I know these questions have been answered at some point or another on here, but... (Columbia: foreclosed)

[pvjd]

I am considering employment as a social worker in Greenville. My wife and I are early 30's, with a 10 yr old son who has high functioning Asperger's. We live in Birmingham, AL. I have researched Columbia and Charleston, but only just recently considered Greenville due to my son's half brother and his family moving to Marion, NC, which will be pretty close by. This is what we would like, and I need the kind folks on here to give me input and advice: We enjoy music (rock music, metal, blues, etc.), nice restaurants that have good food but not stuffy, family friendly activities such as park festivals, arts and craft fairs, circus, fun learning centers, zoos, etc. We are considered to be liberal and are pretty open minded, but we don't care if you are liberal or not as long as you are a good person is what really matters. For my child, we need a school where his needs can be met. He has Asperger's, but very high functioning, so he is not socially isolated or unable to function within a normal environment, there are just some things that he needs help with. He enjoys playing in the parks, water activities like swimming, fishing, etc. Loves the zoo, loves festivals, etc. His hobbies include origami, video games, legos, riding bikes, wood carving, art (he loves to create things out of metal and clay, etc.). He also loves rock music as well. We also do not like the heat too much, and i know Charleston and much of SC can be very hot, I am just hoping that Greenville is not quite as hot (I would love it if there were snow every now and then). Where are the best options for what we are looking for? Mind you, I am a social worker and my wife is a caregiver, so we are not rich and we will likely rent a home as opposed to own one.

[drfranklin]

Welcome.

There are a few posters here in this sub-forum from the AL/Birmingham area. I lived in Birmingham from mid 1990's thru the early 2000's. Prior to that, I lived in Tuscaloosa.

Greenville and the Upstate of SC are wonderful for families. As you may know, downtown Greenville, with Falls Park, is the pinnacle of the area.

Comparisons to Birmingham

Population: nearly identical, although the Upstate's populace is quite spread out - a drive from Anderson, thru Greenville, and to Spartanburg can easily take 75 minutes

Shopping/Retail/Dining: 5 years prior, I would have stated Birmingham trumps the Upstate - however, with the addition of Trader Joe's and (soon) REI, the Upstate edges out the Magic City.

Greenville also has Mimi's Cafe, Bruegger's (love that place), & Total Wine (incredible wine store). We also have Perkins, ATL Bread Company, Kate Spade, Guess, and will be getting a Cheddars in '11. Additionally, there are unconfirmed reports that Greenville will get a Bass Pro Shops for '12. Lastly, a $100 Million downtown retail/office development was just announced that includes the area's first Anthropologie.

Granted Birmingham does have Cheesecake Factory, McCormick and Schmick's (great seafood), Village Tavern (wonderful), and Rave Theaters (best chain theater IMO). Further, the Birmingham metro has multiple, upscale shopping venues: Summitt, Brookwood Village, Riverchase Galleria, and Pinnacle.

Schools: (I can only comment on Greenville county schools) All public schools in SC are county based with the Greenville County School District being the largest in the state. All local schools in this county (and I mean all of them) have been restored/rebuilt/or are new within the last 8 years - this is part of the Greenville County Public Schools Capital Reconstruction Program (http://http://www.greenville.k12.sc.us/gcsd/docs/fac_plan.pdf - broken link) with 1 Billion dollars allocated. On a potential downside, there are no well delineated, excellent schools here (with the exception of perhaps Riverside and the feeder elementary schools). The Birmingham metro is much different as excellent public schools are easily identified (e.g. Mountain Brook and Vestavia).

Activities: this is where the Upstate shines. Outdoor activities play a big role in Greenville: a 13 mile paved trail (Swamp Rabbit (http://greenvillerec.com/parks/swamp-rabbit/ - broken link)) runs just south of downtown and travels north to Traveler's Rest. Biking is popular in the Upstate (esp in the city of Greenville) with numerous bike lanes/trails - George Hincapie lives in Greenville as well. The USA Cycling Pro Championship (http://www.usacyclingchampionships.com/ - broken link) just concluded last week (right here in Greenville).

A major plus for the Upstate is that Greenville is about an hour south of Asheville and 30 minutes south of elevations > 3,000 feet (see Caesar's Head State Park - amazing). Charleston is an easy 3 1/2 hour drive and the beaches of SC a little further.

Birmingham is somewhat isolated in that it's about a 4-5+ hour drive to the high mountains of TN/NC and 4-5 hours to the beaches of FL.

See this post for additional family activities. Also, see the Greenville CVB website for additional info.

Economy: the North American headquarters of Michelin and BMW reside in the Upstate. Lots of French and German here. Other major companies include Fluor, GE, Lockheed Martin, 3M, Honeywell, and Hubbell Lighting.

