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My husband and I are both in the engineering field and we currently live in Texas. We have 2 sons, ages 10 and 12. I am in the process of interviewing for a new position, so I thought I'd ask a few questions about the area before relocating. I'd like to know the best school and community for a young family. We're Hispanic and I know the Hispanic population is low in this area, so I'm worried my children may feel uncomfortable - is this something I need to worry about? I calculated the cost of living difference between our current city and Greenville and it is substantially higher at 17%. I'm currently a lead engineer and my salary is 87k a year, so this calculates to about 101k. I would expect an increase due to additional travel and responsibility so I'm calculating the offer needs to be between 104k to 109k for an engineer with 10 years of experience. This sounds really high, so I'm wondering if I'm out of my mind to expect an offer that high if I land the position. Also my husband is a software engineer, and he'd need to find a job if we relocate. Is this a popular industry in the area, or will he struggle to find a job? I would appreciate any advice on one or all of these questions. Thank you for your feedback.
Also my husband is a software engineer, and he'd need to find a job if we relocate. Is this a popular industry in the area, or will he struggle to find a job?
This area is not teeming with software jobs, but there's a decent demand for software skills due to the growing economy. There could be an issue with pay level depending on the field of specialty and experience. Some local resources:
We're Hispanic and I know the Hispanic population is low in this area, so I'm worried my children may feel uncomfortable - is this something I need to worry about?
Ummm...there are parts of Greenville that are almost 100% Hispanic. If you want to live around a lot of other Hispanics, check out the White Horse road area. There are parts of that area where all of the business signs are in spanish.
I think your kids will be fine. I'm seeing a good bit of diversity at most of the schools I'm at. I started teaching in Greenville County School District this year (floating teacher, I'm at 3 schools). We just moved up here as well, Greenville is a very popular area! The schools do seem to vary but that is mostly because of how large the district is - 70,000+ students! You can always research the schools of course. SC schools tends to get a bad rap in general, but the requirements in our schools are more stringent than many other states and we do have a large, very rural population (many high risk kids) in the state in general. That does affect things like test scores and grad rates.
Anyway.
I'm not sure about your salary, but if you do get what you want, your family will be quite comfortable here. I wouldn't worry too much about your husband finding a position either. There is always a need in the technology sector, and although many people don't consider Greenville a technology center, there is a lot going on in that area. When my husband (he is a network engineer) was looking for a new position, all of the head hunters that were calling him were from the Upstate, and his recruiters kept telling him to look at Greenville. He got a position quickly and we then moved here.
It seems that the nicest parts of Greenville are on the eastern side of the county, although I do like Travelers Rest which is a little more west. Greer, Simpsonville, Five Forks, and Mauldin are all small towns or areas that seem pretty popular with families here.
Good luck with your decision, it is really beautiful here! We have nothing but good to say about the Greenville area!
Mauldin is going to have the best schools along with a larger Hispanic population that is more in your demo. White Horse is lower income. You will find that Greenville has a lot of Hispanic people and, at least in the city, you will be very welcome. You don't start running into the bulk of the ignorants until you get out into the county. Also I find that that issue is overplayed by the conservative media than it really is in the community. I love Hispanic culture and people and I'm white. A few white people are just mad that Hispanic people are displaying more traditionally "white" "American" values than they are these days and the security of the border really is a serious issue but not because of Mexicans coming over IMO. Hard work, family dedication, entrepreneurial, national pride and community are all things that brought us to the table to begin with. I for one welcome the competition and if the Hispanic population is willing to work harder than we are so be it, thats our fault not theirs. Maybe it will wake up a few cloud gazers that need to get their head out of their a$$. I actually think that many blue collar people would have respect for Hispanic people with the work ethic they have. You will be welcome. Let me start, welcome to the area!
Where do you live in Texas? I would be really surprised if the cost of living here is actually 18% higher than where you are now unless it is in a very rural part of Texas. We used to live near Raleigh, NC and several of the cost of living calculators show Greenville as higher cost of living than Raleigh which is almost comical.
One of the biggest cost differences here is going to be that SC has an income tax. Property tax here should be lower, though.
I'd look up houses in this area to get an idea of what your money will buy for a house - that will give you more complete picture.
Schools - this one gets asked a lot on here. Schools in SC vary a lot in quality. That is true even within Greenville County. One place to do some research is the SC school report card website - it is mainly based on standardized test scores but it will give you some idea of how local schools have performed over time. Some of the more consistently high performing high schools in Greenville County are Riverside, Blue Ridge, Eastside, Wade Hampton, and Mauldin. The NE corner of Anderson County is convenient to Greenville as well and both Wren and Powdersville High School in that area are great schools.
Not as many Hispanics in the area as in most of Texas but there are quite a few. One of the local news channels has a couple of Hispanic reporters on staff (one is from near Miami - not sure about the other lady). Most people in the area are pretty accepting although there are a few ignorant folks around - probably true for most anywhere.
Ummm...there are parts of Greenville that are almost 100% Hispanic. If you want to live around a lot of other Hispanics, check out the White Horse road area. There are parts of that area where all of the business signs are in spanish.
@OP
IMO, please disregard this comment. With your background, you are not looking for anything in the White Horse Road area. It's a low income area that happens to have a high Hispanic population.
IMO, please disregard this comment. With your background, you are not looking for anything in the White Horse Road area. It's a low income area that happens to have a high Hispanic population.
Why should they disregard my comment when the OP specifically said they wanted to live around a lot of other Hispanics? That was one of the main criteria to finding a place to live in Greenville. Personally I don't understand why the racial make-up of a region matters that much, but apparently it matters a lot to the OP.
Mauldin is going to have the best schools along with a larger Hispanic population that is more in your demo. White Horse is lower income. You will find that Greenville has a lot of Hispanic people and, at least in the city, you will be very welcome. You don't start running into the bulk of the ignorants until you get out into the county. Also I find that that issue is overplayed by the conservative media than it really is in the community. I love Hispanic culture and people and I'm white. A few white people are just mad that Hispanic people are displaying more traditionally "white" "American" values than they are these days and the security of the border really is a serious issue but not because of Mexicans coming over IMO. Hard work, family dedication, entrepreneurial, national pride and community are all things that brought us to the table to begin with. I for one welcome the competition and if the Hispanic population is willing to work harder than we are so be it, thats our fault not theirs. Maybe it will wake up a few cloud gazers that need to get their head out of their a$$. I actually think that many blue collar people would have respect for Hispanic people with the work ethic they have. You will be welcome. Let me start, welcome to the area!
Your comment was completely unnecessary, and an obvious attempt to throw politics into this thread. I'm sure you're well aware that the Upstate is considerably conservative, as am I. I've lived in this area over 15 years and know hundreds of other people here. Nobody in this area that I've ever come into contact with is "ignorant," nor are they "cloud gazers that need to get their head out of their a$$," nor are they suspicious or otherwise showing any display of anti-Hispanic tendencies. Stop with the MSNBC memes. Absolutely ridiculous, and I have to conclude that your comment was designed to strictly inflame when none is warranted. I do believe you just might be the one that needs to get your head out of your a$$.
To the OP, there are a lot of great areas in the Upstate. Whether in the Greenville or Spartanburg area, we have a good deal of Hispanics. I think you'll fit right in, and you really should move just anywhere you want here in this area. Despite what NBNY2GRNVL says, don't limit yourself to just Hispanic enclaves. You'll fit in anywhere. Signed, a {gasp} conservative living in the Upstate
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Completely unnecessary
