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I'm thinking about retiring to Greenville within the next year. I'm tired of the ice, snow and cold of Maine winters! I think I will be much happier and healthier in a warmer climate.
A little about me: 58 year old single white male. Retired business owner (or will be soon once I sell my business!). Socially liberal and fiscally conservative. Libertarian leanings but also realize "there but by the grace of God go I." More spiritual then religious. Seldom attend church but when I do it is a Unitarian-Universalist one. Pretty easy going and although I know no one living in the Greenville area I'm not worried about making friends and being active socially.
I actually visited Greenville for a week this past April and stayed at a downtown hotel. I also spent a weekend in Asheville prior to visiting Greenville. Asheville is a bit too "crunchy" for my tastes and although I consider myself a bit liberal I prefer the more conservative Greenville area (I think!).
I spent most of my visit exploring the downtown area and hindsight being what it is I wish I had ventured out to the surrounding area a bit more. I did rent a bicycle one day and rode the Swamp Rabbit Trail up to Traveler's Rest and back.
I don't see myself living in a suburb on the outskirts of Greenville. I hated all the traffic outside of downtown. (I currently live in a rural Maine town of about 1,500!) Right now I think I would be happiest living in a condo in or near downtown and I do realize they are expensive. I actually viewed a couple of condos for sale at Lofts of Mills Mill (400 Mills Ave). when I visited in April. The Fieldhouse (South Main Street near the baseball field) and Brick Street Lofts (Augusta Avenue just east of Main Street) also caught my eye.
Does anyone have any knowledge or experience with any of these three condo complexes? I have noticed a lot of turnover (sales) of the Mills Ave. condos and that scares me a little bit, (Are people not happy living there?)
Can anyone recommend another downtown condo (1-2 bedrooms under $350,000) based on first hand experience? Or ones to avoid? I also checked a condo out at The Brio (South Church Street) but was not impressed.
I am thinking about visiting Greenville again early next year for an extended stay to make sure I really like it. Also, I very well may end up renting initially just so I can get a better feel for the area before committing to a move there. My brother, who lived in Florida for several years, thinks I should visit Greenville in the heat of the summer to experience the heat and humidity so perhaps I will be visiting again next month (August).
Thanks in advance - any information or insight would be appreciated!
I can't really help you with any of those condos you mentioned, but I just wanted to make a few comments. First, I will tell you that I retired to Greenville 10 years ago. In my case, I moved from the Chicago area. I have never had one regret, and you couldn't pay me to move back or probably anywhere else either! As with anywhere, there are good aspects and bad, but the good outweighs the bad, and it just keeps getting better ('cept for the traffic - EEK!).
I love the idea of living downtown but can't afford it. I do love where I live, though, and feel like I'm in the center of the universe based on the proximity to everything in relation to my location.
My passion is photography, and with all the beautiful places here and in the surrounding areas, I never run out of subjects. The same happens with restaurants. New ones opening every day, and it's hard to keep up!
I definitely agree that you should come in the height of summer and see if you think you can stand it. Renting before buying in a new location is always a good idea. You might find, as many people do, that you have allergy problems. G'ville is one of the worst in the country for allergies -- especially during pollen season
But if I were you, I would not hesitate for a second giving Greenville a chance. I'm quite sure you won't be sorry.
m thinking about retiring to Greenville within the next year. I'm tired of the ice, snow and cold of Maine winters! I think I will be much happier and healthier in a warmer climate.
A little about me: 58 year old single white male. Retired business owner (or will be soon once I sell my business!). Socially liberal and fiscally conservative. Libertarian leanings but also realize "there but by the grace of God go I." More spiritual then religious. Seldom attend church but when I do it is a Unitarian-Universalist one. Pretty easy going and although I know no one living in the Greenville area I'm not worried about making friends and being active socially.
I actually visited Greenville for a week this past April and stayed at a downtown hotel. I also spent a weekend in Asheville prior to visiting Greenville. Asheville is a bit too "crunchy" for my tastes and although I consider myself a bit liberal I prefer the more conservative Greenville area (I think!).
I spent most of my visit exploring the downtown area and hindsight being what it is I wish I had ventured out to the surrounding area a bit more. I did rent a bicycle one day and rode the Swamp Rabbit Trail up to Traveler's Rest and back.
I don't see myself living in a suburb on the outskirts of Greenville. I hated all the traffic outside of downtown. (I currently live in a rural Maine town of about 1,500!) Right now I think I would be happiest living in a condo in or near downtown and I do realize they are expensive. I actually viewed a couple of condos for sale at Lofts of Mills Mill (400 Mills Ave). when I visited in April. The Fieldhouse (South Main Street near the baseball field) and Brick Street Lofts (Augusta Avenue just east of Main Street) also caught my eye.
Does anyone have any knowledge or experience with any of these three condo complexes? I have noticed a lot of turnover (sales) of the Mills Ave. condos and that scares me a little bit, (Are people not happy living there?)
Can anyone recommend another downtown condo (1-2 bedrooms under $350,000) based on first hand experience? Or ones to avoid? I also checked a condo out at The Brio (South Church Street) but was not impressed.
I am thinking about visiting Greenville again early next year for an extended stay to make sure I really like it. Also, I very well may end up renting initially just so I can get a better feel for the area before committing to a move there. My brother, who lived in Florida for several years, thinks I should visit Greenville in the heat of the summer to experience the heat and humidity so perhaps I will be visiting again next month (August).
Thanks in advance - any information or insight would be appreciated!
