Who's been to Greenville, SC??

[PFHC]

Whattaya know? Maybe taking a job there. We're a young family of four, outdoorsy, into green, healthy lifestyle, kinda granolas. Into good locally raised food, open-minded folks, and beautiful scenery.

Non-religious, fun-loving, easy-going. Come from a progressive part of Maine, the midcoast region. The epicenter for people like us.

Thoughts?

Looking for a good strong community of other young people with kids.

[pbkmaine]

http://www.city-data.com/forum/greenville-spartanburg-area/

[PFHC]

You da best, pbk!

[Dee18]

Greenville has an absolutely lovely downtown, complete with waterfalls.  There are many good restaurants and an excellent venue for the performing arts.  There's a fun bike path. There is some really nice hiking about an hour away.  That's the good.  But while Greenville might be deemed progressive when compared to the general tenor of SC, it would be a big change from Maine.  For example, there is a 95% chance Clinton will win in Maine, only a 34% chance in SC.  As for religion, Maine is 47th in the country for weekly church attendance, SC is 6th.   

[PFHC]

Btw, just so there's no confusion, I don't mean progressive politically. I'm referring to the ability to realize room for change and implement that change.

[pjhalifax]

I like Greenville. I live along the coast in SC and we go through that area or visit every now and then (usually on the way to Asheville, which is one of my favorite places in the region). I think you'd have a lot of good outdoor options - it's a beautiful area - and you'd be close to places like Charlotte or Asheville for some fun trips. Maybe 4 hours to the beach? From what I understand everything's growing up fast around there...all the new business stuff I hear about in the state seems to be centered there. Can't speak to school performance but overall SC has some trouble in that area.

As far as recognizing a room for change and implementing change, as someone who moved to the state from a more progressive area 15 years ago, I'd say you have to look/hope for pockets of liked-minded folks and hope for the best. I've seen and heard some terrible, wacky, oddball stuff over the years but I guess that's going to be the case anywhere. The upstate area around Greenville and Spartanburg sure generates some backward-minded state legislators, I'll say that much.

Still, there's plenty of good...I wouldn't have stuck around this long if there wasn't! There's something to be said for the overall quality of life, nice surroundings, and slower pace.

[GhostSaver]

My grandparents retired to Seneca when I was a kid. I remember enjoying a lot of time on the lake when I visited, along with long, muggy summers. Although the area seemed nice for outdoor recreation, I don't remember a lot of infrastructure for activities aside from water skiing and bass fishing.

I remember it being very Deep South culturally. But my grandparents never felt people were unwelcoming, though they were Irish Catholics from the northeast.

This was all back in the '90s, mostly. I'm sure the area has changed with all the growth.

[ManchVegas]

Whoa! I'm moving to Greenville in a week! seems like a great place, far cheaper compared to boston. Feel free to hit me up for questions, also Kroaler (a forum member) lives in Greenville and has been very helpful to me. Best of luck!

[hoodedfalcon]

I currently live in SC, but not in Greenville. I have spent time there! Downtown is cute and small enough to feel cozy. They have done a lot to really make the downtown more of a destination. River goes through downtown, very walkable and bikeable (in my opinion). Known generally to be slightly more progressive in some ways, but I have heard that local government is pretty conservative.  I think it's moving in the right direction, and has been for some time.

Also, there is the Swamp Rabbit bike trail that takes you through some pretty areas https://www.traillink.com/trail/greenville-health-system-swamp-rabbit-trail.aspx

[ysette9]

My aunt and uncle moved to a little, well, I want to say "village" but it is really more of a stretch of one isolated McMansion track home development after another with very poor residential dwellings in between. They are about 20 minutes from Greenville so we have visited a few times. Coming from CA Bay Area there were a number of things that struck me about the area. I'm sure your impressions will be very different coming from all the way across the country from me. A few observations in no particular order.

The winters are relatively mild, though still cold (snow!) for my taste. The summers are absolutely appallingly miserable: hot, humid, buggy, never get any relief except for the occasional crashing thunderstorm. Everything is really green which is beautiful provided you are inside something with climate control.
At least in the suburban wasteland surrounding Greenville itself, there are no sidewalks, no shoulders to the roads, and everyone drives as fast as they can, which means that biking is pretty dangerous. Things are separated far apart; my guess would be that land is so cheap there is no incentive to put things in walkable/bikable distance.

I was struck by the extreme poverty in existence next to conspicuous consumption (huge houses). Greenville itself is much more comfortable in my personal taste being that it has a very nice and newly developed downtown. Others have mentioned the river and waterfalls through downtown which are very lovely. There is a long trail (swamp rabbit) that many people (including my family) use for biking and running. There are some nice restaurants downtown and the main drag is really nice for window shopping (provided it isn't a million degrees out). There is a symphony and a ballet downtown so you have the opportunity to enjoy cultural events.

Land is cheap and housing is cheap, but the flip side is that with low taxes there really isn't much investment in infrastructure (potholes in roads) and there is no social safety net to speak of. The jobs that are there tend to be quite low paying. People are very friendly but they are not yet past their racist history. In short, if you are privileged (white, educated, have money in the bank and good job prospects) you could do well there. Then again, this is merely one person's opinion and you may have very different impressions of the same observables.

