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New Mexico magazine takes sunnier view of Charleston
Quick Notes: Trends & Talk About Town
In my Aug. 22 column, I wrote about CNN/Money magazine omitting the Lowcountry from its Top 100 places to live in the United States. In addition, I mentioned Forbes.com bypassing us as one of the nation’s 40 best cities for singles.
If the omissions still have you hanging your head, cheer up. Outside Magazine, a Santa Fe, N.M.-based publication for swimmers, hikers, bicyclists and others who enjoy the great outdoors, ranked Charleston among the nation’s Top 10 “dream towns” in its August edition—a soothing kiss that relieves the sting of CNN/Money’s and Forbes.com’s collective snub.
“You can’t capture a sense of place and charm in a bottle, of course. But Charleston has come pretty close. In the past 30 years, this port city on the peninsula where the Cooper and Ashley rivers flow into Charleston Harbor has become a lively, subtropical magnet for young creative types, families and the water-obsessed.”
So croons Outside Magazine, which listed Charleston fourth in its hit parade of the 10 hottest U.S. cities. Salt Lake City finished first, followed by Littleton, N.H., and Fort Collins, Colo. Following us are, respectively, Davis, Calif.; Portland, Ore.; Chicago; Madison, Wis.; Pasadena, Calif.; and Portland, Maine.
Outside Magazine praises what it calls the Lowcountry’s “livability.”
“The economy’s sizzling: Next to tourism, the port (second-largest on the East Coast), the Medical University of South Carolina and the military are major players, alongside a host of thriving startups: iPod accessories, software for nonprofits and robot helicopters. On weekends, locals catch waves at Folly Beach, sail the harbor and hike and bike among 300 bird species in Francis Marion National Forest.”
Thank you, Outdoor Magazine, for confirming the Lowcountry is a great place in which to live. Not that we needed to hear it; the ever-increasing traffic is testimony enough.
But before we get carried away preening our feathers and thumbing our noses at CNN/Money and Forbes.com, keep in mind those two list makers focused more on economic factors—median household income, well-paying jobs, cost of living—while Outdoor Magazine, true to its name, focused primarily on outdoor and nature activities.
Also keep in mind that CNN/Money and Forbes.com seem to agree with what South Carolina financier Darla Moore, economic development expert Ed Morrison and Harvard Business School professor Michael Porter have emphasized: despite our region’s good looks, we need to increase our per capita wealth if we are to have a ghost of a chance to compete economically with the rest of the world.
How elated or deflated should we get over “best places to live” rankings? Not very. It all depends on the criteria defining “best.”
Although the lists including us are sweet for the ego, the lists excluding us—especially for economic shortcomings—are the ones we should take a little more seriously.
Housing heebie-jeebies. So far this year, the monthly average sales price of a Lowcountry home has ranged from around $248,500 to more than $312,700, according to the latest stats from the Charleston Trident Association of Realtors. As of July, our average home sales price for the year exceeded $267,800.
It is true that our average home sales numbers are inflated by the sale of luxury homes on the resort islands. Nevertheless, it is common to find basic three-bedroom brick ranch-style homes in the Charleston area hitting the $200,000 mark. And as we all know, the closer you get to downtown Charleston, the higher the numbers.
Our home prices might be peanuts to folks moving here from the North, but wages are a lot higher up there. Down here, the average annual salary of roughly $33,000 makes Lowcountry housing costs more comparable to diamonds than peanuts.
Dennis Quick is the senior staff writer for the Business Journal. E-mail him at dquick@charlestonbusiness.com.
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