Weather: a touch cooler in the summer than Birmingham - still hot and humid much like most areas of the South. As noted above, Greenvillians have an escape from the heat - Asheville/Hendersonville/Southern Highlands are an easy drive. For an even cooler summer drive, check out Highlands, NC - elevation 4,100 feet - summer high temps average 78 degrees! About a 90 drive from G'vill.

Greenville averages 6.3 inches of snow per year. This year we rec'd about 9 inches. We have about 2-3 winter "events" per year. Of course, the mountains just to our north will have many more events. Ice is a problem here (nearly yearly) due to CAD/Wedge effects. Additionally, the local weather is interesting because our television market includes the mountains of western NC - so, the local TV weather is divided between the "Upstate" and "Mountains".

Birmingham averages about 1.5 inches of snow per year and is never effected by CAD (too far to the west). Average yearly temps are slightly warmer in Birmingham. For example, B'ham averages 91 degrees for a high temp in July. For Greenville, the average high temp in July is 89.

Good Luck!

[greenvilleGB]

I am not an expert on Asperger's syndrome, but Camperdown Academy is an excellent school in Greenville that has a very low student-teacher ratio and specializes in learning disabilities, with an emphasis on dyslexia.
I do know that the school is fairly expensive, but I imagine they have scholarship opportunities.

Camperdown Academy (http://camperdown.org/pages/admissions.aspx - broken link)

[Amator]

I'm probably in the same income range and my 8-year old stepson has high-functioning Autism. We live in the town of Fountain Inn, which is a suburb of Greenville. The local public elementary school (Fountain Inn Elementary) has two small classes for Autistic/Aspergers as well as some kids who are mainstreamed with an aide. My boy has made a lot of improvements since he started the school two years ago and I recommend it.

Another good thing about Fountain Inn is that you're only around 20 minutes from downtown Greenville but it's a small town with a great community and correspondingly lower housing prices. Our house is five years old, an 1800 sq ft house on a 1/4 acre with a 2 car garage. It was originally sold for 150k but the original owners foreclosed and we got it for 90k. This was right before the housing burst and there are lots of 150-175k homes going for 100k or so right now.

Good luck in your search!

[pvjd]

Thanks to all of you who have replied so far. I must say, Greenville seems very family friendly. Are there places to suggest maybe not moving due to higher pockets of crime, bad schools, etc. Also, regarding music, are there any good rock stations and music clubs for shows? How about arenas and other venues? Regarding my child with Asperger's, I appreciate what you wrote Amator. As you know, the Asperger spectrum is very broad. My son is fully integrated with the other students, and he has regular activities and friends that he plays with. He even plays little league soccer and is presently at summer camp. If you weren't told, you might not even think he had anything. It presents as more ADHD type behavior, but with the added social, boundary, and impulse control issues. I hope that your child has all the services needed. What has been key for us is a good doctor with an understanding of good meds to help with the anxiety, OCD, and other common traits. We also have a great therapist who helps with social interaction/behavioral issues, as well as a support group for my wife and I to help us better deal with things. I have considered Columbia due to it being the capital city and having more services for special needs children, but Greenville seems to not be bad at all in that area. Keep up the good parenting.

[Amator]

I can't say much about Rock stations as I don't listen to the radio much, but there are a few good clubs in the area. Just about anything can also be found 1-2 hours away in Charlotte, Atlanta, or Asheville as well.

The Handlebar - Indie, Jazz, Folk, and Classic Rock acts that aren't big enough for arenas.
The Bi-Lo Center - Arena, this is where the headline acts perform.
Smiley's Acoustic Cafe - Very small and local acts

Glad to hear your son is very high functioning. My stepson suffers from both Autism and severe ADHD. He has a lot of behavioral and social problems and has great difficulty controlling his agression. We've gone through over six daycare/summer camps over the past few years and he always gets thrown out of them for starting fights with other kids who pick on him or having breakdowns where he will scream and convulse for 20-30 minutes at a time. His ADHD meds work wonders and he is a much happier, more loving and polite boy while on his meds but since they completely suppress his appetite and don't allow him to sleep he is only on them for half the day.

He doesn't play well with other children and has never been invited to another child's house more than once. At 8 years old the experts tell me he has the maturity and mental development of a 4 year old, and he can now read around 50-100 words. He was not able to speak until 3 years of age; we had to use rudimentary sign language with him.

His special needs teacher at the school has remarked that he has the most severe case of ADHD she's ever seen and other parents have made snide comments about him being possessed by a demon. I love him so much, but it's very frustrating sometimes. Next month we're finally getting to see a top rated psychologist who specializes in Autism/ADHD after a six month wait. I hope it gets a little easier as he gets older.

[rbad]

For your son you can look into the Meyer Center in Greenville. I don't know if this is what you need or not, but it has a wonderful rep.

Meyer Center

Also the Greenville Woodworkers Guild may be a great place to join.
Greenville Woodworkers Guild

[gsupstate]

Originally Posted by drfranklin

Welcome.

