Realistic Commute Times to North Charleston (Mount Pleasant, Summerville: to rent, hotel, townhouse)

[jessicawinky1]

Hello, I like many am looking into moving to the Charleston area. I have been researching areas to live and am interested in Summerville, Mount Pleasant, West Ashley and James Island. I am a nurse and will be a Nurse Practitioner when I move down there. More than likely I will be working at a high needs clinic in the North Charleston area and was hoping I could get some realistic commute times from the different areas (particularly from Summerville since the others seem pretty comparable).

I currently live in N. VA, DC area and going against rush hour traffic it takes well over an hour (once last week 1hr50m) to go 30 miles to work, lets just say Im over that! I would like a commute that is 30 minutes or less in rush hour. Thanks in advance for all your help!

[accufitgolf]

For those that know traffic, Charleston traffic is sissy traffic. That said, you need to more specific as from to and when.

I would say from places you mentioned less then 30 minutes on a good day, less then one hour even on a really bad day.

[OleTomCat]

I live on the far side of Summerville, it takes me ten minutes to get to I26, my wife drives to the middle of Ashley Phosphate to her school in 30 minutes.

[DJShymansky]

Coming from the DC/MD area myself, you're not even going to notice the traffic. So breathe easy.

It'll depend on the time of day you leave (shift work?), but you should always be able to get to work in well under an hour from Summerville, Mount Pleasant or West Ashley. James Island might take a few extra minutes because it gets clogged up easily with commuters heading downtown, but still, you should be fine.

[jessicawinky1]

Thanks for the responses, its hard not knowing exactly where I am going to end up working and trying to figure out where I want to live. Right now I work weekend nights as a staff nurse but when I get my nurse practitioner license I will be doing normal M-F business hours. I like the small town feel of Summerville and that I can afford to rent a large updated historic house on my single parent budget (and for less than my current townhouse mortgage). However, being closer to the beaches and downtown Charleston also have their appeal!

Im sure that compared to DC, Charleston traffic will be a breeze haha. I never want to hear 'I66' ever again once I move! Nothing like consistent stop and go traffic everyday of the week. Rush hour goes from 4a-12p and from 2p-8p and you get lunch rush traffic from 12p-2p! I live 30 miles outside of DC and I dont even go to the Target that is five miles from my house between the hours of 2p and 8p!

[scuba steve]

I live in an older neighborhood in West Ashley. From my door I'm at work in North Charleston in under 10 minutes.

[jbird82]

I relocated from Northern Va myself this year and commute from James Island to North Charleston daily. It's about a 20-30 minute drive door to door. Traffic is very easy to handle compared to DC and most of the bottlenecks are due to red lights where there isn't easy alternative highway routes.

For example, coming from James Island, I first get on the expressway but then need to navigate through "downtown" Charleston to get to 26.

With that said, the delays are like 5-7 minutes instead of the 30-45 minute delays you experience in DC. Also, the rush hour is a much smaller window here. I know exactly what you mean about I-66 and any day and time of the week you can be sitting in traffic. That doesn't happen in Charleston...life is easy.

[jessicawinky1]

Thanks for the great responses!!
I had an opportunity to visit the area in March and am now dead set on the move! I have to finish grad school then Im on my way!

That said, I think I have narrowed it down to Mount Pleasant because of the schools, vibe and stores available in that area. I really love the old town area but am not sure I can get in there with my price point but I know for sure that I want to be south of the IOP. Route 17 sounds very similar to route 50 to me and I dont want to get stuck down a road like that again so the parks west etc. subs are out! I still am thinking I will either be working downtown or in north charleston. Is anyone living in Mount Pleasant able to weigh in on commute times to N Charleston and downtown and mention the general area in Mt. P where you live?? The advice is so greatly appreciated!!!

[MINIcoopKJG]

I live near the intersection of Mathis Ferry and Rte 17, kind of in the middle of this side of town, and it takes me 20 minutes to get to work downtown (near Charleston Place Hotel).