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Greenville is STD central of the world Ha, just kidding but it's highly contaminated with underage college and marines. If you like service boys...come on down! However, I will be getting out of the Marines here in a few months, so yall take care down here in NC! It was definitely a beautiful place! I will give you that!
I have been here for over a year, I agree with the majority of what the previous poster's are saying....but there are some benifits to the place too...compared to back home (ie Toronto Ontario) the housing is cheap. Cheap to rent and buy, the schools are actually better I feel for my children, smaller class sizes and more help for any children that are struggling. In canada it seems like the schools did not have the funding for any extra curricular events, not here, there are many more options for my kids. The food thing, yes it is more expensive, and I miss my big old farmers markets....it seems like there are more people that just eat out at resturants rather than cook, so buying fresh, or organic here is more $$$. THere is not a lot going on at all, no upscale places to go, or go out...sad, I am missing that. I feel like I live in a nice place over all, not too happy with some of the negative attitudes I encounter here in the south, I am a fairly liberal person and some stuff here just makes me cringe....the attitudes have not changed in forever it seems. I love to be close to the beach, it makes it worth while, but when my friends visit from back home they think I am nuts to live way out in "no where" I just miss the big city and going to Raleigh 1.5 hrs away is really to far. I think you would like the community but it is a culture shock for canadians, for sure.
man, what a boring place to live!!! If dh and I could afford to live somewhere else, specifically VA, we'd be out of here in a heartbeat. I mean there is NOTHING to do here, you have to always GO somewhere outside of Greenville to have any fun. I don't know what the attraction is to Greenville. You would think someone would capitalize on the fact that this is a growing area (for whatever reason) and bring some FUN to the area. And by that, I mean something besides ANOTHER RESTAURANT, kwim? People have to want to do something else besides EAT, I would think! Anyhow, I found this site this afternoon because I'm researching VA to see if we can move there. BTW, I think Greenville people tend to keep to themselves pretty much. Sorry, but that's what I've observed all my life. I agree with the property taxes, utilities, water being high and that Greenville lacks vision for the future. If I were you, I'd look in the central to western part of NC. I'm sure you can find a job w/ being a nurse. At least you'd have something to do when you aren't working! LOL! You definitely won't have to worry about snow, but the summers are long, hot, and humid here. We have a short fall and a moderate winter, hardly any spring weather.
MJN, just curious, but what kinda fun would you bring here. i mean really what do you have in mind?? because though i agree with you to an extent as an adult there are only so many kinds of "fun" one can have. know what i mean?? as far as teens go, O.K. this city is lacking, but for someone who wants to get a start on life and get good nursing experience without a tremendous amount of bills, this place "aint" all that bad. And Canadianroots, forget it this is no big city. i myself am from Chicago and yes i do miss the big city, but at least you can relax a little bit here, just don't go out too late. ahh miss them big city nights especially. lol.
As another transplanted Canadian who was born and raised in Vancouver, I do find Greenville to be a very boring, uninteresting place to live. I've lived in Raleigh, Greensboro, and Chapel Hill before moving here for my husband's job, and this is by far the worst move. I can see why people come here to go to school, or perhaps get their medical career underway.... but why anyone would actually CHOOSE to live here permanently is beyond me. We've been here for almost two years, and I agree with most of the other posters regarding:
- lack of good restaurants / food. Good quality meat, produce, and wine are hard to find; but beer, soda and chips are abundant! Supply and demand...... availability of services, products and ammenities always reflect the general atmosphere and character of the area and it's residents.
- crime is BAD. Recently people have been accosted and robbed outside the Walmart, so the store is now providing "escorts to your vehicle" for those who request it. Not to mention the 90-year-old senior citizens being mugged for a couple of dollars. It's a very sad thing.
- lack of SAFE outdoor spaces/activites. There is a town commons, a riverside park, and a "green trail", but they are minor efforts and I have never felt safe visiting any of them. Coming from a place like Vancouver, I REALLLY miss the opportunity to enjoy the "great outdoors", be that walking or other sports, or simply enjoying a day strolling through downtown and stopping for lunch on a streetside patio. Just can't do that here in Greenville.
