Good afternoon South Carolina folks,
I’ve taken a preliminary track through your beautiful state and looked at areas upstate on my way to visit my daughter in North Carolina. Visited Greer, Easly and Boiling Springs On my way back to visit my youngest daughter in Alabama. I was also going to look at property in the Aiken area. We are recently retired and are looking for mostly new homes in suburban areas.
Any input would be greatly appreciated, thanks in advance.

SC has two horse towns.  Camden and Aiken. I live near Camden, been through Aiken and Graniteville once.  Seemed like an old “mill town” that has slowed down, but I could be wrong.  I do know Graniteville had a really bad train derailment years back that spilled a lot of chlorine gas and did a lot of damage. Friend is one of the attorneys that helped one of the survivors.  Plant basically shut down after that event and moved out of country.

If you’re looking for a laid back quiet town, I would imagine you could find that there.

Thanks for the info, I did read about the train wreck. Looking forward to checking it out tomorrow. I love the small towns I’ve driven through on my trek. Thanks again!

i live in boiling springs, its nice here

Yes Sir, I was impressed with the area too. Just the right mix of amenities and real estate. It is #1 on the list.

try to find a place without a HOA if you can. The surrounding area, Fingerville, Campobello, Landrum ( even Chesnee to an extent) are REALLY nice....
Gowensville is also nice
Travelers Rest is another really nice place...Greer is HUGE...and it has some not so nice places but overall its a great place to be

Pleasantly surprised by Graniteville!
Found a development that had some really nice homes on some rolling hills that provided great views. Close to the required amenities and so close to Augusta.
A few years ago, my daughter played in a National soccer tournament in Greer and I was impressed with the area. That’s the main reason SC was on our retirement list. I do have to say during that trip I had the worst BBQ as well as some of the best from a little hole in the wall joint. After the bad place my kid was done with SC bbq. I’ll have to brush some cobwebs off to see if I can remember some names. IIRC I probably asked on this forum for recommendations.

Graniteville is an OLD mill town that is trying to reinvent itself. Years ago, It was practically controlled by THE GRANITEVILLE COMPANY, who had several textile plants in and around the town of Graniteville. At one time, they supplied denim to Levi's for their jeans but the great jobs exportation, and cheap Asian material flood pretty much took them out. The Chlorine tank car leak from the rail cars in the train wreck was a freak accident that just added to the misery of a failing local industry. There is a good local hole in the wall serving great hamburgers there.

Nearby Aiken, on the other hand has always been a horse town and a century ago it was one of the southern locations that rich northerners escaped to by train during the winter. There are stables, horse paddocks and tracks and polo fields scattered around the south side of town. A couple times a years horse events can make for serious crowding downtown and in the horse event areas.
During the 1950s to the 1990s and still today, it is a bedroom community for people working at the Savannah River Plant/Site.

I grew up about 12 miles away in a place just outside of North Augusta, SC, which North Augusta has just about swallowed. The west side of North Augusta on both sides of exit 1 off I-20 (Martintown Rd) are also worth checking out. Nice suburban homes and some large lots and acreage are to the west. The area growth is spilling over into nearby Edgefield county, while most of North Augusta is in Aiken county. Edgefield County's school system is lacking if that is an issue for you. There are two decent barbecue places in North Augusta; The Barbecue Barn and The Pot Smoker. There is a Lowes Home Improvement, Belks clothing, Super Kroger and Walmart in North Augusta, otherwise you have to take I-20 across the river to the other big box stores in the area.

I’ll be stopping back in both Boiling Springs and Graniteville once I drop my youngest off at school in a couple of weeks. More scouting trips while the Mrs. fills in for her sick teacher friend. You hit the nail on the head with the bbq suggestions, I saw the Pot Smoker and need to try that when I return. The other place I tried was Mutts in Greer years ago and it was fantastic. SC looks like a fine place to retire to with all the good southern food and the friendly folks that I have met so far.

Also keep in mind if you buy or build a place in that area, think about a small “guest house” on the property if you’re not in a restrictive neighborhood.  I’ve heard stories of people getting 5 figure rental income for the week of The Masters when it comes to town.  
Some folks even plan their vacations around that time and rent their homes out while they are gone.

Definitely go to downtown aiken. Much nicer than Graniteville

Yes, I agree.

@cobubbasan

I live in Aiken, moved here Jan  '18 from a big city in Florida. I'm 34 currently, so definitely on the younger side of average population age, so much of what I could tell you might not be pertinent to retirement age folks...?

The mall is being rebuilt and spurring a lot of spin off development (olive garden, residential subdivisions south of the mall but north of Powderhouse, new fast food, etc.)

I live north of town (in an area quite a few would consider undesirable), but I would contest that. There's a new single family home development going in on Williams, and another 1/4 mile closer to town on highway 19.

Going back the other way (north on highway 19 towards I-20) there's a new clearing that just started 2 weeks ago, dozens of acres, lots of earth moving, so I would guess it's something like a subdivision or commercial.

Although I have never been involved or confronted with it, I think crime is a little higher than an unaware citizen might suspect, but nothing outrageous.

From '18 through '21 growth seemed to be slow, but these past 2 years Aiken has had a lot of development/ investment. I've kept a close eye on this as increased property values are great for a 34 year old,  maybe not for retirement couple...?

I've worked extensively in other little towns (boiling springs, travelers rest, sumter, etc) and Aiken is my favorite.

Feel free to pm me with any specifics!