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Hi, We (my husband and I) are staying with one of our children and her family while deciding where to live. We want to rent before buying in order to be very sure of the area. We currently are SE of Greenville near Woodruff, SC. We moved here from Colorado Springs and miss it terribly. The altitude made me sick so I don't really want to go much higher than 2500 ft (CS was 6000) but LOVE he foothills. We are very small town oriented, i.e. little quaint shops, safe, friendly, clean mix with the old, etc. We owned a B&B but sold it a few years ago but would love to own a gift shop again some day in a quaint small town. My husband travels so "where" we live matters as I would be alone some. We do not need to be concerned about schools etc. Our church (important) is in Greenville so we would want to be no more than approx 1 hour away. We love downtown Greenville but have not found anywhere we like to l live near there. Due to my health I need very clean air, not in a big city with lots of exhaust. In other words, somewhere with as little traffic as possible. We are also conservative and don't want laws that really take our freedoms away. We have been looking in the Saluda, Flat Rock, Hendersonville N.C. area but someone warned us that we should not think about N.C. because of all the liberal laws that are being made and enforced. We used to homeschool, and the laws where we lived when our children were growing up (TX) were great. It seemed whatever freedoms a family had regarding their children reflected the states freedoms towards the general people.
So, all that said....does anyone have any suggestions for quaint, small town atmosphere yet not too far from natural food stores, natural Drs. etc. plus topography to help us get over our terrible yearning hearts to be back in the foothills of Colorado? We have looked at the Jones Gap area of SC, as well as just over the boarder of N.C. in Flat Rock, Tyron, Hendersonville, Saluda etc. Do you see any advantage to either staying on the SC side or going over into the NC side? We have only been here a short time, and we are learning new things about areas all the time. I appreciate any insight anyone has for us! Thanks
I would suggest looking at Brevard. Quite a few people that live in Brevard commute to Greenville Everyday. The town is surrounded by mountains, state parks, and national forest. The downtown area is charming with small stores, resturants, galleries, crafts, etc. and is very walkable. Brevard has a college to add some culture value and the city has alot of shopping options. The only one I am not sure about is organic foods/natural living. Asheville is only 30 minutes from Brevard and would have anything Brevard does not have or just pick it up while your in Greenville. You should be able to make the drive from Brevard down Hwy 276 to downtown greenville somewhere around 1 hour. Brevard is known in the southeast as "The waterfall capital of the south" with many waterfalls around the area in pisgah national forest and Dupont state park. Also it is a short 20 minute drive from Brevard up to the Blue Ridge parkway and you could be at 5000+ ft in elevation. Good luck in your search and if you have any more questions please ask!
Walhalla was founded by Germans about 1800 and is a small, quaint town situated at the base of the blue ridge mountains. If you drive West on Main Street, in fact, you start going 'up the blue wall.'
The Oconee County area, of which Walhalla is the county seat, is very scenic. Rolling green foothills on the eastern side of the county and mountains on the western side of the county. The county has 22 significant, beautiful waterfalls and genuine whitewater rivers. There are also some of the state's finest lakes which form the entire eastern boundry of the county.
In Walhalla, the school district is high performing. Generally the local schools exceed both state and national norms. The community is tight nit and very family oriented. Oktoberfest, which celebrates the town's German roots, is held in late October and is the biggest festival held each year.
You are 45 minutes-1 hour from Greenville with all it's amenities and 10 minutes from Seneca which is a bigger town with Wal-Mart, Lowes, Other 'big box' stores, more restaurants, the hospital etc. This combination of vital shopping makes the area very liveable. This is the area that I suggest based on your criteria and I wish the blessings in your search.
Hi,
Are you unhappy with Woodruff? I thought it seemed like a lovely little town. Why did you move to SC from Colorado Springs? Did you retire and move to SC? You home-school(ed) your children? Why would you do that? If your church is most important, and that is in Greenville, then why not look in that area? Some churches have actual compounds or properties they own ...where the church-members live, though I am not really sure if there's such a thing in Greenville or in SC or NC. Did you say that you heard NC had liberal laws which RESTRICT your family? That seems to be a contradiction, but maybe I misunderstood. If you want rules reflecting your own views with no tolerance for others, wouldn't that be considered NOT very liberal? Sort of like Hitler.... He was pretty big on rules, you know. Also....in the USA, we have separation of church and state, you know. YOU are free to teach YOUR children about your religion in the USA. You are also free to walk around and visit places in the USA, without worry that others will impose their religious beliefs upon you. Are you looking for a restrictive (aka conservative) environment reflecting your own views only? Do you plan to pay taxes when you move to your new state, or will you be one of those "newbies" looking for us..."poor dumb southerns" ...to pay for....your free ride? What exactly are you looking for? Say what you mean, please. If you want large home-schooling groups, no taxes, intolerance of others, and you want the schools to teach your religion to your children and others, the south is probably not for you.... We have learned tolerance, we love our religion, and we also love our schools. We only speak .....slow. But, if you want to do your fair share....pay taxes, support public schools, & love one-another, then ya'll come. Welcome.
Wow, I didn't expect such "strong" comments...guess lots of what I was saying was misunderstood. So terribly sorry if I stepped on anyones toes unintentionally.
