Does Greenville Still Have A Southern Feel? (Raleigh, Wilmington: appointed, transplants)

[Mississippi Mamma]

Hey y'all!

Me and my boyfriend are from Mississippi and are looking for a nice Southern town to start a family. With the whole job issue aside, I would like to hear about Greenville.

We are both from Deep Southern towns (I'm from Greenville, MS!) and we really want a town in the South that still has it's Southern feel. I was raised in Greenville, went to Ole Miss for college, moved to New Orleans, moved to Jackson, met my boyfriend and we now live in Hattiesburg. We want a smaller town though, so Greenville NC might be a bit large, but maybe you could point us to a smaller town in Eastern NC?

Basically, I am wondering if Greenville has experienced as much transplants from the North as other Southern towns have. We are Southern Baptists and republicans too. It seems like North Carolina is growing A LOT and we want to be around other Southerners!!! So tell me what the political, religious, and social scene is like. My husband is also interested in having a house with some acreage so he can have a smaller farm later in life just like his family.

Thanks for y'alls help!

[Mississippi Mamma]

Anybody....?

[gigimac]

Sorry, Mississippi, that no one has yet jumped in, but they will. I loved Greenville NC, but somehow it does not quite fit what you may be looking for, in that it is centered around East Carolina University, so it's a tad more "modern" than you suggest you want. To me, tho, it still has some Southern to it, but I like living in a town... living on the outskirts might feel better to you. There ARE some rural homes with some acres just outside town, many side dirt roads that are Southern, miles and miles of rows and rows of planting land, try to find a place with trees, perhaps just northeast of town over the river.

I think if you want Southern, tho, you should check out South Carolina, actually, maybe Sumter might work and check out between town and the Swan Park area for housing, old historic neighborhood. The closer you get to the coastal plains, tho, the more "Southern" you might get... Charleston will be too large for you, but I do dearly love the accents there, the Spanish moss in the live oaks that line roadways, and the fabulous historic downtown (stay in the old Mills House Hotel...may have been renamed) in a room with a balcony in early spring. Just walk right out the door and wind your way thru really neat brick streets, little square parks here and there, and then ride out to the Boone Hall Plantation and their Avenue of Oaks. Charleston has some very beautiful beaches, some with boardwalks, some parkland, see can you ride some horses along the ocean.

To get an overall picture of all these spots, if you would take a road trip and ride from, say, Savannah GA, up into Beaufort SC (you might like that spot), then Charleston and stay overnight, come out by the river via Summerville, then go up to Sumter SC, then take the freeway north on up into NC, it'll take you all day, to just east of Raleigh, and take 264 thru Wilson and straight into Greenville NC, spend the night in the best hotel you can find in town, check out Fifth Street and the old campus, the downtown and river park, and then go on down to Little Washington NC, maybe New Bern, then east and you could ride the Crystal Coast on down to Wilmington NC. There was a typical Southern town called Whiteville just outside Wilmington that I got real interested in, but then a tornado went right straight thru there and I gave it up.

[le roi]

Originally Posted by gigimac

Sorry, Mississippi, that no one has yet jumped in, but they will. I loved Greenville NC, but somehow it does not quite fit what you may be looking for, in that it is centered around East Carolina University, so it's a tad more "modern" than you suggest you want. To me, tho, it still has some Southern to it, but I like living in a town... living on the outskirts might feel better to you. There ARE some rural homes with some acres just outside town, many side dirt roads that are Southern, miles and miles of rows and rows of planting land, try to find a place with trees, perhaps just northeast of town over the river.

I think if you want Southern, tho, you should check out South Carolina, actually, maybe Sumter might work and check out between town and the Swan Park area for housing, old historic neighborhood. The closer you get to the coastal plains, tho, the more "Southern" you might get... Charleston will be too large for you, but I do dearly love the accents there, the Spanish moss in the live oaks that line roadways, and the fabulous historic downtown (stay in the old Mills House Hotel...may have been renamed) in a room with a balcony in early spring. Just walk right out the door and wind your way thru really neat brick streets, little square parks here and there, and then ride out to the Boone Hall Plantation and their Avenue of Oaks. Charleston has some very beautiful beaches, some with boardwalks, some parkland, see can you ride some horses along the ocean.

To get an overall picture of all these spots, if you would take a road trip and ride from, say, Savannah GA, up into Beaufort SC (you might like that spot), then Charleston and stay overnight, come out by the river via Summerville, then go up to Sumter SC, then take the freeway north on up into NC, it'll take you all day, to just east of Raleigh, and take 264 thru Wilson and straight into Greenville NC, spend the night in the best hotel you can find in town, check out Fifth Street and the old campus, the downtown and river park, and then go on down to Little Washington NC, maybe New Bern, then east and you could ride the Crystal Coast on down to Wilmington NC. There was a typical Southern town called Whiteville just outside Wilmington that I got real interested in, but then a tornado went right straight thru there and I gave it up.

interesting suggestion, i grew up in sumter. i can vouch that it is, indeed, very very southern, even with the air force base.

the I-95 corridor is South Carolina's version of the Mississippi delta, and that swampy, low-lying tobacco country extends into southeastern North Carolina, and also shows up again northeast of Raleigh, along the NC/VA border. These areas are dotted with small towns like Kingstree SC, Bishopville SC, or Marion, SC, which are 40% black or higher, with 20-25% unemployment. I'm assuming you don't want one of these "tiny and destitute" towns, you want something that is just a bit smaller than Hattiesburg.

if that's the case, then i'd recommend that besides Greenville, that the OP look at Sumter, Aiken and Florence, SC, and if those are too big, look at Camden, SC.

