetown to look at.

[Beach bound14]

How is the Carolina Forrest area?

[KavH]

I think Carolina Forest is a nice area - but everyone has his own opinion.
My husband recently worked with a teacher building a new house who HAD to build in that area for the schools. ( for their own kids) I thought that was telling since as a teacher they usually have the real scoop and the quality of the schools.

[Beach bound14]

Good to know...from the research I've done the schools seem good. Like you said if a teacher is looking to move to the area for their own kids, the schools must be good.

[MB86]

I agree, come here and spend a few days looking around. Some neighborhoods have little to no kids but many of the areas in the Carolina Forest sections have lots of kids. Depends on each section, where the house is etc.

I like the CF area, busy but you can go either direction to get to amenities you need.

Doing some antique shopping last week during community yard sales in CF the kids were everywhere I went.
Lots of clean items, kids behaving well and neighbors helping each other out. Lots of families from up north in the CF area as I seen lots of football banners from Ohio St, Pittsburgh Steelers, NY Giants, NE Patriots, Indiana Hoosiers etc and I had my Buckeye hat on and usually got asked about the Buckeyes QB who is out for the season.

We have been here a bit over a month and so far we are extremely happy with the move and wish we had came sooner so we could enjoyed more of the warmer weather, ocean, waterparks etc.

Surfside also have some really newer nice areas growing along 17. St James schools was researched by us as well as CF High School 3+ years ago when we began looking.

You are not unique , we are in our mid 50's and have teen children as well.

[Rup2310]

Beach2015, did you end up moving to the area? My wife and I are in a similar situation and just started looking at the area. Just curious what your decision was and if you are happy with your decision?

[SCtoLongIsland]

I’m in my mid 50s with an elementary age child.We moved here almost four years ago. I don’t find the crime or traffic to be a real issue. I chose Murrells Inlet, but I do run my child from school in Pawleys Island to Pepper Geddings in Myrtle Beach for swim team about four times a week. He loves it here. It’s worked well for us. We enjoy the weather, the people, and the area. We have passes to Brookgreen Gardens since it’s close, and we go there a lot. There are lots of activities here for families.