quality of life in newberry (Columbia, Union: houses, movie theater, college)

[allinone]

I will be moving to Newberry soon and am wondering if anyone can tell me about the good and bad of living there. I am from the northeast, a city gal. What might I expect in Newberry?

[waccamatt]

Newberry is a small town, but as small towns go, it isn't that bad. Newberry has a wonderful old opera house that features some pretty good shows from time-to-time and it is less than a 45 minute drive from downtown Columbia.

[allinone]

Thanks for your response. I have been told that people there don't welcome outsiders. Is this true? I was told this by some people who are familiar with the town. I didn't find this when I visited but I am wondering if this is in fact so. I found the people to friendly.

[waccamatt]

Originally Posted by allinone

Thanks for your response. I have been told that people there don't welcome outsiders. Is this true? I was told this by some people who are familiar with the town. I didn't find this when I visited but I am wondering if this is in fact so. I found the people to friendly.

I don't think you'll find many small towns that aren't insular, so what else is new? If that is a concern you should live in the city or at the very least, an exurb like Chapin.

[Intergalactic]

Newberry is more phosisticated than most towns its size in SC; I doubt it will be unwelcoming.

[Columbiadata]

My grandparents lived there for over 50 years and are buried there. As a boy I would stay with them for two weeks each summer and spend mornings at their bakery shop on Main Street from the pre-dawn hours till lunch. I saw downtown go from a thriving, self-sustaining hub of activity to a near ghost town, but now it has a whole new life due to the restored opera house and new Hampton Inn. It has restaurants and some specialty shops. For more options, people in Newberry think nothing of hopping on I-26 and driving to Harbison in Columbia. It's only a 30 minute drive. Newberry has many beautiful old homes from back in the day when it was larger than Columbia was at the time. It's quaint and friendly, but it definitely is a small town - about 11,000 residents (give or take) in the town and around 36,000 in the county.

[loser_user]

Visiting in Newberry now I would say this town is a disaster. Unfriendly people, lots of closed up shops, hardly any restaurants, no movie theater, no bars, dilapidated houses. For a college town there is no college life apparently. Quite terrible in my opinion and might be worse than Union!

[Columbiadata]

Consider that there isn't a town or city in America without some closed up shops in this economy, except maybe in Texas and Oklahoma, and look for the positives in Newberry if you plan to move there.