Sup man. I just seperated from the Air Force and left Shaw to move back to Phoenix. Shaw is in Sumter, not a bad area but not a great one. Nothing really to do there, there is a track not too far from the base. Never went out there myself but I could hear the cars from my house on Fri nights. Housing is real cheap out there, you can find a new 3 bedroom 2 bath for around 105,000 which is dirt cheap. If youre single and want to do some partying, you might consider living in Columbia although itll be about a 35-45 min drive to work which kinda sucks and will eat the gas. If you have any other questions, shoot me a message or somethin. Not gonna find any speed shops in Sumter, might be a few in Columbia. When you headed out there? What career field you in?
Hey Ammo!! We're stationed at Shaw. I'm in maintenance and my wife is in QA. We're trying to organize a little goat herd here in Sumter - we have around 10 that get together now and again. The area for us isn't bad at all. 2 hours from Charlotte, an hour and a half to Myrtle Beach or Charleston and less than 30 minutes to Columbia. Housing is booming right now. They are building everywhere in preparation for a large Army contingent moving in sometime in 08 - thanks to BRAC. There are a few dragstrips around. 1 near Elgin (1/8 mi - just east of Columbia) and one in Darlington 35-45 minutes away. Haven't been yet due to work but they have test and tunes on Wednesday nights. If you need some more info let me know I'll try to hook you up.
Rick
went and stayed at the base for a week for a lil getaway from inlaws while down in the carolinas. the base was nice the area was nice. never really see any performance shops though. ive never seen so many goats in a base! as soon as i got to the gate, a gorgeous blue goat w/ nice black/polished rims greated me. whoever she belongs to, nice goat man.
Nothing really to do there, there is a track not too far from the base. Never went out there myself but I could hear the cars from my house on Fri nights. Housing is real cheap out there, you can find a new 3 bedroom 2 bath for around 105,000 which is dirt cheap. If youre single and want to do some partying, you might consider living in Columbia although itll be about a 35-45 min drive to work which kinda sucks and will eat the gas. If you have any other questions, shoot me a message or somethin. Not gonna find any speed shops in Sumter, might be a few in Columbia. When you headed out there? What career field you in?
Thanks man! I'm in AMMO. I was looking at some housing online, and there are quite a few nice ones that are within my price range. That's great to hear there's a track near by... the closest one to me is 100 miles away.
35-45 minute commute is nothing to me, and I have a DD that gets 35mpg anyway, so all is good there.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mick&Rick...
Hey Ammo!! We're stationed at Shaw. I'm in maintenance and my wife is in QA. We're trying to organize a little goat herd here in Sumter - we have around 10 that get together now and again.
That's always cool. There are a couple other GTO's here at Cannon, but I don't really know who owns them.
My parents actually live in Myrtle Beach, so I'll probably head down there quite often.
All in all it doesn't sound too bad! My RNLTD is 20-Nov-08 (yeah, Huminitarians come up on you QUICK!) Which in a way kinda sucks because now I have to put my house up for sale here, and try and get it sold before I have to PCS.
But I'm really glad that there's lots of things to do, and lots of Goats cruising around.
For those of you there, what are the better elementary schools there? I was looking on a website and Pocalla Springs and Alice Drive, on paper, seem like they're good.
Most likely the quality of the school will determine where we buy our house.
I don't know about either of those schools - I'll ask around. The school on base is supposed to be one of the better ones around. I know several people who live in the Dalzell area and their kids go to the base school. I'll get back to you.
Rick
So it's a DoDDS school on base? Didn't know that... definately an option!
Thanks for the help, Rick.
There are no DoDDS schools in the states, that's an overseas thing. The schools on base are the same as the public schools in the area...the base will just provide a little extra $$$ at times.
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There are no DoDDS schools in the states, that's an overseas thing. The schools on base are the same as the public schools in the area...the base will just provide a little extra $$$ at times.
True... I guess I meant to say *like* a DoDDS school... meaning it's funded (at least in part) by the federal government.
For those of you there, what are the better elementary schools there? I was looking on a website and Pocalla Springs and Alice Drive, on paper, seem like they're good.
Most likely the quality of the school will determine where we buy our house.
You want a house in district 17 school zone, stay away from district 2 schools. My son went to Kingsbury Elementary, we were happy with it. I hear that Alice Drive and Millwood are good elementary schools. Pocalla Springs is in District 2, have not heard anything good about it. Many people dog out the schools here but we haven't had any real issues. IMHO the key is to stay involved with what your kids are doing in school.
Cool, thanks for the info. Should go without saying... but all parents should take an active role in their kids schoolwork... of course that doesn't always happen.
What about crime in Sumter? Looking around on the web, crime seems pretty high. One website ranked Sumter, SC #3 in a top 25 "Most Dangerous Metropolitan Areas": http://www.morganquitno.com/cit06pop.htm#METRO
But, from you guys that live there... what's it really like? Like all cities, I'm sure there are good/bad parts... what parts are the good parts, what parts are the bad ones?
Cool, thanks for the info. Should go without saying... but all parents should take an active role in their kids schoolwork... of course that doesn't always happen.
What about crime in Sumter? Looking around on the web, crime seems pretty high. One website ranked Sumter, SC #3 in a top 25 "Most Dangerous Metropolitan Areas": http://www.morganquitno.com/cit06pop.htm#METRO
But, from you guys that live there... what's it really like? Like all cities, I'm sure there are good/bad parts... what parts are the good parts, what parts are the bad ones?
