Huntsville, AL vs. Greenville SC (Jackson: townhomes, metro, cities)

[averagenyjoe]

Originally Posted by Charles

Which city are you more likely to get a job and have a Plan B and a Plan C for a job?

Everything else is in the noise.

What does "I am ...conservative..." mean?

I hope this doesn’t invite an argument but here it goes...By conservative, I would mean low tax & spend mindset, low law suit frenzies, low Union strangleholds, lack of medical liability boondoggles, Pro business instead of hard-core zoning and regulation of every little detail, free of trying to promote and accept the lowest common denominator in social frameworks and of course an environment that has a healthy respect for traditional Christianity.

[averagenyjoe]

Originally Posted by cugrad

Well, I've lived in HSV for about a year and a half and grew up in Greenville, so I'd say I'm relatively familiar with both. Both have good schools, are pretty suburban and middle class. Greenville has access to more goods and services b/c the "greater Greenville" area is larger than HSV. Due to that, there's a bit more to do but its not a huge difference. Ignore any statistics you see that are based on the City of Greenville. You really need to look at county statistics. Unlike HSV, Greenville has always kept its city borders about as small as possible and the majority of the "city" is in the county. What used to be a small town, Greer, has been gobbling up pieces of the county just like HSV and Madison do though. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if Greer took up 1/3 of the county by now.

The climate is a bit more mild in Gville just b/c its on the other side of the mountains. Gville is also more wooded and hilly than HSV. Since the summers aren't quite so bad and there's more shade from all of the trees, people tend to have fescue lawns instead of bermuda. Much less wind too (again, b/c of the mountains). They do get tornados but they're pretty rare. Hurricanes never do much more than drop rain just like HSV. Even Hugo didn't do anything b/c it turned N at Columbia, most likely b/c the edge of the hurricane started butting up against the mountains.

Both have very good schools. Growing up I had access to a large selection of AP classes and found myself more than equipped when I went to college. I'm sure people here have a similar experience.

The biggest difference in is the people, and its a phenomena not unique to the particular cities. I've discussed this w/ other people and there's definitely a difference between the "East Coast South" and the "Deep South." Its exaggerated by the fact that Greenville has a large number of imports from New England, particularly New York b/c of the specific companies in town like GE. I've eventually learned that Greenville is very un-southern, sort of like Atlanta but without the issues of a large city. I wonder if HSV is going to become similar once the NoVA imports hit in droves. Hopefully so. Drive thirty minutes out of town and Gville becomes very similar to the "country" areas around here.

If you prefer the outdoors you're a bit closer to more activities in Greenville for the sole reason that you're closer to the mountains. There's a lot to do in western NC and GA as far as hiking, kayaking, etc. goes.

The job market is probably better in HSV just b/c the defense industry is currently more shielded from the recession than most of the economy.

Hope that helps.

Thank you Cugrad, This was a very nice and informative post. Alot of good info

[Charles]

Originally Posted by averagenyjoe

I hope this doesn’t invite an argument but here it goes...By conservative, I would mean low tax & spend mindset, low law suit frenzies, low Union strangleholds, lack of medical liability boondoggles, Pro business instead of hard-core zoning and regulation of every little detail, free of trying to promote and accept the lowest common denominator in social frameworks and of course an environment that has a healthy respect for traditional Christianity.

What about your job? Have you checked out opportunities in both towns? What line of work are you in? Huntsville has the Redstone Arsenal and a lot of aerospace and defense jobs and a bunch more jobs are on their way. I don't know too much about Greenville - is it going to benefit from BRAC?

[AnotherBravesFan]

I don't have the breadth of experience as the poster who grew up in Greenville, but from an outsider's perspective, I felt that Greenville/Clemson was a little too remote for us. We wanted to get out of a big city, but not be too far out in the country. We didn't get that "remote" feeling with Huntsville; it has enough shopping/medical care/etc. to suit our needs. I did live in Columbia, SC in the mid 80s and considered a few spots in SC for retirement, but we just did not find anywhere there that could beat Huntsville in terms of cost of living, amenities, the university (UAH), and housing. Hope that helps. DH has been in HSV now 19 mos., and in 3 weeks, I am FINALLY moving there, too!