- TRAFFIC!!! I've never seen such bad traffic in a small town. I think it's due mainly to three main reasons: 1) bored people drive from one big-box store to another just to kill time; 2) folks from the surrounding towns all come to Greenville to shop; and 3) it is simply too unsafe to walk anywhere.
- the general rudeness of many people here (not ALL), especially in the service sector. Even when I say "hello" and "thank you", I am amazed that the most common reply is some kind of *grunt*. But, in all fairness, this is something I noticed all over NC, not just in Greenville.
- there is very little to do if you're not working or going to school. Haven't found much at all in the way of rec centers, leisure actvities, volunteer organizations, etc.
On the other hand, I have enjoyed the occassional Pirate's football game, and I think the "collegiate spirit" in the US is pretty neat overall. I hear that Greenville has LOTS of baseball and softball, if you are into that. We don't have kids, so I can't comment on the schools in the area. There is a church on every street corner, but that doesn't seem to stop the crime ! The weather is nice most of the year, which is a plus. And there are some very nice developments, predominantly in the Winterville area, that seem to cater to young families.
Overall, I've been able to eek out an existence here in Greenville while my husband's work keeps us here. I have found a relatively good grocery store, a nice gym, a few good restaurants. Raleigh is about 1.5 hours away, which is do-able when I need to stock up the wine cabinet, or find a decent selection of fabric, etc. (We occassionally take a weekend trip to "the big city", just to hang out, enjoy the concerts or events, doing some shopping, etc.) As a visiting relative put it, "Looks like you have everything you need here in Greenville."...... and that's about the truth..... *needs* are met, but very little diversity.
OK, here's the point about relativity: for someone coming from a very cosmopolitan, multi-cultural, highly-educated city, Greenville IS a teensy-tiny-backward town. HOWEVER, I have met many very nice people who have come from other "small towns USA", who think they have hit the jackpot by moving to Greenville. To them, this IS the big city, and they are absolutely delighted to live in such a place where the ammenities are superior to those of their former town. Bottom line: depends on who you are and what you want in life. For us, it doesn't work and we can't wait to get out of here (Pinehurst, although also small, looks to be much more to our liking.) For many, many others, they love it and are bringing their families to settle in for the long haul.
Would I recommend Greenville as a place to live? No. But it's all relative!!!
Greenville is hideous in my opinion. I moved here just over 2 years ago and I am looking to go back up north! The "southern hospitality" you hear about is people being nice and sweet to your face, then as you walk away they talk nice and "ugly" about you.
The schools are a hot mess! Greenville (all of NC I think) has what's called racial districting, which basically means they base which children go to which schools based solely upon the color of your skin. You could live in a great neighborhood, and your child will have to go to a school across town, to a school that has horrible academic standards. The teachers are non-unioned. This might be a good thing or a not so good thing. Again, you get what you pay for. The school buses do not have school bus monitors, and my 8 and 7 year old boys have unfortunately been the targets of bullies more than once.
Where I come from up north, you bought your house based on the school that was in the neighborhood.
Yes, housing is cheaper and the property taxes are cheaper - just remember YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR. You get nickled and dimed in many other ways. At least up north, you might pay high property taxes, but you don't have to pay separately for things like trash pick up.
If you pull statistical data and compare, Greenville and Raleigh have higher crime rates (robbery, murder, etc.) than in bigger cities up north - that is very scary to me. Believe it or not, gang activity is prevalent in Greenville as well.
Lots of chain resturants, no italian bakeries, not many hole in the wall resturants, and honestly, not a whole lot to do around here unless you want to drive a 1 1/2 hours to the beach or to Raliegh for more urban activities.
You might like it here. Just please, please, please DO YOUR HOMEWORK before you decide to move here. Check into schools, crime rates, etc. before you make a decision.
From one northerner to another! Good luck in your search!!
Wow Greenville is getting pretty hammered here, it is actually a very nice place to live IMHO, althought I was raised in Washington, NC nearby a very small city.
Gated Communities that a previous poster was refering to? They must be thinking of a different city, they are NONE in greenville, they are not allowed by City Planning, we live in a TND (Traditional Neighboorhood Developtment) and they tried to get our neighbornood gated, pushed it legally as fars they could go, and have revisited it after 5yrs again, you can't do it, we have tried. We have a 12 acres of greenspace, park, wooded trails in our neighborhood alone, houses are cheap enough I bought a 3/4br house 4 months out of college.
