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I am from South Carolina (Charleston) and have lived in the Northeast since 1986. Boston, North Jersey and Philadelphia (now back in Boston).
My remaining family lives in Myrtle Beach. I used to live there and work for them and can tell you my experience. Others have posted some excellent comments, so I will add my 2 cents.
Weather: Lovely, except for the summer. As much as we northerners may complain about cold weather, expect to bitch about the heat and HUMIDITY. Your AC will run from April - October. Forget the beach in August. Too hot. Winters are nice, although it does go below freezing.
Traffic: Horrible. It used to be there was no traffic in the winter. Now winter traffic is like summer traffic was 15 years ago and summer traffic just plain sucks. Since you know DC, you are aware of that lovely mix of northern and southern drivers.
My family owns a few hotels and restaurants all over MB. Restaurants are jammed in the summer. It seems everyone smokes. And unless it has changed recently, you can smoke in bars and restaurants.
Don't buy housing in MB right off the bat. They are building new stuff every day, so what is new and flashy today will be yesterday's news tomorrow. There are some wonderful neighborhoods, if you do decide to buy that are no subject to whims of the market. Briarcliffe Acres (where my family lives) and the Dunes Club are the nice places.
As far a politics...Myrtle Beach is called the "Redneck Riviera" for a reason. It is red, red, red. Yes, there are a few pockets of blue, but Christ and Bush are equally worshiped. Smallish Jewish community.
If you need to be close to Myrtle Beach, I would suggest either looking in Georgetown (30 or so miles to the south). Cute little historic city, fairly blue. Litchfield Beach and Pawley's Island are nice as well (the South Strand).
I would suggest looking at www.fundrace.org and check out the red/blue donations to Kerry and * to get an idea of the political bend of the area.
When I lived in MB it was certainly fun in the sun. I had tons of friends, fun nightlife and things were alot slower then. Like everywhere, it just seems much more crowded.
Feel free to PM me if you want.
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