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My wife and I just moved here from DFW this past week and at first we were so excited until we started to get to know the place and are strongly considering to look else where. Fortunately we are in Corp housing and not locked in a lease or even worse a Mortage. We heard so much about downtown and we saw nothing but drunks and thugs and no police presence anywhere. Where are the cops? We went to the park and did not get out of the car for concern of being mugged. I see guys with gang colors and their pants down to there knees their not out for an evening stroll. Groups of them too -- where are then cops by the way?
Downtown was mostly loaded with people getting drunk. Not a place I want to bring my family to. And again, no police to be seen. We were accosted by some teens and I was with my wife and four year old daughter.
And the driving in this place, wow, what horrible drivers. I can see in DFW, a city of eight million people, but Greenville? Where is the fire? Slow down for crying out loud.
It appears that city officials are sticking their heads in the sand for the dollar while ignoring the impending danger to their citizens. What happened to "Greenville, the best kept secret." The city needs to hire more cops and enforce the law. I for one am not placing my family in peril by going downtown. Not until I hear there is a police presence keeping us safe. We really wanted to buy a house and make Greenville our home but looking at all the criminal element has us reconsidering.
It just happened in Philadelphia, too. It's everywhere. The sad thing is that some people choose to focus only on the negative only when talking about certain cities. I think in one case it's only when talking about one city. Also, in some cities most of the night clubs are outside the city limits because the city limits are so small, and shootings sometimes happen at those night clubs (12 in one night, for example), but aren't included in these City-data discussions about crime in cities. But when I see a post like the OP's with a junior member status I get suspicious.
My experience from moving here from St. Louis is absolutely positive, even with the "thugs". Seriously - you smile and say "hey" to anyone in certain areas there in STL, you're going to be taken down.
Here? Either ignored, get a hey back, or a nod. And yes, I'm talking about "thugs" when I say this.
Have been downtown at night, WITH my kids, and while I wouldn't go down a dark alley (what city would you REALLY want to do that?) I've felt perfectly safe.
I could hardly believe my eyes when I read the title of this thread. Thugs and drunks hardly sounds like the Greenville I've come to know and love. Seriously, OP, you need to get out of town, but good luck finding a place that's perfect or safe enough for you and that has everything Greenville has to offer.
My wife and I just moved here from DFW this past week and at first we were so excited until we started to get to know the place and are strongly considering to look else where. Fortunately we are in Corp housing and not locked in a lease or even worse a Mortage. We heard so much about downtown and we saw nothing but drunks and thugs and no police presence anywhere. Where are the cops? We went to the park and did not get out of the car for concern of being mugged. I see guys with gang colors and their pants down to there knees their not out for an evening stroll. Groups of them too -- where are then cops by the way?
Downtown was mostly loaded with people getting drunk. Not a place I want to bring my family to. And again, no police to be seen. We were accosted by some teens and I was with my wife and four year old daughter.
And the driving in this place, wow, what horrible drivers. I can see in DFW, a city of eight million people, but Greenville? Where is the fire? Slow down for crying out loud.
It appears that city officials are sticking their heads in the sand for the dollar while ignoring the impending danger to their citizens. What happened to "Greenville, the best kept secret." The city needs to hire more cops and enforce the law. I for one am not placing my family in peril by going downtown. Not until I hear there is a police presence keeping us safe. We really wanted to buy a house and make Greenville our home but looking at all the criminal element has us reconsidering.
Please come to NYC and I will take you for a train ride into Brooklyn so you will understand what a thug is before you continue to throw that word around so freely!
I can assure you that after your visit you will have a new understanding of what a thug really is. There is nothing unsafe about a group of kids hanging out in downtown Greenville.
I'd just like to ask the OP another question, or two...
I'd like to ask you WHERE EXACTLY this occured because if you were truly walking downtown during any time a 4yr old child would be out and about with their parents, and there was NO ONE ELSE AROUND TO WITNESS THIS, I'd say you are either full of bs or you were somewhere you shouldn't have been.
And which park are you talking about, Falls or Cleveland, and what time? If it was night, and after THE PARK CLOSES, then of course, you wouldn't want to go because IT'S CLOSED, otherwise, there would be other people in the park, enjoying it, and not worrying if they were going to be accosted or not. I don't think people go to the park thinking in fear they are going to be accosted.
