relocating to the beautiful south (Greenville, Simpsonville: fit in, spring break, insurance)

[JViello]

Originally Posted by sistajane

Personally, I find your comment offensive. You want to come to our city and move here and yet you have an attitude with a person who already lives here and has made a comment whether it be good or bad that is rude of you.

Well, I dont' live there but I do agree that it's still rude. Then again some people take my "New England" straight talk as being rude too. Win some lose some I guess.

Thanks for the kind words.

Originally Posted by Skyliner

I don't find nixon13's post offensive in any way.

Why, does that NOT surprise me.

Originally Posted by myrc60

Driving through downtown and heading up 276 into Cherrydale is not the best route to take to base a decision on. Yes there are some rundown areas between the two points but there is so much more that was missed on his initial drive through. But it doesn't matter, our town is not for him; so be it.

I moved to Greenville based only on that same drive through jviello took;

Whoa, wait, when did I post a "route" I took. Trust me, I've been around the country a lot, visiting on extended stays for business and otherwise...I can get a feel for a place pretty quickly. But for the record, I cased the place hard to the point of walking some trails, walking the entire Reedy Park trail, the entire maine street area, several neighborhoods, knocked on doors, visted a couple churches etc etc, even visted some folks in my industry there to "chat"...I didn't just "take a drive through"

Went up to Table Rock, as far East as Greer, and Easley on the West (nice RR running right through downtown BTW. )

Originally Posted by LadyRo

The way nobody ever talks about Greenville's trouble spots could lead some potential transplants to believe there really are no serious trouble spots here. All anybody ever tells them is to look at the East Side/outer suburbs/downtown and to avoid the rest of the city. By all means promote Greenville, but there also needs to be a more balanced portrayal. Maybe if people were more prepared for how bad the rundown areas look some wouldn't react SO negatively and feel bamboozled.

For example, Rutherford Road is so deserted it depresses me and I grew up looking at it, so I can only imagine how someone leaving downtown, driving up N. Main and deciding to take a right turn, to explore, would be non-plussed. Imagine if they wound up in Nicholtown after taking a wrong turn off 291? LOL - sorry to laugh, but the mental image of such shocked faces is funny to me. I'll go stand in the corner, now.

I think the only thing JViello is saying is there needs to be some balance. Play up the good, downplay the bad, but don't try to hide the bad or act like it doesn't exist, or only exists "over there" in isolation. Greenville proper isn't large enough for that.

Give the lady a prize! THANK YOU! I can't believe someone finally gets it.

I wish - WISH I had seen this thread before visiting.

http://www.city-data.com/forum/green...nville-sc.html

Seems like someone else put up some "real" photos and was made out to be "negative" and "trolling" and was minimalized much like is happening here to me.

Balance folks, balance please. People need to see what daily living is like outside of Reedy Falls Park or the Furman campus. What's it like when you leave that "new" subdivision?

Most of the general "stuff" IMO was run down and old. Those things were not shown at all in all the fluff pictures.

In fact Skyliner was one of the worst in that regard. My God man, you walked a few blocks and snapped pics making it seem like you were all around the city when in reality it was a few blocks of main street. It was a lot of your pics I took in one 360* sweep of my video camera.

Even my wife was like "this is it are you kidding me?" From the pics and threads I forwarded her she thought it would be much bigger and not a few blocks or something you could walk in 5 minutes. 99% of the Reedy Park pics are in a section the size of a football field at best and the "nice" area downtown is very small.

[LadyRo]

As a native Greenville resident, I am offended. When you say "most" of the west side, you've basically dismissed the original city and disrespected all the people who live there who actually had to vote and agree on certain things for downtown and the east side to even be developed for you newcomers to flock to! As I already stated, the "west side" is the original city of Greenville. It makes sense that compared with the "east side" everybody new is raving about - which isn't even 15 years old yet! - the west side doesn't look as good.

Did it ever occur to you that people might stay in some of these areas because they have HISTORY there? Maybe they LOVE their neighbors and want to stay where they are familiar and comfortable? Maybe they want to stay within walking distance of their family churches, the churches their entire family (with few exceptions) have attended since the churches were started? There is more to a neighborhood than LOOKS, and just because they're not "upscale" and the people aren't as highly educated and sophisticated as you (and others) deem they should be doesn't give you the right to disrespect them!

People didn't just wake up one day and decide to let their property go to hell. There is much history and a back story that most of the newcomers don't know or care about. Don't judge what you don't understand.

Originally Posted by Diablo0

Most of the west side of town isn't exactly something you'd want to put on a travel brochure and there are several other places around the city that are the same way.

[LadyRo]

Originally Posted by JViello

Balance folks, balance please. People need to see what daily living is like outside of Reedy Falls Park or the Furman campus. What's it like when you leave that "new" subdivision?