I live at Riverbend Condos at 925 Cleveland St (since 1995). In my opinion, it's the best kept secret in the city of Greenville. It's close to downtown (<2 miles) and is on the Swamp Rabbit Trail. Check out 925 Cleveland St Unit 152 on Realtor.com . It's only been on the market for 3 days and will not last long. It is 3 BR unit with a large porch, which very rarely go on the market. Riverbend is a very strong community and the Condos hold their value or increase in value. We are a gated community with a FT site manager and 2 FT maintenance guys, 2 pools, clubhouse, and tennis courts plus a great location.
A little about me: 58 year old single white male. Retired business owner (or will be soon once I sell my business!). Socially liberal and fiscally conservative. Libertarian leanings but also realize "there but by the grace of God go I." More spiritual then religious. Seldom attend church but when I do it is a Unitarian-Universalist one. Pretty easy going and although I know no one living in the Greenville area I'm not worried about making friends and being active socially.
I actually visited Greenville for a week this past April and stayed at a downtown hotel. I also spent a weekend in Asheville prior to visiting Greenville. Asheville is a bit too "crunchy" for my tastes and although I consider myself a bit liberal I prefer the more conservative Greenville area (I think!).
NY Times has a detailed election map for 2016 so you can see how different areas of the Greenville metro voted. The Main Street area voted 56 percent for the Democratic candidate.
I have seen some self described liberals post on here to say they moved away from Greenville and they said Greenville was too conservative for them. It sounded like politics in Greenville was a negative quality of life thing for them.
You didn't mention the roads in Greenville but there are significant number of people who are not happy with the roads and they generally seem to want taxes to be increased for more road funding. I would say majority of these people are on the left but that is my casual observation so take it with a grain of salt.
When you say Asheville is too crunchy, what do you mean by that. Is that based on something you witnessed when you stayed in Asheville for the weekend?
Generally if a person wants proximity to outdoor recreation and a mild 4 season climate, he or she will like Greenville.
There was a woman who posted on here in the past year who self described as a liberal. She really loved Main Street in Greenville but she wasn't impressed with the rest of it. She said it looked rundown. She decided to move to Hendersonville/ Flat Rock NC which is about 45 minutes or so from downtown Greenville.
Last edited by ClemVegas; 07-31-2018 at 12:46 PM..
When I first visited Greenville several years ago, my reaction was that a lot of it looked run down as the poster ClemVegas mentioned said. I visited again in March this year, and what bothered me on my first visit didn't strike me as much on the second. What did strike me was the changes I saw even in a few years' time.
On my second visit, I had a plan that involved doing all the things I'd do when living in the community like grocery shopping and going to the library, as well as weekend activities like going to Paris Mountain (I also visited Raleigh for over a week, with the same to do list). Almost every Greenville video you see on YouTube features Falls Park and downtown -- but most people are not going to be living downtown, or even going there everyday. And having lived in places near tourist attractions, I find I develop a "been there, done that" attitude toward them. When I lived in Charlottesville VA, I visited Monticello a couple of times on my own, then didn't go there again unless I had out of town visitors.
I'd definitely suggest based on my own experience another visit - but focusing on the daily living in Greenville experience rather than touristy stuff.
I'm a little like the OP, about the same age with similar leanings.
I can't speak for him, but too crunchy for me would be an excess of folks that roll out of bed,shower or comb their hair only if they feel like it, and maybe just soak in patchouli making sure that they are wearing at least two items made from hemp and the highlight of the week is their drum circle.
God bless them.I just don't want to be immersed in that.
I can't speak for him, but too crunchy for me would be an excess of folks that roll out of bed,shower or comb their hair only if they feel like it, and maybe just soak in patchouli making sure that they are wearing at least two items made from hemp and the highlight of the week is their drum circle.
The traditional Friday night drum circle in Asheville:
Friend of mine was on vacation and stayed overnight in Asheville. I asked him what it was like, and he said "a lot of hippies and hipsters drinking PBR".
I the OP - my husband and I just spent a week in the Asheville/Greenville area exploring it as a possible place to retire. We are living in northern NH right now - rural and beautiful but too isolated for us as we age. We are originally from northern NJ and moved to NH because we loved the area from vacationing and my parents have had a cabin over the line in Maine for 50 years and my husband got a job offer. I felt I knew the area well but as so many folks have said, to vacation somewhere is so different than living there. Back to Greenville and summer weather - we found it no hotter than NH days in the summer except it was warmer in the evenings and mornings. We also agree with the OP that Asheville was a bit to "crunchy" and downright busy for our taste but Greenville seemed a nice compromise. Plenty of cultural things if we want to see a play or attend a concert. The long cold winters of New England won't get easier as we age and proximity to medial facilities is also important. We also liked Hendersonville a lot and have a friend who moved down there about 6 years ago (early 60s, single woman) and she loves it. We went to the Friday night concert in Hendersonville with her and the street concert in Greenville on Thursday. I have some reservations about the religious aspect and racial tension but several threads on this forum have reassured me that this should not be a huge concern. My husband and I sound similar to the OP in our values/political leanings and we find a mix of conservatives and liberals in our little town in NH but there is respect for differing views. The area seems to be growing fast and real estate was more expensive than we anticipated. We found a housing development we like but concerned about living in an HOA community even one that exists mainly for aesthetics due to lack of zoning laws. We are not golf club/country club types so avoided those. PS: We also liked Weaverville a lot up in NC but taxes seem a little better in SC.
For any of you concerned about the cost of housing and real estate, you might want to check out Spartanburg. We are 30 miles to the east (or north on I-85) and the town is on the way up. We will never be like Greenville nor are we trying to be.
Our housing costs are very moderate in that you get a lot of bang for the buck, we have a downtown on the rise, we are 15 minutes from Lake Bowen, and 30 from Greenville. I am a life long resident and have never seen my town as happening as it is right now in my 54 years. There are a lot of younger folks that are making things happen as we have 4 colleges in the downtown area and that is spurring growth.
Come check us out the next time you visit Greenville.
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