[averagenyjoe]

Originally Posted by AnotherBravesFan

I don't have the breadth of experience as the poster who grew up in Greenville, but from an outsider's perspective, I felt that Greenville/Clemson was a little too remote for us. We wanted to get out of a big city, but not be too far out in the country. We didn't get that "remote" feeling with Huntsville; it has enough shopping/medical care/etc. to suit our needs. I did live in Columbia, SC in the mid 80s and considered a few spots in SC for retirement, but we just did not find anywhere there that could beat Huntsville in terms of cost of living, amenities, the university (UAH), and housing. Hope that helps. DH has been in HSV now 19 mos., and in 3 weeks, I am FINALLY moving there, too!

Your desire to get out of a big city but not remote or a remote feeling is exactly where we want to be. The Greer area of SC appeals to me but it seems that the Greenville area just has that never ending sprawling feeling and retail hell. Not really that big city feel, just that sprawling feeling. Huntsville has more of a population but doesnt appear to be sprawling. Has all the retail you need but I wonder, does it seem like a sprawling retail hell?

For the other posters question, I have over 20 years in banking, insurance and finance. But, being in my mid life crises :-) I am wanting to use my skills to adapt to something else. The pressure of dealing with peoples personal money and finances is getting to be just too much for me.

[cugrad]

Originally Posted by AnotherBravesFan

I felt that Greenville/Clemson was a little too remote for us.

Clemson is definitely remote...its 45 min from downtown Gville and its on the "bad" side of Greenville, so its closer to an hour to the good side of Gville. Apparently thats been changing recently though, b/c I guess Easley has been on a building spree.

[cugrad]

Originally Posted by averagenyjoe

Your desire to get out of a big city but not remote or a remote feeling is exactly where we want to be. The Greer area of SC appeals to me but it seems that the Greenville area just has that never ending sprawling feeling and retail hell. Not really that big city feel, just that sprawling feeling. Huntsville has more of a population but doesnt appear to be sprawling. Has all the retail you need but I wonder, does it seem like a sprawling retail hell?

I would argue that HSV is spawling just as badly as Gville, it just happens to have about 1/2 the population of the greater Gville area. Both cities are in dire need of some intelligent city planning. They both seem to be destined to go down the path of Atlanta. HSV might be a bit more compact solely b/c the land is flat, whereas its hilly in Gville. Building roads and houses around the hills sorta spreads things out a little bit more.

If you want to be close to the city but feel "away" from it, for $$$ you can live up in the mountains either in HSV (Monte Sano) or Gville (Paris Mtn and other areas I can't think of the name of now). You've got to have some tolerance for having your house on the side of a cliff though.

Its really pretty frightening how similar they are. Personally I'd rather live in Gville for the sole reason that its big enough to have a single instance of things we don't have in HSV like a Whole Foods. I'm one of those people that feels deprived here b/c we don't have a Trader Joe's :-)

[Reactionary]

On a different note - Greenville is closer to the beach (about 200 miles or so) than Huntsville (about 360 miles), but IMO Alabama's beaches are nicer than South Carolina's.

[33458]

Should we warn the OP about Greenville/Clemson and paw prints? I mean, granted - I see plastic elephants and A's everywhere here, but...they are a bit nuts about football there. You'll see for yourself when you visit.



Greenville - go downtown, go to park. The park, seriously...it's a nice park.

Go to majorly cool but pricey art boutique featuring local artisans. Bring your check book.

Eat black bean soup at gourmet fusion bistro.



Huntsville - go to Botanical Garden. Wonderful. Absolutely.

Check out Flying Monkey Arts.

I have not found black bean soup here yet...

[drfranklin]

A little background: have lived in the Upstate of SC (now in Greenville) for the last 6 years (with a short stay in Chattanooga). Prior to that I lived in Birmingham for a number of years and visited Huntsville. My family and I now visit Alabama several times a year.