The laws I was referring to were in regard to family issues, regulations on homeschooling and homebirth etc. Even though our children are grown and we are no longer having babies it just seemed stronger than we were used to. In Texas (lived there for many years) things like that were not regulated with tons of laws, but seen as freedoms.
Do we not like Woodruff? We miss the mountains of CO so thought we would see if there were areas that were similar still within reason around Greenville. We looked at a house in Walhalla and also have been up to Landrum, Tryon, Saluda and Columbus. Its very much like CO there. We loved the area.
I think the comments about our views of living in the south were quite strong and actually quite unfair since I only asked one set of questions, you do not know us and a welcome to the Carolinas might have been mroe friendly We are not expecting anyone to pay for anything for us. Seems to me we need to start over on a little more friendly ground.
We are moving here because some of our children and their family are here. We loved Colorado but my health is not wonderful and the altitude in CO made me quite ill. I have a disease which gives me a multitude of sensitivities and the high altitude increased them quite a bit. We are wanting to be where it is mountainous but in the foothills and not too high up. We were at 6000 ft. in CO so the 1200 ft. of Landrum or ever 2000 of Saluda isn't anything at all.
We can't live in any area where there is a lot of traffic with lots of exhaust fumes because of my health. We need something more of a small town or just outside of a small town where the air would be pretty clean.
Hi,
Are you unhappy with Woodruff? I thought it seemed like a lovely little town. Why did you move to SC from Colorado Springs? Did you retire and move to SC? You home-school(ed) your children? Why would you do that? If your church is most important, and that is in Greenville, then why not look in that area? Some churches have actual compounds or properties they own ...where the church-members live, though I am not really sure if there's such a thing in Greenville or in SC or NC. Did you say that you heard NC had liberal laws which RESTRICT your family? That seems to be a contradiction, but maybe I misunderstood. If you want rules reflecting your own views with no tolerance for others, wouldn't that be considered NOT very liberal? Sort of like Hitler.... He was pretty big on rules, you know. Also....in the USA, we have separation of church and state, you know. YOU are free to teach YOUR children about your religion in the USA. You are also free to walk around and visit places in the USA, without worry that others will impose their religious beliefs upon you. Are you looking for a restrictive (aka conservative) environment reflecting your own views only? Do you plan to pay taxes when you move to your new state, or will you be one of those "newbies" looking for us..."poor dumb southerns" ...to pay for....your free ride? What exactly are you looking for? Say what you mean, please. If you want large home-schooling groups, no taxes, intolerance of others, and you want the schools to teach your religion to your children and others, the south is probably not for you.... We have learned tolerance, we love our religion, and we also love our schools. We only speak .....slow. But, if you want to do your fair share....pay taxes, support public schools, & love one-another, then ya'll come. Welcome.
I just re-read this post and thought I would say this.....
I guess we are welcomed then and it would be good to get back to my original reason for posting. I want to find out where other peoples favorite little towns might be..... My husband had an undiagnosed tumor for over 20 years and we all thought he had alzheimers. Our life for the 10 years prior to the tumor's removal was beyond words. A year ago he had it removed and we have our life back. Since it is just the two of us now we want to find somewhere quaint to settle together and enjoy each other and our surroundings! Simple as that. I have and do welcome anyones suggestions for where they love the most for the beauty, quaintness and friendliness of any quaint small towns in N.C. or S.C. Thanks
The landscape is beautiful, but you may want to check the smog and air quality index for the areas you like. With the huge increase in population (cars) and the loosely guarded environmental regulations for businesses, this quality of life has diminished. I apologize for your recent misfortunes and declining health...I can certainly relate on a personal level. I apologize if I seemed harsh, but I'm saddened by the decline in the quality of life I've witnessed in SC and W-NC...due in part by a huge population shift and due in part to folks not wanting to pay taxes so that our states can remain quaint and clean and beautiful. Unemployment rates are on the rise, as is poverty and the crime which is caused by the poverty and over-crowding. Harsh, but true. My family has lived in the Carolinas for many generations, but I now find myself looking for someplace else to live. Sad.
The landscape is beautiful, but you may want to check the smog and air quality index for the areas you like. With the huge increase in population (cars) and the loosely guarded environmental regulations for businesses, this quality of life has diminished. I apologize for your recent misfortunes and declining health...I can certainly relate on a personal level. I apologize if I seemed harsh, but I'm saddened by the decline in the quality of life I've witnessed in SC and W-NC...due in part by a huge population shift and due in part to folks not wanting to pay taxes so that our states can remain quaint and clean and beautiful. Unemployment rates are on the rise, as is poverty and the crime which is caused by the poverty and over-crowding. Harsh, but true. My family has lived in the Carolinas for many generations, but I now find myself looking for someplace else to live. Sad.
I had no idea anyone would move into an area with the thought of not paying taxes or not taking care of property. A smaller town outside of Greenville's air is generally better than the city. I have been checking each town on the internet for that very thing. Good suggestion... Thanks for your recent post and I am sorry if I said anything offensive in my first post. Sure didn't mean to!
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Look at Walhalla
Reply to Colorado Springs/S.C.
We are not expecting anyone to pay for anything for us. Seems to me we need to start over on a little more friendly ground. 
