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Greenville routinely makes top 10, top 20 lists for engineering hub cities. I have never seen Greensboro on those lists. Greenville has a lot of design engineering firms that have offices and competitors in Raleigh and Charlotte but not Greensboro and Winston Salem.
Out of the suggested cities in this thread, I would say Huntsville is the most similar to Greenville because it is always on the engineering hub city lists. Knoxville would probably be the 2nd most similar, especially if the Oak Ridge area is included.
You have a point when it comes to the engineering sector, but I have seen lists where Greenville is listed but not Huntsville. Here are three I just Googled:
As far as look goes, I would say W-S is more similar to Greenville than Greensboro, and it is closer to Pilot Mountain and some other good hiking areas than Greensboro.
I tend to think Greensboro is actually more similar to Greenville in terms of looks than Winston-Salem. Winston-Salem's downtown feels bigger and it has a large skyline for its size, whereas Greensboro's and Greenville's skylines and downtown footprints are similarly smaller for their sizes. Winston-Salem has Old Salem, a preserved colonial historic district, in its downtown area whereas Greenville nor Greensboro has anything comparable to that. Winston-Salem lacks a popular downtown park, whereas Greenville and Greensboro have those. Both Greensboro and Greenville have suburban convention centers; Winston-Salem has one downtown. Also Greenville's and Greensboro's ballparks have a similar integration into the cores of their downtowns, whereas Winston Salem's is just a little farther away. I'd also say Greensboro's Elm Street feels more like Greenville's Main Street; Elm Street south of the railroad tracks reminds me of Greenville's Main Street through the West End, and north of the tracks it goes into the business district runs beside Center City Park. In Winston-Salem, Trade Street gives me a West End-type vibe but Fourth Street feels like the main commercial drag. And of course, I-85 runs through both Greenville and Greensboro and their downtowns seem to be situated a similar distance from the interstate.
Frederick Maryland about 45 minutes west of DC has Comcast. Its downtown is similar to Greenville except there aren't any tall corporate buildings. There are mountains nearby.
You could also look at some of the north Atlanta cities like Roswell and Woodstock.
Frederick Maryland about 45 minutes west of DC has Comcast. Its downtown is similar to Greenville except there aren't any tall corporate buildings. There are mountains nearby.
You could also look at some of the north Atlanta cities like Roswell and Woodstock.
Awesome thank you! We’ve been looking a lot more into Georgia just because the weather is a bit warmer but don’t have much information on the Atlanta area- it has always seemed like a much bigger city that we would like but that’s from an outsiders perspective!
Awesome thank you! We’ve been looking a lot more into Georgia just because the weather is a bit warmer but don’t have much information on the Atlanta area- it has always seemed like a much bigger city that we would like but that’s from an outsiders perspective!
The great thing about Metro Atlanta is that you can find small cities and still have the amenities of a big city nearby.
Towns like Blue Ridge or Dahlonega may fit your needs.
I disagree. While I doubt most people aren't driving to every nook and cranny of their metro area, in the South in particular, most people aren't simply staying within the city limits either. Greenville itself consists of less than 30 square miles with lots of commercial areas, the airport, many of the region's largest employers, etc. outside of the city limits. As a matter of fact, singular largest job site in the region (the BMW plant) and GSP airport aren't even in Greenville's metro area. Furthermore, most people would include adjacent suburbs as the "city" and rightfully so. This is why just about every other statistic: county population, urbanized area population, MSA, CSA, etc. has Greenville as the bigger place over Asheville because in reality, it really is.
The point being MSA stats means squat as the Asheville MSA obliterates the Greenville-Spartanburg MSA in terms of quantity and quality of things to do, which from the numbers perspective presented should be the opposite...and why it's important these relative size numbers shouldn't be used as a qualifier/non-qualifier when considering a new place to relocate to.
The point being MSA stats means squat as the Asheville MSA obliterates the Greenville-Spartanburg MSA in terms of quantity and quality of things to do, which from the numbers perspective presented should be the opposite...and why it's important these relative size numbers shouldn't be used as a qualifier/non-qualifier when considering a new place to relocate to.