Again, if a real post, you do sound a bit like you live in a state of paranoia, and it probably shows. People can easily pray on the weak.
I'm not saying crime can't and doesn't happen downtown, but I wouldn't put myself in a position to be in an unsafe place, at an unsafe time. Didn't your Mother always teach you "there's safety in numbers." I'm still trying to logically figure out how you would know what "gang colors" were here in Greenville - please enlighten me how you know this, but nothing much about the town you've just uprooted your family to living in.
And why did you pick Greenville????
Just remember, you can't pick your family, and you can't pick your neighbors either. It seems you are wanting to live in a Utopia where nothing bad is ever going to happen. Sorry, no place exists, not even Mayberry exists anymore. Small towns where you think no crime will occur have plenty of crime too. Good luck!
According to the OP: thug = black teenager. Saturday evening has the highest non-white ratio downtown based on my own observation. I couldn't care less what color the people are anywhere, especially downtown Greenville.
I WAS downtown Saturday evening. I was with my wife, 8 week-old son, and 16 year-old (gorgeous) German foreign exchange student. We walked from the Richardson St. garage to the park, all through the park, and back. No one bothered us at all, not even trying to hit on the beautiful females accompanying me.
I remember the fights/"riots" in front of Greenville news a couple years ago. Nothing like that has happened since then. Yes, a large number of teenagers and young 20-somethings gather in different areas along Main St., but I have yet to see anyone causing trouble. My wife and I have spent evenings downtown 1-2x weekly for the last five years with no problems whatsoever.
Honestly, just treat all people of all colors and all ages just like you treat people who look like you and are your own age. Give respect, and usually you get a decent amount of respect in return. It usually works for us.
OP here, to the contrary, I had visited here on business on several occasions. In fact it took over two years for us to assess the city. To put it simply, you can dip your toes in the water as many times as you like but you're not really going to know what it's like until you jump in. So, to address your concern, I didn't move my family on a whim, I did my research. Please don't get me wrong, I genuinely hope one day I get to post and say, "I apologize, but I stand corrected. Greenville is a great place with great people." All I'm doing is posting my observations thus far. Would you rather me be dishonest and post to the contrary? What good is this board if we can't post our honest opinion? We are in a three month lease with this corp house and we hope by then what you say about this city holds true - I genuinally do. It will save us the trouble of packing up and moving again.
Your "observations thus far" are based on a short timeliving there. If you had been living there years (like I had) and saw an issue happening downtown Greenville on a regular basis then I could see you getting on here and saying something. On top of that NOTHING HAPPENED....KIDS WERE JUST HANGING OUT! You act like you and your family were assaulted or something!
I am not one of those people on here who wear rose colored glasses when it comes to Greenville. When I see things that need to change in Greenville I say it. But in this case I see nothing wrong with downtown Greenville!
Have been downtown Greenville on many occasions and can say with honesty have never experienced any problems.
It is a lovely downtown area and if you were not so preoccupied worrying about the color of peoples skin maybe you could have enjoyed your time there! Feel sorry for people like you.
I hate Greenville, I'm definitely not a member of its welcoming community, and am only here due to jobs. BUT the reasons you listed for not liking it seem exaggerated and fueled by paranoia and I can't help but roll my eyes a little. I'm sure you really do feel this way, so I'm not going to mock you like some others, but maybe you developed a perception of it because of how you saw one person, and suddenly they all became thugs?
To me, the downtown is Greenville's only redeeming factor and I've never experienced problems like you've mentioned. I'm a mid-20's gal who's looks make me pass for being in my teens and don't feel uncomfortable downtown (other areas sure, but now downtown). Maybe you need to give downtown another go? Check out the chocolate moose, thats sure to make anyone a bit happier.
Obviously, those from other cities around the US who are sending delegations of people to come to Greenville to see how this city has become so great, along with numerous magazine articles that recognize just how nice DT Greenville is, THESE people are the ones who have done their homework:
OP, you posted: I fell for the hype that you and others posted about this place and I find it's my personal responsibility to not have others be misinformed as I was.
Is it hype that brought you to Greenville? Did you not do any of your own research, and as I've asked before (among other questions) why did you move here? And where would you move to now that you are (quickly) disenchanted with Greenville?
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