As far as NC goes... maybe someone else can help her, I'm not so familiar with them, but I would go check out Goldsboro and Rocky Mount.

[ZeusAV]

Greenville may be a little larger than you want and is still growing very fast but one of the towns outside of Greenville might suite you.

Check out Ayden, Farmville, and maybe Washington if you need to live in a town. Also there's still plenty of undeveloped land surrounding Greenville if that's what you're interested in.

Wilson is also ok ~40,000 but I don't recommend Rocky Mount or Kinston.

[suedonym]

i would check out some of the smaller towns outside of raleigh (which will give you better job prospects, anyways)

towns like wendell, knightdale, youngsville, fuquay varina, willow spring ... all of those are still very much small town, but are a do-able commute into raleigh for work.

I second the vote to stay away from rocky mount and kinston

I dont think of greenville as a southern town with charm- more of a college town with bars, really LOL

[Mississippi Mamma]

Originally Posted by gigimac

Sorry, Mississippi, that no one has yet jumped in, but they will. I loved Greenville NC, but somehow it does not quite fit what you may be looking for, in that it is centered around East Carolina University, so it's a tad more "modern" than you suggest you want. To me, tho, it still has some Southern to it, but I like living in a town... living on the outskirts might feel better to you. There ARE some rural homes with some acres just outside town, many side dirt roads that are Southern, miles and miles of rows and rows of planting land, try to find a place with trees, perhaps just northeast of town over the river.

I think if you want Southern, tho, you should check out South Carolina, actually, maybe Sumter might work and check out between town and the Swan Park area for housing, old historic neighborhood. The closer you get to the coastal plains, tho, the more "Southern" you might get... Charleston will be too large for you, but I do dearly love the accents there, the Spanish moss in the live oaks that line roadways, and the fabulous historic downtown (stay in the old Mills House Hotel...may have been renamed) in a room with a balcony in early spring. Just walk right out the door and wind your way thru really neat brick streets, little square parks here and there, and then ride out to the Boone Hall Plantation and their Avenue of Oaks. Charleston has some very beautiful beaches, some with boardwalks, some parkland, see can you ride some horses along the ocean.

To get an overall picture of all these spots, if you would take a road trip and ride from, say, Savannah GA, up into Beaufort SC (you might like that spot), then Charleston and stay overnight, come out by the river via Summerville, then go up to Sumter SC, then take the freeway north on up into NC, it'll take you all day, to just east of Raleigh, and take 264 thru Wilson and straight into Greenville NC, spend the night in the best hotel you can find in town, check out Fifth Street and the old campus, the downtown and river park, and then go on down to Little Washington NC, maybe New Bern, then east and you could ride the Crystal Coast on down to Wilmington NC. There was a typical Southern town called Whiteville just outside Wilmington that I got real interested in, but then a tornado went right straight thru there and I gave it up.

Thanks for the help! And another poster said the town is more of a college town with bars- I should've realized that part! Isn't ECU "the party school" of North Carolina?!

And about South Carolina- I have also posted in that forum. I get recommendations about towns that are not by the coast because, unfortunately, the coast is booming right now and is like a warm, coastal, Ohio! I love Charleston and you are right, it really has that Old South feel and is very charming with the live oaks and spanish moss and coastal plantations, but too big and too many yankees...

Do you know anything about Danville, Virginia? I am going to post a thread there in the Virginia forum though.

Thank ya!
-Megan

[Mississippi Mamma]

Originally Posted by le roi

...the I-95 corridor is South Carolina's version of the Mississippi delta, ...

Dear lord... I try so hard to believe in Greenville, MS and the rest of the Delta, but that place really is a lost cause. If the people (especially the blacks) along the I-95 corridor in South Carolina have the same mentality as those in the Mississippi Delta, then you ain't gonna' catch me near there anytime soon. Truly sad...

I wish there was something we could do, but until both races just accept the fact that they both want the same thing, (better schools, less poverty, and less crime) then I do not see improvement coming to either area for a longgg time.

[PIR8tes12]

In my own opinion it isnt very southern feeling. Greenville has too many transplants to be considered southern anymore.

[box_of_zip_disks]

To be honest, you'll probably be disappointed in NC if you're looking for the authentic Dixie feel. Plenty of places, especially in Eastern NC are country enough, but they don't have the extra thing that makes the Deep South the Deep South. Seems silly, but you definitely notice a difference when you cross the SC/NC border.