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I am traveling for 15 days through the South, Texas, and Midwest with my business partner (and my mother for moral support) to choose a city to relocate to. We are bringing our business with us so looking for somewhere that suits our business (our business thrives on young families) and somewhere that is still enjoyable for people in their young 20’s (we are 23). Although we are looking at 10 cities, our main choices are Raleigh, Austin, and Charlotte. Although this trip will be short, and we will only get to see each city for one day, we will travel back to our final choice(s). We have done so much research (especially on CD!) so we have all the acts about economy, population growth, crime, etc. We are just now going on overall experience.
I have to start this review by saying that we put Greenville on our list knowing that it would most likely be too small for us. However, we heard such great things about Greenville that we included it as one of the smaller options. In the end, the reason we’ve decided not to choose to pursue Greenville has nothing to do with the actual city- but just more the city size. We realized after seeing it that we do in fact want a larger city. We are going to review Greenville though just from the prospective about what a nice city it is. For young people considering moving there, the night life is minimal it seems and so if that is a priority to you, like we’ve decided it is for us, you might want to think twice. For everyone else, families, retirees, etc, we cannot say enough good things.
We were surprised by how large the Greenville skyline was for what we expected and how expansive the metro was. We arrived at Greenville at 9 at night on a Sunday, expecting it to be dead. At least 5-6 restaurants/bars on Main Street were open and decently busy. We were surprised! Greenville at night is just beautiful. The city has done such a nice job with the lighting. There were twinkle lights on all of the downtown streets (year round I believe). Main street, the main area of downtown with shops and restaurants, was absolutely beautiful. There are tree lined medians and large sidewalks. The store facades are all unique yet create a cohesive feel. Falls park was really breath taking to us. The landscaping, fountains, and walkways were beautiful. It almost feels like a resort.
We went into a sushi bar that was open (cannot remember the name) and found a lot of young professionals and live acoustic music. Great feel. There are clearly some bars and lounges that are very hopping and appealing for going out. They seemed a bit spread out around the city though. For most people, this would probably be enough to choose from, but being 23 and moving from the suburbs we’d like a little more.
We saw evidence of growth with new apartments and condos being built, as well as two 6-8 story corporate buildings being built. This is a good sign (although I realize there are some of you residents who don’t want people to find out about this great city!)
The metro area was very nice. We looked into the Greenville Lofts at the old textile factory on Smythe road. Beautiully conserved building with very reasonable rent and huge units, however, about 2 miles from main street and through a pretty undesirable area. If we were moving to Greenville though, we would definitely consider it as we love the exposed brick, concrete floors, and urban feel.
We ate breakfast at Underground Coffee I believe which was a really cute basement type restaurant with brick walls and comfortable seating. It was really busy! Nice to see so many people out visiting with friends and getting food on a Monday morning (it was MLK day).
We didn’t get to see much in the suburbs as we decided in the morning that it was probably not going to be for us, but we did drive down Woodruff Road and felt it had a lot to offer. There were tons of restaurants (mostly chains), shopping, and services. It had a very strip mall feel but in a pretty nice way. Very convenient to get what you need.
We did get to see some suburban older neighborhoods right near downtown. We cannot remember the names but there were a lot of plantation and brick style houses. Very charming, vegetated, and beautiful.
We would have liked to see Simpsonville but didn’t make it over there. We hear it is nice but cannot comment.
Overall Greenville seemed like a great place to raise a family or start a life. If we weren’t looking for more busy and urban we would definitely have it on our list. The quality of life there seems very happy and there is tons of outdoor availability which is great. Thank you to the Greenville residents for welcoming us to your city- we can see why you like it! To anyone considering moving to Greenville, especially young families, definitely check it out! It really felt like a bit of utopia, although keep in mind we mostly checked out the really charming sections. Overall though, I’m sure it’s a great choice for many people.
Well I hope you will reconsider and put Greenville back on the list! We need more new and different businesses opening. We need new families. You really should think about Greenville again!
good review, Im 20 and just moved downtown. the nightlife is pretty good for Greenville, although I haven't found too many young people. One of my pet peeves is that the roads in greenville look to be dirty, and most of them have that black oil/grease slick down the middle. I dont see this on most all other towns to the extent here. It doesn't affect anything but just something I noticed (most people probably dont give it a second thought, lol). I like living downtown....Go Greenville!
Thank you for the great review of Greenville. I understand you needing something different at your age. It was a very nice post to read and we hope you felt welcomed here. Come back anytime even if it's just for a visit.
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It was a wonderful stay. Thanks for your comments.
