From the perspective of someone who lived in Miami 8 years, including college, then moved to Atlanta > Europe > Atlanta > Charleston, SC, I agree a lot with @jross’ point of view. During the little bit of time that I’ve spent in Tallahassee, I liked what I saw.
My wife and I really love Charleston. I still have friends in South Florida, so it’s not hard to draw comparisons. After living here 5 years, Charleston still feels like the proverbial big village, compared to MIA and ATL, which grew way too crowded over time. But Charleston also is growing pretty rapidly, ~375k. We did get an REI not too long ago, which IMHO was about the only thing missing.
We tend to get along with the slightly right of center politics. The state is red, but Charleston had a democratic mayor for 40 years, who led the movement to remove the Confederate flag from the state capital. There are lots of retired military here, but hey, if you are a vet you get preferred parking and a 10% discount at Home Depot and Lowes. The kids go to a pretty good public school, where I don’t have to worry about them getting brain washed by an over zealous right or left leaning teacher. That’s what college is for
Concerning religion, there are a lot of churches here and occasionally I feel like I’m getting pitched to. Sort of like when you go to lunch with a good friend, a third person joins us, who offers to pick up the tab, but then pitches life insurance. It’s not too difficult to tiptoe around though.
Of course we are a sea port, if you are into boating, and SC takes natural resources very seriously. So, lots of outdoor activities. There is high humidity, but it’s mostly the middle of June through the middle of October. The rest of the year is amazingly mild.
About the only thing that you wouldn’t like are taxes. But the cost of living is generally lower. Our home insurance and property taxes are half of what they were in Atlanta.