Gaffney-Limestone College visit (Greenville, Spartanburg, Myrtle Beach: real estate, HOA, homes)

[CampingMom]

Good afternoon all,

In a few weeks I am bringing my child down to do a college visit at Limestone-also meeting one of the teams there. Can anyone give me an idea about the area-I'll have 2 days to myself while she's on campus to putter around. What's to do, see, good place to stay-areas if any I should stay away from.

While there-I am also looking at relocating. We've been wanting to move to NC/SC for 10+ years. All my family is in NC-has been since the 1700's-I am the only DamnYankee. So I am trying to get a good feel for what the whole area has to offer. We still have one in middle school. And may possibly be bringing my elderly mother who's almost 86 with us-so if there's assisted living homes there or a good agency someone can recommend for home health aides-we may consider looking for a mother/daughter type home. Not looking to live in a HOA setting at all-we like a bit of elbow room. I'd love to be somewhere on/near a lake. Looking at ranch one level homes and no more than $300,000-less is better-don't want a McMansion home.

My husband is in HVAC-R. His main focus is the refrigeration/air conditioning side. Anyone know about the job outlook on that business in the area? I've a degree in hospitality and tourism-and I am sure I might be able to find something too down there-also drove a school bus for 14 years and have that to fall back down on.

Can you also tell me what the weather is like-especially winter? I broke my ankle in 3 places and dislocated it this past winter on black ice. What's my chances of running into a bad winter in the area?

Thanks!

[CampingMom]

Bumping this up- still looking for information about the area. Thanks!

[drfranklin]

campingmom, since no one has responded, I'll try to answer -

a little background: I worked in Gaffney for about six months in 2008 - I now work in Spartanburg but live in Greenville

Gaffney is a small town with conservative values and (generally) bleak economic prospects. I really can't imagine "sightseeing" in Gaffney. Now, there is the "Yellow Mall" with a multitude of outlet stores but not much else.

If I were moving to the Upstate and had a eldery mother in tow, I would choose Greenville. The medical facilities and specialist access are the best in the area. Of course, Greenville's downtown is wonderful. Greenville is little under an hour from Gaffney and I would imagine that your child would like a little "buffer" from family while in college.

If your looking for "mountainous" scenery but close to amenities, northern Greenville county fits the bill (Traveler's Rest, etc). But, if you're looking to live near a lake, Lakes Keowee and Jocassee are incredible but somewhat remote and even further from Gaffney. The NC/SC border (in NW SC/SW NC) has stunning scenery and numerous waterfalls.

As for weather, this has been discussed numerous times in this sub-forum. But, in general, 4 seasons with a warm to hot/humid summer, long fall and spring season, and short winter. The Upstate (for a number of reasons) has ice once or twice a year. Snow is less common. For the most part, winter "storms" are a nuisance and rarely last more than a day or two - but there have been some notable exceptions.

Please use the search function for some of your answers.

Additionally, there are wonderful posters here but I do not recall any living in Gaffney.

[FlopShotter]

And of course, Spartanburg would be a reasonable option to live if you want to be a little closer to Gaffney. I worked in Gaffney/Blacksburg for 10 years, and while a decent enough community with some rough patches, I would not recommend moving there. Spartanburg puts you 25 minutes away, Greenville 55 minutes.

You'll find this board heavily slanted to Greenville, and that's fine (I know I'm outnumbered about 100-to-1). However, I wouldn't overlook Spartanburg, either. We also have excellent medical facilities and specialists as well.

As far as your visit, you could stay in Gaffney at the Hampton Inn near the outlet mall (or Yellow Mall in local vernacular) - it would be safe enough, and close to Limestone, but also right on the interstate for ease of travel. The next closest good spot would be about 12 miles down the road in Spartanburg off exit 78 - another Hampton Inn choice.

[enemy country]

I just came across your post today. I am from Gaffney and my son is a junior at Limestone. He runs track and cross country there. Depending on what your preference is the city of Gaffney has some suburb areas that are pretty nice. Like any other city some parts you want to avoid but if your looking to spend 300k you should not have a problem. You can get a nice place for 150 to 200k easy. Employment, I work in Greenville my wife Spartanburg so more than likely you may have to commute. We do have some new plants looking at this area but many are in line for those jobs. 30 to 45 minutes either way along I-85 can get you to a lot more employment opportunities you just have to be willing to drive. Check out the Macedonia area or the Draytonville area. You can look up these areas on real estate sites for gaffney. Oh, by the way just so you know, I spend a lot of time on political threads so thats why the name enemy country. Im a democrat fighting from behind enemy lines. Anyway I hope this helps.

[CampingMom]

Thanks for all the information everyone. If all goes well, we'll be making that drive down next weekend-if we end up in the final 4 for state championships....it's postponed til it's done. We've been trying to get a feel for both states-NC/SC. We've been going to Myrtle Beach for 11 years-course I've been going to NC for 44 years. Not sure where we'll end up. We are spending two days in the area looking at the college, what's around and such. I've got a full day by myself just to see what's there. I've got friends in Greenville and a few in Charlotte and they've also been giving me ideas.

With Gaffney-can anyone tell us what areas to avoid-if any? Not even sure how big a place Gaffney is, lol I live in a county with about 300,000 so is it a good sized area? What is there for the college kids to do who live on campus? I've got a ton of questions,lol

Thanks!

[FlopShotter]

Gaffney is a town of about 12,000, and Cherokee County in total is about 35,000 people, so it mainly has a rural feel overall.

I can't speak for what Limestone students do in their spare time, so that's a good question to ask during the visit. I suspect they head towards Spartanburg, and maybe even Greenville or Charlotte (about an hour either direction). I don't believe there is much of a college/social scene for that age in Gaffney.

I don't think you'll have to worry about areas to avoid - there are a couple of rough areas, but they're a little off the beaten path, even in town. Downtown Gaffney is pretty safe overall.

[CampingMom]

Thanks for all the replies. I am heading there this weekend for the visit and my daughter to tryout with one of the teams there. I only have Friday to myself and I think I'll head to Greenville to site-see( a friend from high school has been there for 20 years). I am glad it's a rural area-that's what I knew when I was growing up where we are now(it when building boom in the late 90's-especially after 9/11 when they moved here in droves). So I'll get a good luck at the area alone. Any places to eat that I could try Friday night? Or even lunch? We decided to head back Saturday-so it's a whirlwind trip.

Thanks again!

[roadpony]

There are tons of good places to eat in downtown Greenville on your sightseeing day. I like Trio for lunch.

If you're looking for recommendations in Gaffney, sorry, I can't help.