This applies to you, too. Others might only focus on the photogenic parts of the city while ignoring the less photogenic parts (which are not necessarily "bad" areas), but from what I've read of your posts, you do just the opposite. My mother always said what's good for the goose is good for the gander. Play fair, JViello.

Most of the general "stuff" IMO was run down and old. Those things were not shown at all in all the fluff pictures.

I disagree. Just because something is ugly (and it may be from being old) doesn't mean it's run down. I've seen ugly houses, old houses, and ugly old houses that were not run down. I wouldn't choose to live in them, because I know perception matters. Many people associate old and/or ugly with run down and being in disrepair. I'm looking to move/relocate and have seen quite a few houses/apartments that had very nice interiors and were perfect for me as far as size and cost went, but were butt ugly on the outside, so I passed on them. It ain't gotta be faincy, but it's gotta be cute.

In fact Skyliner was one of the worst in that regard. My God man, you walked a few blocks and snapped pics making it seem like you were all around the city when in reality it was a few blocks of main street. It was a lot of your pics I took in one 360* sweep of my video camera.

Even my wife was like "this is it are you kidding me?" From the pics and threads I forwarded her she thought it would be much bigger and not a few blocks or something you could walk in 5 minutes. 99% of the Reedy Park pics are in a section the size of a football field at best and the "nice" area downtown is very small.

No more singling people out like you did Skyliner, JViello. That's called baiting and it's a form of trolling. As far as the rest of what you said, so what? What size downtown do you think a city with under 60k residents should have? What we have may be small, but we like it. And, it's growing. Stop comparing a small recovering Southern conservative mill city with your long-established, more liberal New England ones. There are a different set of political, historical, and economic factors at play here. If you stop comparing apples to oranges and compare Greenville with other cities/towns in our region of similar size and demographics, you will realize what a gem Greenville is, even if there are still a few warts. Greenville has come an amazing way in such a short time!

[Diablo0]

Horray! I offended someone!

I'm sorry that you're offended by my truth statement. I'm not saying that people there aren't happy where they live, or nice, pleasant to talk to, overall good people. Please don't insinuate that I did. There are parts of the west side of town that you wouldn't probably advertise in a travel brochure. You said it yourself, it doesn't look as good. I'm from Cincinnati, OH... lived about 13 miles from the mason dixon line and in Cincinnati there are a ton of places, historic places, such as Over the Rhine that you more than likely wouldn't want to walk around in. I'm not trying to say that where I'm from is better than Greenville, if fact I'd say Cincinnati is worse in a lot of areas. What I'm saying is that there are parts of town that based on asthetics, aren't the most appealing. As I saw in the picture thread, JViello is right... most of the pictures posted are in locations where a lot of money has been put in, fixed up and made to look fantastic. For those that are moving here and asking what it's like, hows it look, it's not fair to not show the other side of the picture. The part of the city where there aren't big box stores, tons of development, big well kept houses. The city isn't picture perfect, it's not all happy go lucky, there are parts of town that have homeless people, people down on their luck and panhandling. It's those parts of town, reguarless of what you think even if they have a lot of history such as OTR in Cincinnati, that are still considered the bad or run down parts of town.

The history may be there so I'm not discounting the history... I love history, love reading the little plaques that are dotted along roads about what took place at that location, enjoy going to Cowpens and Kings Mountian to learn what took place there. There could be a lot of history at those locations but if it's run down... I'll still say it's run down but am not insulting the history that has taken place there.

You can drive through all parts of our coutry and every city has it's good parts, and their bad parts. If you move here you have to accept them both. Most of the people here are friendly, you can strike up a conversation with them in a grocery store without even thinking about it. You can wave to people as you're driving by and they'll wave back just say "HI!" I'm simply saying, and I think JViello is saying the same thing... be fair when showing what the city looks like. If you're going to post pictures of the city to show those that are thinking of moving here... might as well show both sides since if you can't accept the bad, run down areas with the good, well kept areas, it's not a location to consider and it's best to look somewhere else. We looked in Athens, GA before looking in Greenville... I would have to say, Greenville is very nice in comparison from what we saw and from motorcycling around the whole upstate since we moved here... you can't find a better city in this area.

[LadyRo]

You didn't say 'parts' in your previous post. You said 'most', and that's what offended me because it's not true, and you saying so doesn't make it so. It is; however, your opinion... to which you are entitled. The locations in the other pictures haven't been restored yet, but I'm sure there are plans in the works. We can't do everything all at once, and with most of the tax base being located on the east side, downtown and in the gentrified areas, those are going to be developed first. When newcomers start buying and renovating homes in those areas and moving there, watch how long it'll take for the powers that be to find money to beautify them.

Originally Posted by Diablo0

Horray! I offended someone!