Is that so? Care to give some examples?
Size still plays a role whether you think it should or not. But for most people, job opportunities is the primary consideration when it comes to where to relocate and on that front, Asheville can't touch Greenville, plus Greenville has a lower cost of living.
As the OP mentioned, NC cities don't have Comcast. It might be better to do an Asheville vs Greenville discussion on another topic. Some of the comments made about Greenville in relation to Asheville don't make any sense to me.
Another idea is Augusta GA and nearby Aiken SC. Both have a good number of trees in their downtown area and relatively low cost of living cities.
Many of the roads in downtown Aiken have wide grass medians with trees. It is pretty unique. Aiken is a small city but it popular with retirees, and there are a lot of young people in town with SC's largest employer, the Department of Energy's Savannah River Site nearby. Aiken has one of the largest urban forests in a downtown area, Hitchcock Woods. It is 2100 acres and 2.5 times bigger than Central Park in NYC. Aiken is also a big horse town and has at least one horse race every year.
Augusta's downtown is right on the Savannah River like Savannah and it has a nice riverfront park. North Augusta SC right is right across the river. It has a nice greenway trail.
In some ways, Augusta seems the most similar to Greenville but a greater distance from the mountains. It is more hilly than you would think. Augusta is near a great lake that kind of flies under the radar, Clark Hill Lake / Lake Thurmond (same lake but different names in GA and SC respectively). Hickory Knob State Park is a great resort like state park on Lake Thurmond with a boat ramp and a golf course and cabins and hotel rooms.
I think Columbia is worth checking out too. It has an underrated downtown area, a great zoo and riverfront park. You can float down the Saluda River from Irmo a nearby suburb into downtown. It has a little whitewater. Columbia also has a great lake, Lake Murray, out in the Lexington / Irmo area. Lexington is a decent small town.
Last edited by ClemVegas; 04-07-2018 at 11:29 AM..
Size still plays a role whether you think it should or not. But for most people, job opportunities is the primary consideration when it comes to where to relocate and on that front, Asheville can't touch Greenville, plus Greenville has a lower cost of living.
The restaurant scene alone should suffice and I do agree not in the form of jobs/economy which I did not allude to in my post if you'll reread, nor cost of living. Also culturally Asheville would be hard to beat as well.
The restaurant scene alone should suffice and I do agree not in the form of jobs/economy which I did not allude to in my post if you'll reread, nor cost of living. Also culturally Asheville would be hard to beat as well.
No the restaurant scene alone does not suffice when you made the claim that "Asheville MSA obliterates the Greenville-Spartanburg MSA in terms of quantity and quality of things to do." Restaurants wouldn't be the first thing most people think of when they envision things to do (unlike the arts, sports, parks, concerts/special events, museums, amusement parks, etc) and even so, Greenville's restaurant scene is certainly no slouch at all:
If you do not agree that Greenville has the clear advantage when it comes to job opportunities and cost of living, then you simply don't know the facts. Even Asheville residents themselves will tell you that these are weak points for Asheville and comparatively strong ones for Greenville. Because tourists and retirees have outsized impacts on Asheville's local economy, many of the job opportunities there revolve around those sectors (hospitality, retail, etc) which are rather low-wage on average. And due to the terrain, land is at a premium in Asheville and that causes housing prices to soar due to limited supply. By contrast, Greenville' s local economy revolves around sectors like manufacturing, distribution, and engineering, along with several more white-collar operations, all of which tend to pay better than service sector jobs. Also Greenville's terrain is much easier to build on so supply and demand are kept in check better there. Here are some articles to inform you on the matter:
And it really doesn't matter if you alluded to job opportunities or cost of living in your post or not since they are easily among the top two factors, if not THE top two factors, that drive population growth, particularly for domestic migrants. They are highly relevant factors, period.
Is Asheville hard to beat culturally? Well in terms of local culture, sure it's more unique for that particular part of the country; no question there. In terms of "high culture" and the quantity and quality of cultural institutions, that is extremely debatable.
You've made it clear on a few occasions that you don't care for Greenville, which is your right. But that shouldn't cause you to be oblivious to facts.
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