IMHO, the crime seems high for the size of the town, average income is low. The bad areas are kind of scattered all around but you'll know them when you see them. They've had some problems at the mall and Wal Mart parking lot but most of the bad crap pretty much stays in the bad areas. IMHO the town is not kept up as well as it could be, people don't take pride in it but there is a move to clean it up. I see a lot of trash lying around. I was stationed in Goldsboro NC, (Seymour Johnson AFB ) it's about the same size as Sumter, that town is very clean when compaired to Sumter. Not trying to be negative but this is what I see here. Hope this helps.
Let me know if you have more questions, I've been here since 1997. Plan to stay until I retire.
Yeah... I'm used to that though. Sumter sounds alot like Clovis in many ways. Clovis, NM... where Cannon is.... is just a little smaller in population than Sumter.
Clovis is really run down, too. 1/2 of the town looks like the 3rd World villages Sally Struthers used to visit for the Save the Children commercials (and I'm not joking). Where I live isn't too bad... nothing but old people on my street, so it's a nice environment, and the houses... while older, aren't run down.
How about living in Columbia? It doesn't seem that far... maybe a good 30-40 minute drive, but if the quality of living is better, it's worth looking into.
Forgot to add;
As for the schools, My wife and I found it best to go visit and check them out for ourselves. We talked with teachers and the principals, most were very helpful. When we found a school we liked, we looked for a home that was in that schools zone. Basically shopped for a school, then shopped for a house.
Yeah... I'm used to that though. Sumter sounds alot like Clovis in many ways. Clovis, NM... where Cannon is.... is just a little smaller in population than Sumter.
Clovis is really run down, too. 1/2 of the town looks like the 3rd World villages Sally Struthers used to visit for the Save the Children commercials (and I'm not joking). Where I live isn't too bad... nothing but old people on my street, so it's a nice environment, and the houses... while older, aren't run down.
How about living in Columbia? It doesn't seem that far... maybe a good 30-40 minute drive, but if the quality of living is better, it's worth looking into.
Columbia would be a good place. IMHO, the better areas of Columbia are on the west side, making the trip to Sumter longer. If I had it to do again I would have moved to a town north of here called Camden, it's very nice, seems clean and about 20-30 minutes from here. Overall, I'm happy with where I am right now though.
Just got to reading these post and thought that I would find out where you would recomend tring to go in the Air Force. I leave for BMT on Dec 12. I was going to do Pararescue but I do not have depth Perception they tell me. So Security Forces is what I get. Any advice would be great. Looking forward to the Air Force and getting my GTO!
Columbia would be a good place. IMHO, the better areas of Columbia are on the west side, making the trip to Sumter longer. If I had it to do again I would have moved to a town north of here called Camden, it's very nice, seems clean and about 20-30 minutes from here. Overall, I'm happy with where I am right now though.
That's cool... I look forward to meeting some new Goat owners, as there really aren't that many here. There's a few on base, but I don't know them at all. When I'm in the GTO, and another is coming down the road from the other direction, we give the customary "headlight flash" and a wave. It's cool though because I don't even know who they are.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Chrispy...
Just got to reading these post and thought that I would find out where you would recomend tring to go in the Air Force. I leave for BMT on Dec 12. I was going to do Pararescue but I do not have depth Perception they tell me. So Security Forces is what I get. Any advice would be great. Looking forward to the Air Force and getting my GTO!
I wish you the best... being SF is a demanding job. Hope you're ready for the challenge (among other things that go with the job!)
I'll have to look into some of the surrounding areas, too.
Sumter S.C. is the armpit of the U.S. and a horrible place to raise children. Sorry to be negative but if you want your child to have at least a sub-par education, you need to put them in private school.
Your assignment will be what you make it. This place, like all bases it seems has people who think its a paradise and people who think its an "armpit". I don't have kids in school here but I have heard that the schools here are not the best. Crime is supposedly high too. I haven't had any problems but then I don't go looking for them either. We PCSd from Dyess AFB TX which was often referred to as "Cannon East". Nothing but brown and dry and HOT. To come here where everything is freaking green and to be so close to the beach, mountains and a major city is awesome to us. We can go to Columbia from here, take care of what we need to, and make it back before we would've even made it to DFW. That's just my .02.
Rick
I was looking online at houses, schooling, crime, etc for that town... and it all looks pretty good.
Sorry but I have not heard anything about Elgin. I'll ask around. When are you due here?
When we got here we heard nothing but negative about the schools. My son started kindergarten here and is now in 9th grade, we have no issues with the schools he has attended here. Think I've heard every stateside base called an "armpit" by someone.
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Sorry but I have not heard anything about Elgin. I'll ask around. When are you due here?
When we got here we heard nothing but negative about the schools. My son started kindergarten here and is now in 9th grade, we have no issues with the schools he has attended here. Think I've heard every stateside base called an "armpit" by someone.
I'm due here in February.
I hear ya about the "armpit" theory. Cannon is one of the "armpits" of the country, too. And when I was at Barksdale, that place was considered the "butthole" of the country.
Hopefully someday I can be stationed in the "vagina" of the country!
Just had a guy here PCS in from Alaska and bought a house in Elgin. We've been out there a couple of times and it seems like a nice area. Close to Columbia but expect at least a 30 minute drive to work every day. He doesn't have kids in school there so I can't vouch for their schools.
Rick
Just had a guy here PCS in from Alaska and bought a house in Elgin. We've been out there a couple of times and it seems like a nice area. Close to Columbia but expect at least a 30 minute drive to work every day. He doesn't have kids in school there so I can't vouch for their schools.
Rick
The drive is OK with me, as long as I have a nice roof over my head. To go anywhere here at Cannon, you're looking at least a 30 minute drive to Portales, and 1hr+ to Amarillo and Lubbock.
2005 GTO Owner
[ 12/20/06: BONE STOCK!!!! (sans spoiler). What a journey...