I'm sorry that you're offended by my truth statement. I'm not saying that people there aren't happy where they live, or nice, pleasant to talk to, overall good people. Please don't insinuate that I did. There are parts of the west side of town that you wouldn't probably advertise in a travel brochure. You said it yourself, it doesn't look as good. I'm from Cincinnati, OH... lived about 13 miles from the mason dixon line and in Cincinnati there are a ton of places, historic places, such as Over the Rhine that you more than likely wouldn't want to walk around in. I'm not trying to say that where I'm from is better than Greenville, if fact I'd say Cincinnati is worse in a lot of areas. What I'm saying is that there are parts of town that based on asthetics, aren't the most appealing. As I saw in the picture thread, JViello is right... most of the pictures posted are in locations where a lot of money has been put in, fixed up and made to look fantastic. For those that are moving here and asking what it's like, hows it look, it's not fair to not show the other side of the picture. The part of the city where there aren't big box stores, tons of development, big well kept houses. The city isn't picture perfect, it's not all happy go lucky, there are parts of town that have homeless people, people down on their luck and panhandling. It's those parts of town, reguarless of what you think even if they have a lot of history such as OTR in Cincinnati, that are still considered the bad or run down parts of town.

The history may be there so I'm not discounting the history... I love history, love reading the little plaques that are dotted along roads about what took place at that location, enjoy going to Cowpens and Kings Mountian to learn what took place there. There could be a lot of history at those locations but if it's run down... I'll still say it's run down but am not insulting the history that has taken place there.

You can drive through all parts of our coutry and every city has it's good parts, and their bad parts. If you move here you have to accept them both. Most of the people here are friendly, you can strike up a conversation with them in a grocery store without even thinking about it. You can wave to people as you're driving by and they'll wave back just say "HI!" I'm simply saying, and I think JViello is saying the same thing... be fair when showing what the city looks like. If you're going to post pictures of the city to show those that are thinking of moving here... might as well show both sides since if you can't accept the bad, run down areas with the good, well kept areas, it's not a location to consider and it's best to look somewhere else. We looked in Athens, GA before looking in Greenville... I would have to say, Greenville is very nice in comparison from what we saw and from motorcycling around the whole upstate since we moved here... you can't find a better city in this area.

[myrc60]

Jviello if you have decided not to move to Greenville why are you still in our forum? It doesn't matter how well traveled you are; you cannot speak as a resident and therefore I view your comments as unnecessary in this thread. OP asked for information on our communities; communities which you do not live in. How can you give an objective opinion in this case? You can't.

I sincerely hope you find what you are looking for.

[JViello]

Originally Posted by LadyRo

This applies to you, too. Others might only focus on the photogenic parts of the city while ignoring the less photogenic parts (which are not necessarily "bad" areas), but from what I've read of your posts, you do just the opposite. My mother always said what's good for the goose is good for the gander. Play fair, JViello.

Oh, but I have. IN FACT I've given the city some credit, even on the CT forum!

There is 50lbs of weight on the "froo froo" side, and about 2lbs on the "not so nice - reality bites" side. So I'm simply making up for the imbalance so people get a real sense of the city.

Originally Posted by LadyRo

No more singling people out like you did Skyliner, JViello. That's called baiting and it's a form of trolling.

Nahh, lets not go there...you didn't see the "removed" posts. What else can I say, the guy tossed a pile of pictures up, making things that are not, seem as though they are. I'm sure he's a nice guy, and I"m sure he means well. I'm just wishing these shutterbugs would step a few blocks out and/or head down a local BLVD for some reality too.

Originally Posted by LadyRo

As far as the rest of what you said, so what? What size downtown do you think a city with under 60k residents should have?

Oh no no no...havn't you heard from the cheerleaders? Greenville is NOT a city of 60K. That's just a skewed number due to "city limits". (Yea like Hartford that's 120K. Reality is the region is 1.3mill - FOR REAL. Same for Boston.) It's REALLY like a city that has 200-300K.

I tend to agree with you on that point. It IS a city of 60K. Nothing wrong with that. It's the guys in tights and pom poms trying to "wish" Greenville into something it's not that is the problem.

"OMG - We have a BANNER Dunkin Donuts coming to town with *gasp* TWO STORIES." I mean, give it a rest. It's a freakin D&D. Glad you're getting one, welcome to the club.

Originally Posted by LadyRo

What we have may be small, but we like it. And, it's growing. Stop comparing a small recovering Southern conservative mill city with your long-established, more liberal New England ones.

That's an honest reply and all I can say is that it's fair, and I agree. Thank you for the transparency. You should hang around here more to give balanced perspectives.

