New-ish to Greenville, Advice on specific neighborhoods (Five Forks, Woodruff: power lines, rent)

[lsc22]

Hi there,

We relocated to Greenville in October from Colorado. Currently we rent in the Five Forks area. We are looking to buy a home in the next few months. "We" are a married, mid-late 30s couple with a baby girl and ideally another child or two in the future. Though we are somewhat familiar with the area on a larger scale, I was hoping for some insight to particular neighborhoods to buy a home. We want a safe place for the kids to play, a neighborhood/community feel, school district is key. Would love to have some conveniences to walk to (ie, Augusta Road), as well as a pool and swim team in theory. We don't want cookie cutter, super new subdivision with no yard. We like trees and diversity in the architecture of homes. With that said, the following are neighborhoods we are possibly considering and I would love feedback, of any sort, on any of them. Our price point cap is around $225.
-Cleveland Park/Augusta Road-we love the proximity to the city and park, however I have a feeling we are out of our price range unless we want a 1000 foot run down home
North Main-similar to the above statement
-Stone Lake
-Botany Woods
-Sugar Creek/Woody Creek
-Gower Estates
-Ridgefield
-Parkins Mill (this seems to have a big mix - some beautiful large homes but others that look like trailers, however they are still priced around $200K???)
-Forrester Woods
-Devenger
-DoveTree
-Poinsettia-like this neighborhood, however, wondering about the safety of the proximity to Curtis Park, and if that is unsafe? Also is it mostly retirees in this neighborhood? I have read that schools are not good for this area either, any truth to that?
-McCarter
-FoxCroft
-Wellington Green (might be a bit run down with too many power lines?)
-Pebble Creek-is this considered too remote?

I really, really appreciate the feedback and my apologies for the length of this post. Thank you so much!

[drfranklin]

Gower Estates/Parkins Mill area - however, you will NOT find an updated house for 225K - houses in this specific area are priced high(er) because you're ~ 5 minutes south of downtown Greenville. You may find a "fixer-upper" in Gower for 225K. IMO, your price point is too low.

Some points: Gower Estates is a well-delineated neighborhood - once outside of this boundary, home quality/prices are lower (sometimes much lower). The Gower Swim Team is generally regarded as the best in the Greenville area.

[lsc22]

Thank you for your response. Unfortunately price is somewhat set. We do like that area quite a bit-I know some on my list are a stretch but since we have some time with our house hunt we figured we could keep our options open! With regards to being on the outskirts of the neighborhood, do you know much about the demographic?

[lsc22]

If anyone else has insights to the other neighborhoods listed, I would sincerely appreciate that as well. Thanks!

[Chiatheart]

We looked at many of the same neighborhoods and had very similar criteria.

-Cleveland Park/Augusta Road- Agree with your thoughts
North Main- hard to find in your price point
-Stone Lake - don't know much
-Botany Woods - love, but hard to find something that is really dated at your price point. Great family neighborhood and pool.
-Sugar Creek/Woody Creek - Another great family neighborhood, but few in your price point. good schools
-Gower Estates Few at your price point.
-Ridgefield - don't know.
-Parkins Mill (this seems to have a big mix - some beautiful large homes but others that look like trailers, however they are still priced around $200K???)
-Forrester Woods - We looked at some and decided against being so close to Woodruff.
-Devenger Lots of young families. Definitely in your budget. Good schools.
-DoveTree - nice location,
-Poinsettia- Ended up not liking the dated houses we were finding and wanted to be closer to Greenville. Felt like the neighborhood didn't have as many young families. Didn't like the schools as much.
-McCarter - not sure.
-FoxCroft - Pricey for your budget, but great family neighborhood.
-Wellington Green (might be a bit run down with too many power lines?) - Power lines turned us off too.
-Pebble Creek-not sure

[lsc22]

Thank you for your response! Can I ask what you ultimately wound up choosing, and if you had any additional or different criteria? Do you really think Forrester is too close to Woodruff-I wasn't sure if it had a good balance because you could sort of go a different way to downtown. We are much too close right now and really you can't go on a walk outside of our subdivision because we are surrounded by busy roads, so I feel somewhat closed in. We do want a pool community as well, but want some character and charm. I appreciate it!!!!

[SouthByMidwest]

Some new friends of ours bought a house in Forrester Woods last fall, and they are loving it so far! They love the neighborhood cohesion (activities, pool, swim team, etc). It's more established so there are nice mature trees, etc. My friend says it is surprisingly hilly for running!

I've only been to their house once so far, but it seems like a handy location (yes, it is somewhat close to Woodruff Rd, but not directly off there). Extremely convenient to Butler Rd and 385.

Your price point is significantly higher than ours ($150Kish) but we're looking to buy next year so I always follow these neighborhood threads with great interest Good luck!

Oh, and I am SO WITH YOU on desiring walkability. Sadly that is VERY hard to find most areas around here outside of downtown Greenville, North Main, etc, which is far beyond our price point. We moved from MN last year, and were used to easily walkable "normal" neighborhoods with sidewalks, wider shoulders, etc.

[GreenvilleCityGirl]

You won't find a house in Botany Woods for under $225. I grew up there and it was wonderful but it is pricey! Half Mile Lake is a great neighborhood that is 2 minutes from downtown. It has everything you wanted from pool, swim team, tons of young families, Christmas/4th of July parades, etc. I have a friend that lives there with 2 small boys for the past 5 years and are looking for a bigger home in Pebble Creek. They share a swim team with Half Mile Lake and the club house is wonderful! Lots of family events there as well! The homes is Pebble Creek sell very fast though!

[lsc22]

Originally Posted by GreenvilleCityGirl

You won't find a house in Botany Woods for under $225. I grew up there and it was wonderful but it is pricey! Half Mile Lake is a great neighborhood that is 2 minutes from downtown. It has everything you wanted from pool, swim team, tons of young families, Christmas/4th of July parades, etc. I have a friend that lives there with 2 small boys for the past 5 years and are looking for a bigger home in Pebble Creek. They share a swim team with Half Mile Lake and the club house is wonderful! Lots of family events there as well! The homes is Pebble Creek sell very fast though!

We looked briefly in Pebble Creek but when we drove over there we took a long way (it seemed)-and Pebble Creek seemed very isolated. Am I wrong? And is half-mile lake IN Pebble Creek or totally separate? I haven't heard of that neighborhood but I will check it out, thanks!!!

[GreenvilleCityGirl]

If you took State Park Road to Pebble Creek it does seem way out there but if you take the other way it is right off Rutherford Road which is about 3 miles to North Main Street (start of downtown). Half Mile Lake is more towards Cherrydale Shopping Center. It is located a few blocks down from Montebello. You are 2 miles from North Main Street and maybe a little over a mile from Cherrydale Shopping Center. Look at their website. The best part of Half Mile Lake is living on the lake! Half Mile Lake HOA