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I am starting PhD program at UNCG in fall, am visiting in Feb to hopefully locate REAL CHEAP house that I can pay cash for now so I can afford to live when I quit my job to go back to school. Cheap like $30k or less. Like I might be camping in the living room while fixing it up kinda place, even. I went to grad school at UNC-CH in the late 90s and loved it. Yet somehow I never made it to Greensboro, so don't know what I'm dealing with.
I know there are at least a dozen "I'm relocating, what areas are best threads" (because I've been reading them for the past 6 hours straight) and I think I'm getting it. Nonetheless, being from Philly I think my tolerance for marginal neighborhoods might be moderately high and I am looking at a few houses N. of Florida, W. of MLK, E. of Elm...just north of Gillespie Golf Course and a mile or so from UNCG campus. When I read all your posts, Google map the housing projects and overlay it with the crime maps it seems like it might be a reasonable pocket of safety. Yes? Am I likely to find students here or... not?
I'm half of a lesbian couple with 4 dogs so need a house with a little yard at least. There doesn't seem to be a "gayborhood" in Greensboro that I can find...so are there neighborhoods I should avoid, is it generally welcoming, etc?
And the real point of this message - when I visit I will have a very short time to look around before reporting back to my family. If I am there for 48 hours with a Flip camera, what are the "Must See" things I should capture to bring home the flavor of Greensboro to my girl and get her excited about this move? We love to kayak, hike, she plays golf. We are a little crunchy and would be excited by farmers markets, organic food stores, availability of natural products. Are there places to check out indie films? Could we safely walk/bike to school from that area? Is there a healthy LGBT community - bars, bookshops, cafe? I am a gardener and enjoy arboretums, botanical gardens. How about garden and book clubs?
I know this is a lot, and these forums have already been hugely helpful in getting information - esp. all the information about relocating. Good info about downtown, nightlife, etc. Not so sure about outdoor activities/natural living/gay aspects. If you have anything to add about any part of this post, a million thank yous. I'm real excited to visit and relocate!
I work at UNC Greensboro, and in my opinion, any houses in the 30K range that you could live in while fixing (if you could even find one!) would be in pretty dangerous neighborhoods. You would have to drive through them to see for yourself. GSO has a downtown farmer's market a couple of days a week, and there is a huge one that's open every day off I-40 on the way to Kernersville. There aren't that many natural food stores, at least that I've been able to find, and I've been here about 5 years now--there's a Deep Roots Market a couple miles down Spring Garden Road from UNCG but the selection is limited. There is a Whole Foods store in Winston-Salem that's pretty good. People here tend to eat lots of fast food, quanity over quality appears to be the rule. Also, I heard over winter break that some out of state developer is trying to put up some massive student housing complexes in a quaint neighborhood near UNCG and the residents are fighting it--you'll see signs all over the lawns in that area, beware because the city will definitely side w/the developer on that one.
I have no idea what a LGBT community is, so can't help you with that--and don't make enough money at UNCG to go to coffee shops, bars, movies, etc.
Last edited by cny2cnc; 01-09-2010 at 05:03 AM..
Reason: misspelling
Thank you for the information. I am glad there are farmer's markets. I suspect that also there will be a longer season for home gardening in NC than I have in PA, so hopefully I will be able to grow some veg at home, too.
There is a longer season, but the last 3 years we've had a drought in the summer months, during most of July and August we've received no rain to speak of. This isn't too good for growing things, you can't water your garden enough to compensate for the lack of rainfall. It's almost like living in Arizona, a dry, hot wind blew daily and dessicated pretty much everything.
While we have had very low rainfall over the past few summers, it's certainly doable to have a garden. I've had both a garden and potted tomatoes, peppers and herbs. If you make a small investment (<$50) into a drip system, you're not wasting a ton of water and I was picking tomatoes an peppers until Nov.
Look at the Glenwood neighborhood.
It's across the street from UNCG and the houses are cheap. I don't know 30K cheap, but there might be some fixer uppers. It's a very eclectic neighborhood with an active neighborhood association. And it has "The Hive" which is a pretty interesting community space.
As for clubs in the area, check out meetup.com.
Last edited by Tart Green Apple; 01-11-2010 at 09:37 AM..
There is a longer season, but the last 3 years we've had a drought in the summer months, during most of July and August we've received no rain to speak of. This isn't too good for growing things, you can't water your garden enough to compensate for the lack of rainfall. It's almost like living in Arizona, a dry, hot wind blew daily and dessicated pretty much everything.
Not entirely true, annually I have a 1/4 acre garden, I use the grass clippings from the other 2.25 acres to mulch my plants. It takes a few cuttings to get each and every plant, but it is worth the effort. I water with a watering can twice weekly at first then once weekly after the plants are well established. With at least 6 to 8 inches of mulch, the plant roots stay damp and I don't have to do as much weeding, or watering.
dRandom provided all the best links! Dirt cheap there compared to any other areas close to UNCG but at 30k, I don't know how habitable they would be in this temperature! I lived there 10 years and still own 3 homes there- artists, working stiffs, rentals, students... It's nice.
Dusty Rhodes - you water a 1/4 acre garden with a can!? Impressive! Almost as impressive as the 3 acres of space! I am an avid gardener, but I only got serious about growing fruit and vegetables and storing them for winter a couple of years ago. But I know that a lot of things that grew for me in NC won't grow for me now, so really looking forward to being back!
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