BTW: Not ALL of New England is "liberal." (Though I wish less of it was! lol)

Originally Posted by LadyRo

If you stop comparing apples to oranges and compare Greenville with other cities/towns in our region of similar size and demographics, you will realize what a gem Greenville is, even if there are still a few warts. Greenville has come an amazing way in such a short time!

Wellll, I'd disagree a bit with that statement. I CAN compare apples to apples, and compared to a place such as Portland Maine (60ish K pop, similar demographics)...Greenville doesn't hold a candle. Sorry.

I think good progress IS being made, but it's no where near what the "hooah" on the forums says. It's not.

Originally Posted by Diablo0

As I saw in the picture thread, JViello is right... most of the pictures posted are in locations where a lot of money has been put in, fixed up and made to look fantastic. For those that are moving here and asking what it's like, hows it look, it's not fair to not show the other side of the picture. The part of the city where there aren't big box stores, tons of development, big well kept houses. The city isn't picture perfect, it's not all happy go lucky, there are parts of town that have homeless people, people down on their luck and panhandling. It's those parts of town, reguarless of what you think even if they have a lot of history such as OTR in Cincinnati, that are still considered the bad or run down parts of town...

...I'm simply saying, and I think JViello is saying the same thing... be fair when showing what the city looks like. If you're going to post pictures of the city to show those that are thinking of moving here... might as well show both sides since if you can't accept the bad, run down areas with the good, well kept areas, it's not a location to consider and it's best to look somewhere else.

Ding ding ding...Exactly. Rep points for you!

Originally Posted by myrc60

Jviello if you have decided not to move to Greenville why are you still in our forum? It doesn't matter how well traveled you are; you cannot speak as a resident and therefore I view your comments as unnecessary in this thread. OP asked for information on our communities; communities which you do not live in. How can you give an objective opinion in this case? You can't.

I sincerely hope you find what you are looking for.

WELLLL then, as long as YOU view it that way...it's scripture!

I CAN give an objective opinion. Ever hear the saying that when you're outside looking in, you see things in a different light? Yea, that would be me.

Maybe someone on this forum who LIVES there, took a huge risk, moved there and realized maybe...JUST MAYBE it wasn't the right choice. What are your options? Perhaps becoming overly optimistic is one of them. It's possible. The world is not black and white.

[g-man430]

Every mid/large city has bad areas. Anybody who says otherwise is a liar. Jviello must have gotten fired from his job here or something. Not exactly sure what he's trying to prove. Must be jealous of our area. If he wasn't, he wouldn't be here posting trying to convince people not to move here.

[SunnyKayak]

debate topic and not the members of this forum

please


thanks

[LadyRo]

JViello, enough is enough. Goodnight.

Originally Posted by JViello

Oh, but I have. IN FACT I've given the city some credit, even on the CT forum!

There is 50lbs of weight on the "froo froo" side, and about 2lbs on the "not so nice - reality bites" side. So I'm simply making up for the imbalance so people get a real sense of the city.



Nahh, lets not go there...you didn't see the "removed" posts. What else can I say, the guy tossed a pile of pictures up, making things that are not, seem as though they are. I'm sure he's a nice guy, and I"m sure he means well. I'm just wishing these shutterbugs would step a few blocks out and/or head down a local BLVD for some reality too.



Oh no no no...havn't you heard from the cheerleaders? Greenville is NOT a city of 60K. That's just a skewed number due to "city limits". (Yea like Hartford that's 120K. Reality is the region is 1.3mill - FOR REAL. Same for Boston.) It's REALLY like a city that has 200-300K.

I tend to agree with you on that point. It IS a city of 60K. Nothing wrong with that. It's the guys in tights and pom poms trying to "wish" Greenville into something it's not that is the problem.

"OMG - We have a BANNER Dunkin Donuts coming to town with *gasp* TWO STORIES." I mean, give it a rest. It's a freakin D&D. Glad you're getting one, welcome to the club.



That's an honest reply and all I can say is that it's fair, and I agree. Thank you for the transparency. You should hang around here more to give balanced perspectives.

BTW: Not ALL of New England is "liberal." (Though I wish less of it was! lol)



Wellll, I'd disagree a bit with that statement. I CAN compare apples to apples, and compared to a place such as Portland Maine (60ish K pop, similar demographics)...Greenville doesn't hold a candle. Sorry.

I think good progress IS being made, but it's no where near what the "hooah" on the forums says. It's not.



Ding ding ding...Exactly. Rep points for you!



WELLLL then, as long as YOU view it that way...it's scripture!

I CAN give an objective opinion. Ever hear the saying that when you're outside looking in, you see things in a different light? Yea, that would be me.

Maybe someone on this forum who LIVES there, took a huge risk, moved there and realized maybe...JUST MAYBE it wasn't the right choice. What are your options? Perhaps becoming overly optimistic is one of them. It's possible. The world is not black and white.