If you’ve ever spent any time in South Carolina, and most certainly if you live there, you know that this state is the epitome of that southern je ne sais quoi; or, as they call it in Dixie, flatout Southern charm.
Clearly, the place is delightful. But with all of the charms of a more traditional south, is it still exciting? Well, as we discovered in the latest analysis here at the
Movoto Real Estate Blog, why yes, yes it is.
Here are the 10 most exciting places in South Carolina:
1.
City of Greenville
2.
City of Myrtle Beach
3.
City of Charleston
4.
City of Summerville
5. Town of Hilton Head Island
6.
City of West Columbia
7. City of Clemson
8.
City of Columbia
9.
City of Conway
10.
Town of Lexington
Charleston, we know what you’re thinking: “How did our city not end up on top?” (Or perhaps something less polite, but a little more exciting.)
Well, if you keep reading, we’ll go over the method behind this analysis, and we’ll also tell you just what makes each place more exciting than the next. And if any of these places looks like somewhere you’d like to put down roots, let us know.
How We Created This Ranking
In order to create this most thrilling of lists, we started by gathering all of the places in South Carolina with populations of 10,000 people or more. This left us with a total of 50 places. We then used the 2010 U.S. Census and business listings to research each place according to the following eight criteria:
- Nightlife per capita (bars, clubs, comedy, etc.)
- Live music venues per capita
- Active life options per capita (parks, outdoor activities, etc.)
- Arts and Entertainment per capita (movie theaters, festivals, galleries, theaters, etc.)
- Fast Food restaurants per capita (the fewer the better)
- Percentage of restaurants that are not fast food (the higher the better)
- Percentage of young residents ages 18 to 34 (the higher the better)
- Population density (the higher the better)
We ranked each of these 50 places with scores from one to 50 according to those eight criteria; the lower the number, the better the score. Then, we averaged these rankings into an overall Big Deal Score, where the lowest score was our most exciting place, in this case, Greenville.
Okay, you’ve made it through the numbers talk; here’s where things get exciting. In the next paragraphs, we’ll take a closer look at what makes each place in our top 10 more exciting than the rest.
And if you just can’t handle the anticipation, feel free to head down to the end of the article for a complete table of how each of the 50 places we looked at ranked.
1. Greenville
Sure, Greenville may not be the college town that Clemson is (we’ll talk about that later), but with 31.23 percent of its population being between 18 and 34, it’s no wonder this place is buzzing, both day and night.
In Greenville, there are tons of nightlife and arts options per capita—places like 21 East, Reys, Park Avenue Pub, and for the artists out there, plenty of galleries and theater spaces like The Warehouse Theatre.
Greenville also ranked well for its music venues, active life, restaurants, and population density.
2. Myrtle Beach
There’s a reason that Myrtle Beach is consistently one of the U.S.’s top tourist attractions: in short, this place is awesome. To expand on that, it’s filled with nightlife, live music, active life options, and arts and entertainment, ranking first in all of these categories.
That’s not all: Myrtle Beach also ranked third for its number of non-boring (i.e., non-fast food) restaurants per capita. With places like Ciao, Abuelo’s, and Aspen Grille, there really is something for everyone. (Though most people probably know that all you really need is Mr. Fish.)
3. Charleston
Charleston is probably best known for its rich history, beautiful architecture, and of course, some of the friendliest people you’ll ever meet. But according to our analysis, it has even more going for it.
Not only is it one of the younger cities in South Carolina, with 35.4 percent of people between the ages of 18 and 34, but it is also one of the most artistic, ranking fourth in this category.
From the Spoleto Festival to staples like the Gibbes Museum of Art and City Gallery at Waterfront Park, this beachside community is sure to excite your creative side.
And if that doesn’t do it for you, there’s always wining and dining to be done. Charleston ranked eighth overall for its nightlife per capita, and 11th for its restaurants.
