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One thing since living down here that I've noticed about good ole Greenville is its lack of a major University / College in its immediate urban area and so my question is is this a plus or a minus in the minds of us who live here??
for instance...
columbia - USC right downtown
Charleston - C of C right downtown
rock hill (smaller than the others) - winthrop right there in the city.
I'm not saying we need one but does not having one help or hurt us in any capacity???
true a major university in clemson is neary...but a 45 minute drive. furman is still a good few minutes outside the city limits even though it has a greenville zip code.
I'm not sure it hurts, but it definitely would help having a major university located in the city limits of Greenville. Maybe one day Greenville Tech will become a four year university. Who knows.
I would like to add that it is nice to see Clemson University starting to get involved with the city. Examples would include ICAR and the business school downtown.
With the University Center (more info) in town, we at least have immediate access to a few state schools, regardless of its limitations.
If you are interested in a medical career, there are solid options in town as well.
G-man mentioned CU-ICAR for auto engineering (top notch) and Clemson's solid MBA program in downtown. The school has really just begun to reach out and seize some of the opportunities available in Greenville. With that said, two of my colleagues are currently enrolled at Clemson and one of them commutes between Central and Spartanburg every day. Greenville is almost half the distance.
Furman is very much connected with the community and has made significant contributions for generations. More recently, they have opened an educational facility (FYI (http://www2.furman.edu/visitors/visitors/fyi/Pages/default.aspx - broken link)) in downtown as a way to embrace the community even further. I would say that the school's high tuition cost and relatively small student body are more responsible for its lower visibility than its physical address .
Greenville has Governor Mark Sanford to thank for single-handedly halting the plan to build a satellite campus for USC Upstate in the city.
clemson univ. (the actual campus) in downtown greenville. same as usc in cola and cofc in charleston. social benefits / costs??? educational benefits/costs??? economic benefits/costs????
personally....
it would create a very different yet similar social scene i think. i dont think much would be different educationally speaking as one responder mentioned how Gville for some schools serves as a satellite center for other schools statewide. economically can you imagine downtown gville on saturdays in the fall with big time college football??? 20 - 30 thousand kids invade the area every fall. the $$$$$ would be ridiculous for downtown shops and vendors.
i guess i ask this question because i sometimes feel Greenville as a great city and missing out on having that mid major / major university right smack in its city the same way columbia does.
there's something about having an academic institution that i think cities like greenville thrive off of but apparently greenville just fine without one though.
again not saying gville needs one just feel like itd be cool if we had one.
greenville is also off the top of my head the only city of its size that doesn't have a big facility of higher education. i've already mentioned cola and charleston from this state.
where i'm from ohio we have toledo (UT), akron (UA), OSU in Columbus, UC in Cincy, dayton has UD and wright state, etc...
kentucky - lexington has UK, louisville (U of L), Raleigh has in and is surrounded by universities, knoxville has UT, greensboro has UNCG, the list goes on....
To answer the question in the title, it does hurt the city in some ways, while it helps in others. Fortunately we aren't forced to deal with a college town atmosphere every day and night between August and June.
To answer the question in the title, it does hurt the city in some ways, while it helps in others. Fortunately we aren't forced to deal with a college town atmosphere every day and night between August and June.
Agree with Skyliner. Having a large university right in the middle of downtown would no doubt change the downtown. In some ways, it would be better. But in some ways it would be worse. Students of college age could provide a constant stream of business for pizza, subs, dance places, beer joints and low-cost music clubs. That might take away from the genteel sophistication that parts of the downtown have at the moment. It would depend where you located it I guess.
Keep in mind that Clemson is nicer for the students as well (Greenville unofficial major university) because it is NOT in a major city like Atlanta, Raleigh, or Columbia. They have the town all to themselves.
Agree with Skyliner. Having a large university right in the middle of downtown would no doubt change the downtown. In some ways, it would be better. But in some ways it would be worse. Students of college age could provide a constant stream of business for pizza, subs, dance places, beer joints and low-cost music clubs. That might take away from the genteel sophistication that parts of the downtown have at the moment. It would depend where you located it I guess.
Keep in mind that Clemson is nicer for the students as well (Greenville unofficial major university) because it is NOT in a major city like Atlanta, Raleigh, or Columbia. They have the town all to themselves.
I agree with this completely. I think we get the best of both worlds, being close enough to a major university without being a "college town". I say this having lived in Columbus Ohio, and also having spent lots of time in Athens Ohio and Cleveland Ohio as well, which are all big college towns.
[quote=greenvillebuckeye;16898075]i guess i ask this question because i sometimes feel Greenville as a great city and missing out on having that mid major / major university right smack in its city the same way columbia does./QUOTE]
The bottom line is, people in Greenville have ready access to many different forms of higher education. Even without a major, physical campus located at the epicenter of Main St, the means are here to educate a significant number of people in a wide range of fields. And, as others have already said, higher education is well-integrated into the community here. Clemson basically IS Greenville's large (or at least sizeable) university, and the story of Skyliner's colleagues is repeated over & over again around this metro area. BTW - have you ever noticed the difference in traffic downtown & on Woodruff Rd on Clemson home game weekends?
Even with USC right downtown, Columbia doesn't seem to be setting the world on fire in any particular category, either.
But in some ways it would be worse. Students of college age could provide a constant stream of business for pizza, subs, dance places, beer joints and low-cost music clubs. That might take away from the genteel sophistication that parts of the downtown have at the moment.
I very much agree with the quoted statements. I think downtown Greenville would be more like Five Points in Columbia (pizza, beer, drunks throwing up on the sidewalks, tuner cars and shootings). No thank you.
Part of what makes downtown Greenville so desirable is the more adult, genteel sophistication.....would never want to see that taken away.
College life has its place, downtown Greenville is not that place.
Greenville currently benefits from all the educational / research opportunities / arts by having Furman and Clemson close by, yet we don't have the negatives that a huge population of 20 year olds brings. The current set-up works pretty well IMO.
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Maybe one day Greenville Tech will become a four year university. Who knows. 
Examples would include ICAR and the business school downtown.
