Best Neighborhoods in Charleston: Summers Corner

Some of the best neighborhoods in Charleston, SC, aren’t in the city proper. Summers Corner is one of the many great offerings in the suburbs of Charleston, SC. This in-depth look lets you know what gets people excited about living in this low country neighborhood.

Summers Corner offers a range of beautiful homes in a stunning natural lake and forest setting minutes from downtown Summerville. Homes come in a mix of architectural styles while fitting in with the neighborhood’s “un-built environment.”

This neighborhood is part of the East Edisto region, where the East Edisto Conservancy has set aside over 53,000 acres of this land for wildlife habitats and traditional rural land uses. This vast area of land between the Edisto and Ashley Rivers offers a field, forest, lake, swamp, and marsh landscape. For residents, community amenities include a swimming pool, playground, biking and walking trails, and more.

Buffalo Lake is a hub for fishing, kayaking and canoeing. There’s also an open-air amphitheater where families and neighbors enjoy concerts and festivals.

Just want to get out and grab a cup of joe with neighbors? You can walk to the Corner House Cafe in The Commons. On weekends you can enjoy community events with food trucks, music and more. In the summer, you can shop for local produce and flowers. Plus, the Master Gardeners learning at the Clemson Extension School in Summers Corner offer classes for residents.

It makes perfect sense that Clemson extended its Master Gardeners program in Summers Corner. It’s known as “a community in a garden” and individual neighborhoods are planned around parks, gardens and ponds. The idea is that no resident will be further than five minutes from a park!

The trails — ranging from a quarter mile to a 3.8 mile loop — can take residents and visitors around neighborhood parks such as Archer Park, Summers Park, and Helix Park. Keep an eye out for double helix oak trees. And an ear out for some of the local birds such as Purple Martins, and Brownheaded Nuthatch, and Carolina Wren (the state’s bird!).

Raising Kids in Summers Corner

The Charleston suburbs are also known for their great schools. Summers Corner falls within Dorchester District 2. Public school offerings include:

• Sand Hill Elementary (K-5) — With the motto of Learn, Grow, and Serve, this school has excellent scores for Academic Achievement, Preparing for Success, and Student Progress.
• Gregg Middle (6 – 8) — The larger of the two nearby middle schools, Gregg is an eight-minute drive away.
• Rollings Middle School of the Arts (6 – 8) — Found right in Summers Corner, this middle school auditions students before enrollment in courses with a focus on seven core arts areas: band, dance, piano, strings, theater, visual arts or vocal music.
• Ashley Ridge High (9-12) — A high school challenging its students “through creativity and innovation as well as collaboration and teamwork,” Ashley Ridge equips graduates “with appropriate life and career characteristics in order to be both college and career ready.”

Students at the arts school perform at the 1,200-seat Summers Corner Performing Arts Center, which serves also as a regional performing arts venue.

Moving to Dorchester County

Dorchester County is one of the fastest-growing areas in the state. Being so near the major metropolitan offerings of Charleston, while still offering proximity to a rural and small-town feel helps. Summerville, the area’s largest town, is the seventh largest municipality in the state and home to nearly 50,000 residents enjoying a historic downtown, charming shops, restaurants, galleries and more.

At the intersection of 17-A and Highways 61 and 642, Summers Corner is an easy commute to major area employers such as Volvo, Boeing and Mercedes. It’s also nearby several historic sites including Middleton Place Plantation, Magnolia Plantation and Drayton Hall.

So, that’s why we count Summers Corner among the good neighborhoods in Charleston, SC. Settle in Summers Corner for a Low Country lifestyle and the charm of community gardens and nature all around.

Saussy Burbank’s new Homes in Summers Corner starting in the low $200s, from 1580 sq. ft. Schedule a (virtual!) consultation with one of our property experts in this great Charleston suburb today!