4. Summerville
Summerville may not be the youngest place in our top 10 (here it ranked 34th), but it is certainly one of the most densely populated, with a whopping 2,405 people per square mile. To put that into perspective for you, our next city, Hilton Head Island, only has 897 people per square mile.
That means that whether you’re out and about enjoying the nightlife (of which there is plenty; it ranked eighth here), or variety of restaurants, from Alessandra’s to Icehouse, you’re bound to bump into somebody exciting. Whether you like it or not.
5. Hilton Head Island
Just like Summerville before it, this resort town isn’t exactly abuzz with young people. That being said, it is still plenty exciting.
It ranked seventh overall for its number of nightlife options per capita, 10th for its music venues, fifth for active life, seventh for arts, and here’s where it really outdid itself, second for its number of restaurants per capita.
Yes, even without all the other excitement that Hilton Head has to offer, with places like like A Lowcountry Backyard and Roastfish & Cornbread, people would probably still flock here, just for the food.
6. West Columbia
With a population of just over 14,000, West Columbia is one of the smallest places in our top 10, but that clearly doesn’t mean that it‘s lacking excitement.
In fact, it’s largely due to this city’s small numbers that it had such a good score in its population density (2,144 people per square mile!) and for its nightlife and music venues per capita, ranking ninth and second in these categories, respectively.
Look at it this way: a couple of bars and music venues in a city of 100,000 can only go so far; they’d be packed every night. But in West Columbia, with such a small population, there is plenty of barspace to go around, especially at the New Brookland Tavern.
7. Clemson
To say that Clemson is a college town might be something of an understatement; this place is the college town, at least in terms of its high percentage of people between the ages of 18 and 34: 51.24 percent.
And what comes with a lot of young people? Well, in Clemson, it’s a ton of nightlife options and music venues per capita; places like Tiger Town Tavern, Nick’s, and Loose Change.
Clemson was also one of the more densely-populated places we looked at, with 1,869 people per square mile. For comparison’s sake, just take a look at another college town, Columbia, where there were only 978 people per square mile.
8. Columbia
Columbia may not have quite as high a percentage of young folks as Clemson does (43.61 percent of people in Columbia are between 18 and 34, where Clemson has 51.42 percent), but since Columbia’s population is almost 10 times larger than Clemson’s, there are still a lot more young people in Columbia.
So what does Columbia have to offer, aside from a whole lot of universities, and a whole lot of young people? Well, arts and nightlife, just to name a couple of things.
This city is filled with galleries, art supply stores, and not to mention museums like South Carolina State Museum and the Columbia Museum of Art.
And for when you can’t decide between your love of nightlife and art, well, there’s Art Bar, the best of both worlds.
9. Conway
As the home of Coastal Carolina University, it may be no surprise that this city has a large population of people between 18 and 34 (35.98 percent), but did you know that it also has a high number of music venues per capita, lots of active life options, and the 12th most nightlife per capita in the state?
And then there’s the food. Conway may have only ranked 14th in this category, but if you’ve ever taken a stroll down Main Street, you know that in this city, there’s something delicious for everyone…especially at the Trestle.
10. Lexington
This town in Lexington County is not just one of the fastest-growing in the area, but in the United States. Why, you might ask? Because it’s awesome. Let us count the ways.
First off, it’s densely populated, with 2,014 people per square mile, so you’re bound to run into somebody exciting if you’re bored one day…which isn’t likely. After all, this town did rank sixth and eighth, respectively, for its active life and arts and entertainment listings per capita.
No wonder everyone wants to move here.
More Than Southern Charm
We all knew that South Carolina was thick with Southern charm, but after reading this list, it’s pretty clear that there’s way more going on there than some cute houses and sweet tea. From the restaurants and nightlife to the arts and music, South Carolina is abuzz with excitement, especially in these 10 places.
If you didn’t see your hometown in our list, never fear; you can see the rankings of all 50 places we looked at in the table below.
