Rocky Mount, Wilson and Greenville, NC (Charlotte, Raleigh: chapel, hotels, houses)

[OIT2GOD]

I'm always asked what do I think are the positive and negative things about Rocky Mount, Wilson and Greenville, NC. As a person who relocated to NC, why isn't this area not connected like Raleigh, Durham and Chapel Hill or Greensboro, High Point and Winston-Salem? Can someone share? To me it seem like Greenville is moving forward and Rocky Mount and Wilson is behind Greenville. Greenville has ECU and a great medical center now a state of the art, heart center and cities leaders who want to city there city rise. What is Rocky Mount and Wilson waiting on?

[Ann in Oriental]

The majority of people in those 2 towns do NOT want change. They are "old school" southerners, many still fighting the Civil war and many are members of religions that see change as dangerous. They would be very happy to go back to the 50's and stay. I'm not trying to be rude, just honest. I lived there for 22 years and that is what I observed. There are of course people there who are NOT like that in fact Nash Community College is excellent and there are lots of stores etc... but really most people only stay because of their jobs or because they are in the 1st catagory I mentioned.

[Beffrey2]

Originally Posted by OIT2GOD

I'm always asked what do I think are the positive and negative things about Rocky Mount, Wilson and Greenville, NC. As a person who relocated to NC, why isn't this area not connected like Raleigh, Durham and Chapel Hill or Greensboro, High Point and Winston-Salem? Can someone share? To me it seem like Greenville is moving forward and Rocky Mount and Wilson is behind Greenville. Greenville has ECU and a great medical center now a state of the art, heart center and cities leaders who want to city there city rise. What is Rocky Mount and Wilson waiting on?

I can't speak for Rocky Mount, other than the fact I don't like it.

Wilson's problem is the old people with all the tobacco money. At one time, Wilson county was the richest county in NC. The richest city was Elm City (located in wilson)

For some reason, they do not want change.

-Back in the day when officials were looking for a place to build ECU, Wilson was one of the towns chosen for the school. The city of wilson, along with a couple of other easstern NC towns, turned them down. ECU is now in Greenville.

-Back in the 1990's, a plan was put into place to build a new casino in wilson off of I-95, on indian land. All the religious fanatics flipped, etc, etc, etc. Today, we have no casino.

-Today, the wilson mall (Parkwood mall) is hanging on by a thread. Nobody shops there anymore, and Belks relocated to the west side of town...like everyone else. Back in the early 2000's, someone planned to build a new two story mall in west wilson. All the oldies complained, they said we can save parkwood mall. Well, the mall sucks worse than ever. It's a thug hangout...and belks is gone. No two story mall.

I love wilson, Sure it is not the perfect town...and there is plenty of room for improvement. I can't stand when people compare Wilson to Rocky Mount, that is so not true. Wilson is light years ahead of Rocky Mount in my opinion. I don't care about the mall or the casino....one day, we will get the new mall, no biggy.

Whats good about wilson

1. BB&T - One of, if not the largest homegrown banks in the southeast. founded in wilson, NC. Thousands of their jobs are still in Wilson today. Headquarters was in Wilson till about 2000. But the bank chose for obvious reasons to move to Winston-Salem. However, BB&T continues to add jobs in wilson.

2. MERK - Major pharmacutical company with fairly high paying jobs in wilson. Just having a presence in Wilson proves that we are moving foward!

3. Barton college - Wilson has its own 4 year private college

4. Historic downtown neighborhoods - If you have never seen the neighborhoods in western downtown, you should. They are very old and nice! Huge old trees everywhere. Not sure about the styles of the houses, but they are really nice. I would say only Wilmington in eastern NC has a larger and nicer historic neighborhood than wilson. Not even Greenville does. I rank wilson second, New Bern third for the coastal plain.

5. Greenlight - Wilson's new tv, internet, and digital telephone service. Greenlight has the fastest internet speeds in the United States. Greenlight is a 100 percent fiber optics system, all the way to your house. Unlike cable, which is only partially fiber, and has restricting bandwidths. Wilson is among only a few towns in the United States with this technology. No, not even NYC, Philly, Boston, or LA have it.

5. The town really has been booming over the past 3 years. Lots of new hotels have gone up. In fact, so many I scratch my head all the time wondering how can wilson support them all. But I am sure the Geographers who said wilson can support them, know what they are doing. Lots of new chain restaurants; I know this is not a big deal to some people, but chain restaurants are one thing that Wilson has never had. Over the last three years, Wilson has added many. Wilson also added a large new shopping center in west wilson. Belks, Target, Best Buy, Ross, Petsmart, Bed Bath and Beyond, and many other shopping centers anchor the new complex. Couple of new Banks were also added....also many large subdivisions too. All this in just three years. So this also shows signs of moving foward. In fact, I believe this boom would have been MUCH larger if not for the economy over the past year. I have heard rumors of much more.

