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Hello,
I live in NJ and me and my husband are looking to relocate to SC. We've looked at some homes in the Conway/Loris area but am trying to get a realistic idea on how those areas really are. We may consider the Summerville/Charleston area as well. But I'm really looking for honest opinions of the Conway area.
It depends on what you are looking for. Your question is very broad.
Conway is a delightful little town with some good areas and some bad areas from a safety standpoint (much like any town). If living near the beach is important to you, it's probably not the best choice as in the summer it will take at least 45 minutes from many areas in Conway to get to the beach...traffic especially on the weekends will be horrible. We considered Conway when we moved here but decided it was too far from the beach.
I, personally, would not consider Loris...too much crime in that area for me but some people love it. Depends on where you live. It's also a bit of a hike to the beach.
We also looked in Summerville when we were looking to move to SC. We loved the town but it was at least an hour to the beach depending on traffic. Charleston traffic is horrible every day.
What, specifically, do you want to know about Conway?
Loris has a small downtown and a lot of rural country areas. Has kind of a shady reputation, and a fair amount of crime, not as much as Longs, but not *great* either. There are some subdivisions in the Loris area you might consider.
As far as Conway goes, a lot of crime in certain areas, some subdivisions, some rural country areas, but many that got destroyed by the flooding from Hurricane Florence. Traffic is horrendous, and a million traffic lights. Conway during rush hour is a nightmare. Getting to and from the beach during peak season from Conway is also a nightmare.
CTYankee-
Thanks. Where did you end up moving to? I guess I was just really looking for an honest answer on the area. When I posted the question if someone said OMG no he area is horrible lol. If someone was asking about moving to Jersey and said they were looking at Camden that would be my answer LOL. The beach isn't that hugely important and I work remotely so traffic for me isn't too much of an issue. When we were there we were focused on looking at houses but then I wasn't really seeing or getting a feel for how far away like grocery stores and things like that were. We are not retiring down there, I'm 45 just looking to get out of Jersey since things are really getting out of control up here.
We looked at lots of communities in the Grand Strand from the NC line all the way to Murrell's Inlet but ended up in Forestbrook (near Socastee)...neither of which is an official town. They are unincorporated areas of the county and are on the western side of the Intracoastal Waterway just south of the airport.
SCin2013's summary of Conway is spot on but if you don't necessarily need to be near the beach or go that often and work from home, Conway is nice (except certain areas). If you choose Conway, definitely check the flood zone maps. Not all of Conway is in a flood zone, but you want to make sure the house you like is not in a flood zone/near a river/swamp. We have friends that moved to the outskirts of Conway and they love it there but they seldom come to the beach or into the Myrtle Beach area...they focus their lives around Conway.
I would, generally, stay away from Loris although there are some nice areas but, overall, not a place I'd want to live.
There are a million grocery stores and other shopping all along the Grand Strand and unless you're living in Aynor or out in the country somewhere, getting to shopping is not that much of a problem.
My advice is to do what my wife and I did when we were considering moving here. Make 2-3 trips down at different times of the year with the only thing on your agenda is to look at different neighborhoods/towns. Don't come in vacation mode or do the tourist things...spend all your time driving around to different areas. Drive through neighborhoods...get out of the car and ask people who you see out and about if they like where they live and why. See how far the stores, churches, schools, etc are from the neighborhoods. Go into the grocery stores and ask the employees what the area is like. Ask who provides police and fire protection...city or county. On each trip, narrow down the areas that you are looking at and then on the last trip, focus on the specific area you think you like.
Finally, I always advise people to rent in the area they choose for the first year that they are here to make sure that you made the right choice for your lifestyle. There's nothing worse than sinking hundreds of thousands of $$ into a house and then deciding after a year you chose the wrong area.
Loris gets a bad rap because the town is small but the postal code - area is geographically large. The media often reports crimes as being in Loris when they actually occurred 10 miles or more from the actual town of Loris. As with any area there are some neighborhoods that see higher crime rates than others.
Just wanted to share this because there seems to be some misinformation among people that don't live here. I've been here my entire life so maybe I'm biased but I have never felt unsafe living here. There are several builders building in and around Loris that are building new homes in smaller subdivisions and on larger lots. And if you do want to get to the beach you have substantially less traffic to contend with than in some other inland areas.
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