Looking for personal opinions on Greenville & surrounding areas (Mauldin: homes, job market)

[deyanasf]

Hi. I am looking to relocate to Greenville area within the next year or so. I am relocating with my husband & 3 kids. My main reason for relocating is to find a safe, affordable area with great schools. I grew up in FL (that's where we are now) & I really do not want to raise my children here. I live in a nice neighborhood but the surrounding area which shares a school with our neighborhood has brought... well "not so nice" influences into my elementary school children's lives.

Please let me know your personal opinions on the following areas:
Simpsonville
Piedmont
Woodruff
Mauldin

Is there an area of Greenville (North, South, East, West) that is better than another area of Greenville? If you have reccomendations of any communities or areas, it would be greatly appreciated.

[davidmg1]

I moved to Simpsonville five years ago from Chesapeake, VA. My family and I really like it here. Simpsonville is one of the fastest growing "bedroom" communities in SC. We also have three young children and two of them are of school age. We've had no problem with the elementary school they go to.

There is plenty of shopping in Simpsonville and easy to get to, with more to come. The park system is very good with their "crown jewel", Heritage Park. Lot's of different choices of homes and sub-divisions for any price range. You can have both "city" (close to things, slightly more congested) type living and "rural" living in Simpsonville.

Overall, Simpsonville is a very nice, laid back community. You and your family would be very welcome here and I think you would find it is a very nice city to raise a family.

Good luck in your search.

[deyanasf]

Thank you so much for your help davidmg1. What elementary school do your kids attend (if you don't mind me asking). I have been trying to research the schools as well as the area. Again thank you so much.

[davidmg1]

My kids attend Ellen Woodside Elementary (EWE) which is in Pelzer, SC. My subdivison (Morning Mist) is mapped to go there even though it's about 8 miles away. It's a good school though, we thought about trying to get into a closer school (Plain), but have felt that EWE has a good administration and faculity.

Up in the northern part of Simpsonville, in the Scuffletown area is Bell's Crossing Elementary, it is a new school.

I'm not too crazy about the middle schools in my area (Woodmont). The high school near me is only a few years old...Woodmont High.

[NewYorkBorn]

Hello,

The Greenville area (Greenville, Simpsonville, Mauldin) are all lovely areas to live in especially if you have children. I moved to South Carolina from New York City 2 years ago and find that Greenville is one of the most progressive cities in the state of South Carolina. It sits in the middle of Charlotte, NC and Atlanta, GA so you will be in driving distance to both.

On the negative side South Carolina has one of the highest unemployment rates in the US. Unless you are transferring with a company and will already have a job waiting for you when you arrive I would not advise anyone to move here looking for work. Most of the jobs in this state are related to labor and working in a manufacturing plant. There are office jobs but they are few and far between and most of the time when an opening happens they end up filling the position with a friend or family member. Which of course places anyone that is not from South Carolina at a disadvantage when looking for work. On the other hand if you have plenty of money in the bank and can afford to wait to find work then you will be in great shape here. I am not sure what type of work you and your husband do but as I learned the hard way do not expect the pay in South Carolina to be great or even comparable to what you would be paid in other states.

Good luck.

[deyanasf]

Thanks for all info. I really appreciate it.

[gsupstate]

Originally Posted by NewYorkBorn

Hello,

The Greenville area (Greenville, Simpsonville, Mauldin) are all lovely areas to live in especially if you have children. I moved to South Carolina from New York City 2 years ago and find that Greenville is one of the most progressive cities in the state of South Carolina. It sits in the middle of Charlotte, NC and Atlanta, GA so you will be in driving distance to both.

On the negative side South Carolina has one of the highest unemployment rates in the US.

Correct, SOUTH CAROLINA as a whole has high unemployment....rural counties drive the percent up.

GREENVILLE however has unemployment right at the national average.

The two shouldn't be confused.

[deyanasf]

I have been doing office work for about 12 years now, but I am currently going to school for Massage Therapy. My husband is in the medical field - Surgical Tech, EMT, & going to school for Paramedics. So hopefully we can find something when the time comes. Thanks for the heads up, though. We'll be sure to get jobs (hopefully possible) before making the move.

[furmanpals]

Originally Posted by NewYorkBorn

Hello,

The Greenville area (Greenville, Simpsonville, Mauldin) are all lovely areas to live in especially if you have children. I moved to South Carolina from New York City 2 years ago and find that Greenville is one of the most progressive cities in the state of South Carolina. It sits in the middle of Charlotte, NC and Atlanta, GA so you will be in driving distance to both.

On the negative side South Carolina has one of the highest unemployment rates in the US. Unless you are transferring with a company and will already have a job waiting for you when you arrive I would not advise anyone to move here looking for work. Most of the jobs in this state are related to labor and working in a manufacturing plant. There are office jobs but they are few and far between and most of the time when an opening happens they end up filling the position with a friend or family member. Which of course places anyone that is not from South Carolina at a disadvantage when looking for work. On the other hand if you have plenty of money in the bank and can afford to wait to find work then you will be in great shape here. I am not sure what type of work you and your husband do but as I learned the hard way do not expect the pay in South Carolina to be great or even comparable to what you would be paid in other states.

Good luck.

Do not believe this guy. Please see my post in the unemployment rate thread. Finding a job here is no harder than any other part of the country. In fact, it is better here than in most parts of the country. In a good economy, there are plenty of white-collar jobs available. We have some of the best advertising agencies in the country. We have a very high concentration of engineers here. Bottom line, this NewYorkBorn person is bitter about something. I feel sorry for him, or her. Come on down to Upstate S.C. It is the best place on earth to raise a family.

[g-man430]

Furmanpals is lying. 1,200 people applied for 120 jobs recently at Academy Sports. It was on WYFF. The job market here sucks.