5. Downtown - Wilson for a long long time has had a bad reputation because of their downtown. Mostly, a gang hangout. However, over the last few years, downtown has really began to change. The streets have been revitalized, and a couple new locally owned restaurants have moved downtown. This is a big deal, becuase downtown did not have any restaurants that I ever knew of. Also, wilson's best spa has just left its old location and moved to downtown Wilson. The spa is an authentic spa offering all kinds of different options. I think it is called Atmosphere. Not that I care about Spa's, but for a high end spa like atmosphere to leave Brentwood (the prime shopping outlet in wilson), and relocate in downtown Wilson, shows me a lot about the direction of downtown!

So all in all, the boom in wilson right now is one of the largest in eastern NC. Probably top 3 or 4.

I am not from Wilson...I am from New Bern. So my opinions are not bias. (I think)

I typed this really fast...so sorry for all the errors. But stop comparing wilson to Rocky dump please. Please don't get mad rocky mount people...

Thanks

[OIT2GOD]

See thats the problem here in Wilson. People don't want to change. Ann is right the city leadership wants to go back in time instead of moving forward. Beffrey, Have you ever attend a city council meeting? The mayor and his buddies will shut you up if you talk about something they don't want to hear. The city needs a new mayor and city council who has a desire to move this city into the future. The problem is that the old money will not allow progress to take place. Yes the west side is moving forward, but what about the rest of the city.

Yes we're building hotels, but what about building a conference center too! That way we could go after the smaller conferences. What about a marketing plan to promote the city and what we have to offer. I live in Baltimore when they first start rebuilding the city and look at Baltimore now.

I had to drive to Fayetteville and then to Halifax County to have a job paying $50,000 plus. Now I'm preparing to a take a position in Raleigh, Durham or even Richmond, VA. The leadership in Wilson gives people a hard time and alot of red tape when they try to open a new business. Now Beffrey please don't be upset with me but this is waht I see. If I was in leadership in Wilson, I would build on the success of Raleigh. It's only 25 miles away and I would market Wilson as a place to live that only minuties from the captial of the North Carolina. Wake up Wilson city leadership. The time is now to change. Greenville and Raleigh is growing at a fast rate because people see positive things about those cities.

Wilson is the middle asleep while other cities are moving forwad. Also I been to your home and it's a wonderful little city. I been to two conferences at the New Bern Conference Center which is located on the river. Why can't Wilson build something like that. Also New Bern downtown area is way better looking than Wilson.

Now a positive thing about Wilson? Wilson has some of the best homes in Eastern NC. You can't beat the price.

I can't forget to say too Wilson Energy is making money overcharging the people of this city.The Gas/Electric bills are one of the highest in the state of North Carolina. Montly bills anywhere from $500.00 to $1200.00 a month and the mayor won't do anything about it. A bill for a 4 bedroom house is about $650 or more. It's so bad that Wilson's US Congressman is looking into the matter himself.

Yes it's some positive things about Wilson, but's it's alot of work that needs to be done to this city.

[Beffrey2]

OIT2GOD,

Why would I get mad at you? I know the city officials here are idiots. Thats why I went into the rant about the casino and the two story mall.

Also, you have not noticed the difference in downtown over the past three years? It's nothing major but a step in the right direction.

I don't go to city council meetings. I am scared to...I might lose my temper and end up in jail...lol

I am for inner city revitalization, not the suburbs. But we know this is not going to happen in small to medium sized cities in the south. I wish it would...but it won't.

[OIT2GOD]

Beffrey we're on the same page. I was out to lunch today with a friend of mine from Wilso. He told me he didn't think I notice what's going on in Wilson. Please somebody, someone who is intelligent run for mayor of Wilson. New leadership is needed so badly in our city.

[ecufootball]

There's a very easy solution to all this.....instead of living in Wilson or Rocky Mount, just move to Greenville. In 30 or so years Greenville's borders will probably bump up to both anyway. Greenville next to Charlotte and Raleigh is NC's boom town. Grenville is in the top 25 fastest growing Metro areas in the southeastern US. Greenville needs to pursue being more favorbably linked up with towns like New Bern and Jacksonville rathern than Wilson or Rocky Mount anyway.

[Wire120]

LOL at including a dump like Rocky Mount in with those other nicer places.