Avoid Greenville at all costs (Jackson, Hattiesburg: house, rent, job)

[JOMAX]

After living in this hole in the Mississipi Delta for two years I must say that if you care about your family, your belongings, and/or your mental health....STAY AWAY!!!!!! In less than 2 years I have been robbed 3 times. Of course local law enforcement is on top of collecting traffic fines but if it comes to other crime we let's just say they are on "break." The property values are extremely inflated considering the crime levels and the 13.2% unemployment rate. The schools are a travesty if you can't afford private school, look elsewhere because the public school system is really bad humor. The only people that seem to be moving in are those who hope to benefit from the lucrative narcotics market. As for the industrial climate, let's just say it is freezing. No new industry would touch this area, aside from possible casino projects and they are prone to pull out after short tenure. This town is a cancer and its leadership and much of its citizenry like it that way. So if you are considering moving to the Greenville area, I suggest that a pit in the lower parts of hell would be a better choice. By the way, I am moving away as fast as I possibly can.

[Mr.Sippi]

why did you move there???

[carolinajack]

absolutely, who would have moved to the delta anyway, we know that if it isnt backwards, lacks job growth, then it is still racist and dangerous.

I lived in Mississippi for a while as my family is from there and I still own lots of property there, but I lived in jackson and suburbs and have my farm only 30 minutes away. that is different than greenville--get out with your life

[Mr.Sippi]

Half of my family if from the Delta. That being said, i think one has to be born there to even think of living there. Now, most young people are leaving the Delta after college, and not working on the farm like many generations. Its drying up. If work takes you there, then I can understand, but it wouldnt be easy.

[senoj]

I am a lifelong resident of Greenville who has no intention of moving. Sure this town has its problems but so does every town/city in this country. Leaving is taking the supposed easy way out with a good chance of finding a place just as bad or worse. For example, Tupelo is often noted as a desirable place to live but two years ago my car was burglarized there while I was in a movie for less than two hours. The thief or thieves were never caught and from what I could tell, not much effort was made to find them. Sound famaliar?

Sure the public schools here suck but the is reasonably priced private education. St. Joseph's Catholic Church recently completed building a $6,000,000.00 high school.

This town has seen hard times before and came through them and it will again.
But if you don't care about it enough to stay and fight to make it better perhaps it is best that you look for greener pastures. Once you find them I strongly suspect you'll find your new pasture has weeds too.

[thunderinokra]

I went to Washington where my parents spent way too much money on a standard education. My girlfriend went to school in Hattiesburg and got as good if not a better education for free.
There were people that went to her school that made perfect scores on the ACT and SAT every year. The year I graduated, St. Joe's valedictorian made a 30 on the ACT, which isn't bad at all. That student was in the top 3% of people taking the test, but Harvard and Yale would have never accepted someone who scored so poorly.
You can't say that Greenville's school system (including private) is good when not even the brightest student from a prestigious school can make it into any school they want.
Now Greenville does have some very intelligent citizens, my two best friends are from there and we all three scored a 30 on the ACT. We weren't valedictorians of our high schools either. That is the true problem with the private school system, they didn't challenge us enough to keep us interested in our work. I made D's and C's as did one of my best friends. I was actually in the bottom 10 in my graduating class.
As for the public school system, I don't think that throwing a ton of money will solve its problem, like many problems in this world. I think positive action and decent leadership would go a long way. My grandfather ran Western Line schools for many years, I don't know if it was just the times or if it was because an intelligent man with a heart was involved in a larger way with the school system. Either way, it would be a better place to live if we could actually raise a generation that cared about its city and made something of it.
Sorry for the long post.

[JOMAX]

Originally Posted by senoj

I am a lifelong resident of Greenville who has no intention of moving. Sure this town has its problems but so does every town/city in this country. Leaving is taking the supposed easy way out with a good chance of finding a place just as bad or worse. For example, Tupelo is often noted as a desirable place to live but two years ago my car was burglarized there while I was in a movie for less than two hours. The thief or thieves were never caught and from what I could tell, not much effort was made to find them. Sound famaliar?

Sure the public schools here suck but the is reasonably priced private education. St. Joseph's Catholic Church recently completed building a $6,000,000.00 high school.

This town has seen hard times before and came through them and it will again.
But if you don't care about it enough to stay and fight to make it better perhaps it is best that you look for greener pastures. Once you find them I strongly suspect you'll find your new pasture has weeds too.

My children actually found hemselves behind thanks to the private schools of Greenville. I grew up in the delta and the way yo have your head i the sand is characteristic of the Delta mentality. In my opinion Greenville's hard times are ongoing and the city leadership is oblivious to the ultimate demise of yet another Delta town. Do yourself a favor and put a Mound Bayou sign up and acknowledge the inevitable. No one industry will come, not even chain restaurants (thanks Al Rankins). My family shook the dust from our feet and as for weeds I will gladly take them anywhere but Greenville. Maybe the Mississippi River will claim the Queen City and save the people of Mississippi the burden of another failed town. "Stay and fight to make it better" makes me further understand how blind some people can be to what is actually a cancer that is consuming all that are infected after moving there.

[thatgrl]

There is no other town in the Mississippi Delta in which to live but Cleveland. It is the only town left with good safe public schools. We have Delta State and that has been our salvation. Still safe to walk here at night or leave your door unlocked. We are even in the running for the new Federal Courthouse which may be moved out of Greenville for those very reasons.We don't even go there alone during the day must less night. Some cultural stuff but not much. Would not recommend a move here but if you have to then Cleveland is it. of course I am moving to Georgia this summer. So there you go!

[grumpybug789]

The motto for the town is "I believe in Greenville". The only people that believe in Greenville are the one's that have never lived anywhere else.
We relocated there last year with my company. What a HUGE mistake !!
That was one long year. The "Culture" in Greenville is the catch all phrase that replaces the words LAZY,NO MOTIVATION and DISCRIMINATION.This is the excuse everyone gives when you complain about the people. "It's just the culture". There has been no progression in this town for many years and there probably won't be for many years to come. Being caucasion I have never felt discrimination before,until we moved to Greenville. I always treated people equally regardless of race. It is obvious that non-blacks are being pushed out of this town. It's like the town is stuck in the 1950's. The only good thing I can say is there are alot of local restaurants in the area that are excellent. The schools are terrible, including the private schools. Take our advise. We thought "We can live anywhere for a year". Boy were we fooled.

[SashaBlue]

grumpybug789, you are 100% correct and thank you, thank you, thank you, for your comment about caucasions being the ones discriminated against --- not the other way around as so many believe goes on in MS. I have always said that if the Kennedy's had lived in MS instead of in the all-white areas of MA, things in this country would be quiet different. The white people in MS get labeled racist by the rest of the US, but hey, you and I and so many others know better. There was a black city councilman in Jackson who publicly said that he wanted all white-owned businesses to move out of the city of Jackson. Yeah... let's do and see what happens economically. What a joke. Like you, I treat people of all races equally, always have. I look at a person's character, not the skin color, and have many black friends whom I love dearly. However, it's places like Greenville and the Delta that are a cancer to the state and to the US.