There are a few posters here in this sub-forum from the AL/Birmingham area. I lived in Birmingham from mid 1990's thru the early 2000's. Prior to that, I lived in Tuscaloosa.

Greenville and the Upstate of SC are wonderful for families. As you may know, downtown Greenville, with Falls Park, is the pinnacle of the area.

Comparisons to Birmingham

Population: nearly identical, although the Upstate's populace is quite spread out - a drive from Anderson, thru Greenville, and to Spartanburg can easily take 75 minutes

Shopping/Retail/Dining: 5 years prior, I would have stated Birmingham trumps the Upstate - however, with the addition of Trader Joe's and (soon) REI, the Upstate edges out the Magic City.

Greenville also has Mimi's Cafe, Bruegger's (love that place), & Total Wine (incredible wine store). We also have Perkins, ATL Bread Company, Kate Spade, Guess, and will be getting a Cheddars in '11. Additionally, there are unconfirmed reports that Greenville will get a Bass Pro Shops for '12. Lastly, a $100 Million downtown retail/office development was just announced that includes the area's first Anthropologie.

Granted Birmingham does have Cheesecake Factory, McCormick and Schmick's (great seafood), Village Tavern (wonderful), and Rave Theaters (best chain theater IMO). Further, the Birmingham metro has multiple, upscale shopping venues: Summitt, Brookwood Village, Riverchase Galleria, and Pinnacle.

Schools: (I can only comment on Greenville county schools) All public schools in SC are county based with the Greenville County School District being the largest in the state. All local schools in this county (and I mean all of them) have been restored/rebuilt/or are new within the last 8 years - this is part of the Greenville County Public Schools Capital Reconstruction Program (http://http://www.greenville.k12.sc.us/gcsd/docs/fac_plan.pdf - broken link) with 1 Billion dollars allocated. On a potential downside, there are no well delineated, excellent schools here (with the exception of perhaps Riverside and the feeder elementary schools). The Birmingham metro is much different as excellent public schools are easily identified (e.g. Mountain Brook and Vestavia).

Activities: this is where the Upstate shines. Outdoor activities play a big role in Greenville: a 13 mile paved trail (Swamp Rabbit (http://greenvillerec.com/parks/swamp-rabbit/ - broken link)) runs just south of downtown and travels north to Traveler's Rest. Biking is popular in the Upstate (esp in the city of Greenville) with numerous bike lanes/trails - George Hincapie lives in Greenville as well. The USA Cycling Pro Championship (http://www.usacyclingchampionships.com/ - broken link) just concluded last week (right here in Greenville).

A major plus for the Upstate is that Greenville is about an hour south of Asheville and 30 minutes south of elevations > 3,000 feet (see Caesar's Head State Park - amazing). Charleston is an easy 3 1/2 hour drive and the beaches of SC a little further.

Birmingham is somewhat isolated in that it's about a 4-5+ hour drive to the high mountains of TN/NC and 4-5 hours to the beaches of FL.

See this post for additional family activities. Also, see the Greenville CVB website for additional info.

Economy: the North American headquarters of Michelin and BMW reside in the Upstate. Lots of French and German here. Other major companies include Fluor, GE, Lockheed Martin, 3M, Honeywell, and Hubbell Lighting.

Weather: a touch cooler in the summer than Birmingham - still hot and humid much like most areas of the South. As noted above, Greenvillians have an escape from the heat - Asheville/Hendersonville/Southern Highlands are an easy drive. For an even cooler summer drive, check out Highlands, NC - elevation 4,100 feet - summer high temps average 78 degrees! About a 90 drive from G'vill.

Greenville averages 6.3 inches of snow per year. This year we rec'd about 9 inches. We have about 2-3 winter "events" per year. Of course, the mountains just to our north will have many more events. Ice is a problem here (nearly yearly) due to CAD/Wedge effects. Additionally, the local weather is interesting because our television market includes the mountains of western NC - so, the local TV weather is divided between the "Upstate" and "Mountains".

Birmingham averages about 1.5 inches of snow per year and is never effected by CAD (too far to the west). Average yearly temps are slightly warmer in Birmingham. For example, B'ham averages 91 degrees for a high temp in July. For Greenville, the average high temp in July is 89.

Good Luck!

^ Excellent post and totally agree.

Having grown up in Birmingham, and now living in Greenville, I must say, Greenville edges out Birmingham in most respects. I was a huge Birmingham booster, lived in a downtown loft and hung out at Blue Monkey. I still think Birmingham is a special place, but Greenville has the edge.

Greenville is less southern in attitude, more social in an all inclusive type of way, feels cleaner and has a "boutique" feel to it, if that makes sense. Greenville's quality of life is enviable and hard to beat.

[jbar1]

The 2 rock stations that I know of are 93.3 The Planet - new rock and Rock 101 - classic rock. If you have a smart phone get the Flycast app and you can listen to them both.