Name: Aiken, SC
Rating: 0.0

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( 26 Ratings )

Living in Aiken, SC

Ranks better than 68% of areas Follow

Population

31,428

Median Age

46.1 Years

Aiken Area Facts

Aiken has a Livability Score of 68_/100, which is considered good
Aiken crime rates are 41% higher than the South Carolina average
Cost of living in Aiken is 2% higher than the South Carolina average

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What do the locals think about Aiken?

54%

Family friendly

7%

Public transit is accessible

14%

Walkable to grocery stores

54%

Yards are well-kept

50%

Lots of parks

32%

Walkable to restaurants

Friendly neighbors

Safe at night

Pet friendly

Streets have sidewalks

86%

A quiet area

50%

Sense of community

Based on 28 votes from AreaVibes users. Take the poll

Aiken Reviews

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Aiken's Dirty Little Secrets 0.5 rating By Mary Pauline ( Mar 18, 2016) The large (2100 acres) urban forest Hitchcock Woods is smack in the middle of Aiken. Hitchcock Woods is owned by the Hitchcock Woods Foundation, a very well-funded non-profit organization managed by a board of directors. Members of the board use prescribed (also referred to as co ...Read More ntrolled) burning to manage their forest. Among the directors' goals is restoration of the natural ecosystems of Hitchcock Woods, to a snapshot view of what this region looked like 10,000 years ago. The burn occurs daily, weather permitting, sometimes more than a hundred acres in one day. Burns are scheduled year-round except during Aiken's robust equestrian seasons, March into early April and for a week or so in October. These are also the best fundraising seasons for the board. (Hitchcock Woods supports many equestrian events.) The board does not risk choking out potential donors by burning during Aiken's busiest tourist seasons. Thus, visitors are often completely unaware of the burns. Smoke dispersal is a chronic concern. The burns' resulting heavy smoke and particulate travel throughout the entire town. Occasionally, especially with an evening weather inversion, the smoke settles at ground level. The burns will continue forever. The adverse health implications of exposure to this type of air contamination are well documented. The Foundation is aware of area residents' push-back and recognizes the resulting health complications as a potential deterrent to continued burning at will. So far, though (and for the past 25 years) the burns continue. And, because their largest neighbor burns, residents are quick to ignite their own debris in backyard pits and drums, further contributing to the region's unhealthy air. The Savannah River Site - www.srs.gov - continues to take nuclear waste, most recently from the Swiss (That's right, as in Europe.) as part of the US federal government's nuclear non-proliferation agreements. There are various versions in the press about what will happen with all this waste, from shipping it to another state to on-site high-tech recycling into usable fuel. In vulgar terms, there is no certainty regarding the best way to flush the very full toilet that Aiken, South Carolina has become. Perhaps the saddest part of the story is that the fallout is common knowledge. Local media, including local television stations, regularly run advertisements that promote health and legal services to former employees and contractors who are suffering from radiation-related chronic illnesses as a result of their service at SRS. Read Less

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