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AMERICAN INFO.NETPRESENTSTHE SOUTH CAROLINARELOCATION & RETIREMENT GUIDE[South Carolina Preface]INTRODUCTION |
| There's a certain mythic quality about this southernmost of our mid-atlantic states (and most northerly of the Old Deep-South), perhaps inevitably for a land so steeped in history and romance. For if it may be said of any state that the air is "redolent with atmosphere", certainly South Carolina qualifies. The popular portrait is fairly haunting... the scent of magnolia, dusty plantation by-ways, country stores and tobacco barns, straw hats and horse-drawn carriages, cotton fields and textile mills and springtime gardens... azaleas and camilias and trees with flowers in them... |
| In part this stems from an elegiac nostalgia for a century past, however misinformed; for the seeming virtues a vanished age. Partly too, it springs from images drawn by countless books and films and critical exaggerations which paint the State in hues now garish, now subdued. The American Revolution was largely fought here, our nation s Civil War begun here, here rose slavery to prominence and a Great Depression laid waste its generation. But also here, America s first cultural centerpiece took form, manners and grace and charm became the hallmark of southern folkways, and American cuisine achieved its most distinctive zenith. Fact and myth combine here, inter-twined as surely as Spanish Moss through Live Oak; fueling modern South Carolinians with their notably pragmatic frame of mind, as well that in-bred sense of gentility which has come to be known quite simply as South Carolina Style. |
| Its a common factor here, this friendly, homespun, southern charm that natives take for granted and that visitors find enchanting. Its the accent beneath the accent which flows from the lips of shop-girls and shows itself in the handshake of a local businessman. It a part of the myth that s true, and as much a part of daily life as any meager fact. Accurate too, is the image of a newly assertive and determinedly progressive state, committed to fostering new industries, new technologies, new opportunities for a people whose enterprising spirit has recently attracted such premier international companies as BMW, Hoffman-La Roche, Michelin, and Fuji. |
| Thus today s South Carolina blends both aspects of her character with the same practiced skill which once melded low-country aristocrats and up-country backwoodsmen into patriots, and wedded coastal commerce to inland agriculture. If an economic boom seems certainly headed for the Palmetto State, it is equally certain to be met by South Carolina s distinctive mix of reverence for the past and undaunted optimism for the future. |
| In the pages which follow we ll explore this most engaging state in considerable detail. We've divided this Guide into easy-to-read chapters, each focusing on an important aspect of interest to those considering relocation to South Carolina. We've included much additional information on the state's history, government, and economy; and designed it to cover as broad a spectrum as possible, so that whatever your needs or priorities, you'll find pertinent and up-to-date information. We've also provided lots of contact numbers and addresses for even more detailed information on specific subjects. We re sure you ll find that South Carolina s vaunted reputation for hospitality is well earned. Visitors were never more welcome. |