[pbkmaine]

Is the job location in Greenville proper or somewhere outside of it? And how far is the job from the airport? How often will you travel? Knowing these things will help triangulation. Also, but you probably know this already, it makes sense to rent until you know the lay of the land.

[KarefulKactus15]

Whoa! I'm moving to Greenville in a week! seems like a great place, far cheaper compared to boston. Feel free to hit me up for questions, also Kroaler (a forum member) lives in Greenville and has been very helpful to me. Best of luck!

I've lived in the Greenville area my entire life, so I can't compare it to other places.    Things that will make you sad:
1.) Humid summer
2.) Downtown Greenville is the only area set up for bike infrastructure.     I think bicycle commuting would be dangerous outside of there.     There are still lots of trails and bicycle clubs that you can ride with.

The good:
1.) I hear its cheap compared to other areas in the us.  170k will get you a solid house in a nice location.     I paid 70k for mine but its a starter house kinda far out lol.
2.) It's cheap.... Lol
3.) Lots of jobs with decent pay for the area (skilled labor) ... Obviously minimum wage sucks no matter where you live.


Side note:
Greenville and the areas around it have absolutely exploded over the last 7 years.  Wish I had a working time machine....


Please feel free to send me a PM for anything you want to know about.       

[Peony]

I'm from NY State. My teen son and I spent some time in Greenville a couple of years ago while he went to a soccer camp at Furman U. We really liked Greenville! We found an interesting ethnic mix and a vibrant downtown. Clemson and Furman are both right there, though of course there is also Bob Jones U. I believe BMW has some major operations right there and gives their employees discounts on cars, so you see a lot of BMWs parked downtown.

[hoping2retire35]

Is that a picture of someone on a stand up paddle board in your avatar?

Anywho, I am from the area(about 30 minutes away) since having kids we rarely travel to Greenville, though. Sounds like you will fit in and enjoy it. Everyone that I know that lives in or near greenville proper says its very family friendly, and that is my general impression. It is not the most walkable/bikeable region so as pbk said rent for a few months at least before buying.

Hey maybe we can finally get that upstate mustachian meetup going?

[PFHC]

Is the job location in Greenville proper or somewhere outside of it? And how far is the job from the airport? How often will you travel? Knowing these things will help triangulation. Also, but you probably know this already, it makes sense to rent until you know the lay of the land.

Definitely going to rent for the first year... at least. We're going to sort all these questions out here in the coming weeks. I'm worknig with a couple Mustachians for location and with my hiring manager. We're going to do this up hardcore mustache style. Hoping to make at lest $5k in the move, bringing barely anything, and when we get there, it will be biking everywhere for me.

Is that a picture of someone on a stand up paddle board in your avatar?

Yup. That's me!

Anywho, I am from the area(about 30 minutes away) since having kids we rarely travel to Greenville, though. Sounds like you will fit in and enjoy it. Everyone that I know that lives in or near greenville proper says its very family friendly, and that is my general impression. It is not the most walkable/bikeable region so as pbk said rent for a few months at least before buying.

Great to hear. Been scouring the forums and there is very little negative said about it... sure there's the whiners, but the good ones seem to have only good things to say.

Hey maybe we can finally get that upstate mustachian meetup going?

I'm in! I'll PM you my contact info. Would love to have the support of a fellow mustachian!

[hoping2retire35]

I used to really be into the homebrew club stuff about 3+ years ago, then kids. Just spent about an hour on FB looking at old buddies pages and the brewpubs people are starting etc. We should figure out a way to combine homebrew meetings with Mustache meetings. Free home brew while discussing personal finance, win-win!

[hoping2retire35]

oh, forgot to add. with a lite duty wet suit you will be able to paddle board year around here. Or just viking style, no wet suit in january!

lol, actually lake Keowee is still 70F at Christmas near the dam, so I am told.

[PFHC]

I used to really be into the homebrew club stuff about 3+ years ago, then kids. Just spent about an hour on FB looking at old buddies pages and the brewpubs people are starting etc. We should figure out a way to combine homebrew meetings with Mustache meetings. Free home brew while discussing personal finance, win-win!

Sounds like a work of fiction.... I'm in!

oh, forgot to add. with a lite duty wet suit you will be able to paddle board year around here. Or just viking style, no wet suit in january!

lol, actually lake Keowee is still 70F at Christmas near the dam, so I am told.

Viking style, dude. I mean shit, I grew up in northern Montana, swimming in the glacial fed waters of the Flathead River (33 F) and live in Maine. Hell, my first trip out on the paddleboard this year the water was about 58F. No wetsuit and numb feet. :)

[KarefulKactus15]

oh, forgot to add. with a lite duty wet suit you will be able to paddle board year around here. Or just viking style, no wet suit in january!

lol, actually lake Keowee is still 70F at Christmas near the dam, so I am told.

I've never been paddleboarding, but as a side note, there is an area on lake keowee where the nuclear cooling water is expelled.  It is very warm year round for obvious reasons. . . .  Maybe hang out there in the winter lol.

[Warlord1986]

Stand Up Paddleboarding is the best. Love that sport.

Greenville has a beautiful downtown, it is close to several state parks with great hiking, and there are several other neat cities nearby (Asheville is the one that comes to mind). It's a great place, you should enjoy it.