Again, the greater Greenville/Spartanburg CSA population (1.2 million) approaches that of metro Birmingham - Huntsville is somewhat smaller.

Retail is very good in Greenville with Whole Foods, Earth Fare, the largest mall in SC (Haywood), etc.

Greenville itself is a "hidden gem" with an incredible downtown (Greenville's Downtown, Greenville South Carolina - Greenville SC - Greenville Vacations). Reedy Falls (Falls Park, Greenville, SC), boutique stores, and great local restaurants highlight the very walkable downtown area. With this, a much better comparison to Greenville is Chattanooga (also with a fabulous downtown area).

As mentioned above, climate is somewhat similar but there are differences. Climate is a little more moderate (especially in winter) - the Blue Ridge/Appalachian mountains "shield" the Upstate from severe winter fronts. However, CAD (Cold Air Damming/"Wedge") plays a major role in the winter and can produce severe ice storms. Fortunately, Huntsville is rarely (if ever) affected by CAD producing winter storms. Tornadoes are very rare in the Upstate of SC - especially, when compared to the Huntsville/North AL area (see map: File:Tornado Alley.gif - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia - north AL is a "bullseye" for tornadoes). I cannot recall ANY time (in the past 5 years) when there was "Wall to Wall" weather coverage for storms here in Greenville. I distinctly recall James Spann's "Wall to Wall" storm coverage for the Birmingham TV market. I understand this is very serious work - but I get a kick out of this when I visit AL because I NEVER see this on TV in SC.

Summers here are hot (just like in Huntsville) - but Greenville offers an EASY escape to heat - Highlands, NC sits at an elevation of > 4000 feet and is about an hour and half drive. Summers there RARELY exceed 80 degrees (highs this weekend are in the low 70's!, http://www.highlandsinfo.com/wx.htm). Also, Asheville is only a 45 minute drive north. The television market here is interesting because it not only includes the Upstate of SC but also western NC - weather is always divided between the "Upstate" and "Mountains" - with the mountains always being 4-10+ degress cooler.

Outdoor activities abound in the Upstate with hiking, biking, canoeing, kayaking, etc etc. Most are surprised, but there ARE mountains in SC (some exceeding 3000 feet) and many very close to Greenville. Further, biking plays a significant presence in Greenville. George Hincapie lives here (George Hincapie) and the city hosts the USA Cycling Pro Championships each year (Greenville Hospital System USA Cycling Professional Championships 2009 - USA Cycling Championships 2009). Also, there is a GREAT paved trail here for biking and walking called the Swamp Rabbit Trail (GHS Swamp Rabbit Tram Trail | Greenville Rec, Swamp Rabbit Trail) that will extend from Traveler's Rest thru the beautiful Furman Univ campus south to Greenville.

On a downside, the business climate here has been stagnant (or worse) with the faltering ecomomy. BMW/Michelin (both with North American headquarters here) and GE/Fluor are dominant in the area. (Of course, Huntsville has a very stable economic climate due to its dominant defense/aerospace industries.) Fortunately, the real estate market here is incredibly stable (much like Huntsville's).

Lastly, a poster above mentioned that Clemson is located "on the bad side of Greenville". First, Clemson is no where near the "bad side" of Greenville. Yes, the west side of Greenville is a "little rough" but NOTHING like the major cities of the south. Clemson is far-removed from this area and in ANOTHER COUNTY to the west. Futher, Clemson is somewhat rural with a beautiful campus but relatively close to retail in Anderson (south of Clemson) and Easley (west of the "bad side of Greenville"). Also, Clemson is very close to 2 of the most pristine lakes in the Southeast - Lake Keowee and Lake Jocassee (Lake Keowee and Vicinity Information and Picture Map, Lake Jocassee - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia).

I have deep fondness for Birmingham/Huntsville - but do think that Greenville (and the Upstate) is a special place

I encourage the OP to post additional, specific questions on the Greenville sub-forum - there are wonderful posters there