Utilities - Pretty much the same as another place in the Southeast US. Compaired to surrounding areas GUC is actually cheaper, most other towns were partners in the Nuclear Power Plant project back in the 60s that turned out to be a bad investment $ wise and have huge resulting dept as a result. GUC was not part of that (had own powerplant at the time so was not needed)
Jobs/Growth - Compaired to surrounding areas is very good, the city probably isn't pushing for new development much, Greenville right now is growing to fast for many residents tastes.
Food - Everyone has got to be kidding, we are in a farming region, they are produce stands everywhere, a Farmer's market in Washington and Kinston nearby. I really doubt you can get cheaper produce much anywhere except citrus in FL, things like that. We have employees at work that bring in truckloads of Sweet Potatos and Corn during that season to give away, they have to much and wholesale value is next to nothing. As for regular groceries we have pretty much every chain there is Sams, Walmart, FoodLions, Harris Teeter, Krokers, Audis, etc prices are similar to cheaper to anywhere else in country I bet. There is a lot of eating out here the resturant per capita probably rivals anyone. Pretty much every major chain there is escept TGI Fridays. Most mom and pop places are country food here, there is to much competition for anything else. I like seafood a lot, it is probably the major weakness of Greenville eating, we only have Red Lobster, Mayflower, Wimpies, Dixie Queen, and the new place near ECU we have not tried..... We eat Japanese a lot also, have about 5 choices there, go out for Wings with the friends we have 5-6 specific Wing places now. Really hard to complain about food in Greenville, there is everything and lots of choices.
Not sure if is the same in Canada or places out west, but we went on a weeklong Cal vacation not long ago, San Fran, Monterey, San Jose, little places very few chains. I thought the group was going to break out in tears when we spoted a Outback Steakhouse in Pleasonton, CA, then it was a 2 hour wait to get in.
What is there to do? No major league sports, not a major Zoo, Park, etc I guess. But G'ville is like pretty much every other similar sized city I have been to, you don't have those things in most cities this size. What you do have is ECU sports, there are all types of activities through that County parks. The beach is a short drive, the mountains a longer one. The outerbanks not far and they best beaches and offroading in the sand there is in the US, and great seafood to boot. Washington and New Bern Waterfronts are 30/45min away. Water activies there, sail boats, kayaking, rental places there. A lot of new kids parks in Greenville over the last year. It all depends on what you like.
We don't have a mutual activies to do with the kids, but I don't see where RDU or Charlotte area is any better. Enlighten me, we travel to and through triangle area a lot, will stop off and have all this fun that is there if it exsists.
Crime - Is is not bad at all, Walmart is in the ghetto (we go to Target & Sams) and there have been gas station robberies above average. All the crime is in the "bad area" of town and easily avoided. Its not really a big deal except in areas where normal people would not be anyways.
People - Most people are nice and friendly, why southerns stick out anywhere else we vacation at! The appartment complexs mentioned are mostly marketed to transplants, students or people here for the med school, they are not locals and probably not as friendly or nice as a result.
Jen-p Hello I Have Moved Here From Another State To Greenville Nc And I Love It Here But I Also Work In Nursing And You Can Not Come Here And Work On Aout Of State License,i Done My Research Before Moving Here Over 5 Months Ago I Was Told.that I Could We Moved Here And No One Will Hire Me Without Me Retaking Everything For Noth Carolina.just Some Helpful Info.
Just a little info,Please do your research on the medical field...Because you can not come here from another state and work on your nursing license..Do not believe you can...I suggest you call the state health department in raleigh.They do not allow it here..It does not make sense to me, Because you can transfer to any other state work for 120 days usually and then take their state test but north carolina..If you finish nursing school in one state they want you to do it all over here....
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Ha, just kidding but it's highly contaminated with underage college and marines. If you like service boys...come on down! However, I will be getting out of the Marines here in a few months, so yall take care down here in NC! It was definitely a beautiful place! I will give you that!
Having lived here 43 years,
! The weather is nice most of the year, which is a plus. And there are some very nice developments, predominantly in the Winterville area, that seem to cater to young families.
