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That would not be lawful, to force someone into any service. However, what is meant, or inferred that is, is that the cultural expressions of a given area will be more apt to follow the force of authority.
The simple fact I won't be forced into church doesn't mean Greenville is like Portland. But I am not concerned with this anyhow.
We just got back from our second visit to Greenville. Ever since the last, in November of last year, I had been considering Greenville as number one in our list of possible retirement destinations, and have been following developments in the city religiously on this board and elsewhere. However after this second trip I have to say that now I'm not too sure.
As was the case last time, we thoroughly enjoyed our time downtown. We stayed at the Hampton Inn, which was lovely, dined downtown, and spent time just sitting in Falls Park, watching the ducks and admiring your Liberty Bridge, which I consider to be one of the most elegant accomplishments of civil engineering that I have ever seen. Everyone we interracted with was pleasant and gracious.
BUT, we spent some more time this time touring the rest of the city, and while we were not surprised by the extent of the urban sprawl---many native Greenville folks have ackowleged its existence here--we were suprised by the UGLINESS of it. There seemed to be miles and miles of streets 6 to 8 lanes wide, utterly hostile to pedestrians, with endless billboards, businesses with non-distinct, purely functional facades lacking any landscaping whatsoever, pawn shops, title loan places, check cashing shops, etc. It's almost as though someone had a meeting and asked for suggestions on how a commercial strip could be made maximally ugly, and then every suggestion submitted was accepted. I am sorry if I am offending anyone by this post. I know many of you are justifiably proud of your city and the efforts that have been made over the last twenty years to beautify your downtown. I've read your downtown master plan and the Greenville Forward Visions, and am totally impressed by the vision of the future that is encapsulated in those documents. But something should really be done about the commercial strips outside the downtown. Is the zoning now such that future development will have to meet stricter standards? Are there regulations as to maximum sign height and size? I always laugh when we visit Stowe, Vermont, where the local McDonalds looks like a colonial home, and most of the businesses have signs that are engraved in wood with gold leaf lettering. Surely this is not an entirely voluntary development. I think that if you had stricter regs on this point your commerical strips could be made to look more appealing.
A second disappointment on this trip was the lack of food stores within or in proximity to (I mean walking proxiumity) residential neighborhoods. Of all the neighborhoods we toured the Augusta road neighborhood seemed to us to be the one that would most closely meet our needs. We have a non-driving adult in the familly who'll need to walk to stores (and the bank, post office, etc.), and the Augusta Road area seemed to fit the bill in that regard---except for the one fact that it had no supermarket. I did see the Bi-Lo at the southern end of the neighborhood, but that entailed walking through a somwhat bedraggled looking area. Why no food store in the core of the commercial district with so many people in the area? I don't get it. A food store is usually the anchor in any conglomeration of local businesses.
I haven't made my mind up yet. I WANTED to be convinced that I should move to Greenville, but now I have second thoughts. We've got a couple of years until retirement so maybe some things will have changed by then. I'm going to continue to monitor developments and reserve my final decision until later. For all of you working hard to make your city an attractive place to work and live, congratulations on your accomplishments to date and good luck for the future. Don't let up. You've got something too good going to settle for anything less than a model city from one city line to the other.
We just got back from our second visit to Greenville. Ever since the last, in November of last year, I had been considering Greenville as number one in our list of possible retirement destinations, and have been following developments in the city religiously on this board and elsewhere. However after this second trip I have to say that now I'm not too sure.
As was the case last time, we thoroughly enjoyed our time downtown. We stayed at the Hampton Inn, which was lovely, dined downtown, and spent time just sitting in Falls Park, watching the ducks and admiring your Liberty Bridge, which I consider to be one of the most elegant accomplishments of civil engineering that I have ever seen. Everyone we interracted with was pleasant and gracious.
BUT, we spent some more time this time touring the rest of the city, and while we were not surprised by the extent of the urban sprawl---many native Greenville folks have ackowleged its existence here--we were suprised by the UGLINESS of it. There seemed to be miles and miles of streets 6 to 8 lanes wide, utterly hostile to pedestrians, with endless billboards, businesses with non-distinct, purely functional facades lacking any landscaping whatsoever, pawn shops, title loan places, check cashing shops, etc. It's almost as though someone had a meeting and asked for suggestions on how a commercial strip could be made maximally ugly, and then every suggestion submitted was accepted. I am sorry if I am offending anyone by this post. I know many of you are justifiably proud of your city and the efforts that have been made over the last twenty years to beautify your downtown. I've read your downtown master plan and the Greenville Forward Visions, and am totally impressed by the vision of the future that is encapsulated in those documents. But something should really be done about the commercial strips outside the downtown. Is the zoning now such that future development will have to meet stricter standards? Are there regulations as to maximum sign height and size? I always laugh when we visit Stowe, Vermont, where the local McDonalds looks like a colonial home, and most of the businesses have signs that are engraved in wood with gold leaf lettering. Surely this is not an entirely voluntary development. I think that if you had stricter regs on this point your commerical strips could be made to look more appealing.
A second disappointment on this trip was the lack of food stores within or in proximity to (I mean walking proxiumity) residential neighborhoods. Of all the neighborhoods we toured the Augusta road neighborhood seemed to us to be the one that would most closely meet our needs. We have a non-driving adult in the familly who'll need to walk to stores (and the bank, post office, etc.), and the Augusta Road area seemed to fit the bill in that regard---except for the one fact that it had no supermarket. I did see the Bi-Lo at the southern end of the neighborhood, but that entailed walking through a somwhat bedraggled looking area. Why no food store in the core of the commercial district with so many people in the area? I don't get it. A food store is usually the anchor in any conglomeration of local businesses.
I haven't made my mind up yet. I WANTED to be convinced that I should move to Greenville, but now I have second thoughts. We've got a couple of years until retirement so maybe some things will have changed by then. I'm going to continue to monitor developments and reserve my final decision until later. For all of you working hard to make your city an attractive place to work and live, congratulations on your accomplishments to date and good luck for the future. Don't let up. You've got something too good going to settle for anything less than a model city from one city line to the other.
As wonderful as Downtown is, Greenville is still in the South, which means it's auto-centric. That's just the way it is here. Without going into an extended history lesson, I've found the same in most towns & cities outside major urban centers.
The initiatives you mentioned are a start - and that's where we are as an overall city/metro area as far as being pedestrian-friendly outside Downtown is concerned. You can't change the basic structure of a city (or a society for that matter) overnight. It will take time, LOTS of money and buy-in from all affected parties to make these ideas come to fruition.
It is real to me and I love it here. No--I haven't been to a lot of places but if I had I would probably still live here. I can be most anywhere I want to be in 15-30 minutes. Folly Beach--3 to 3.5 hrs. depending on traffic. All the stores I need to shop in. Low taxes, fair insurance rates, plenty of activity for someone my age. Best of all--friendly people!!!!
Sadly, there's not much Greenville can do to stop billboards and check cashing places due to state laws. While I do think there are many improvements that still need to be made in Greenville infrastructure wise, the city and even county for that matter have made great improvements over the last 20-30 years to make this a better place to live. The improvements will continue even though it might take more time than we would like. Also, the city is about to enact a new sign ordinance that is fairly strict which should help in that department.
Sorry to stir things up! I was just bringing up the things that show up here on a regular basis. I guess I should have said that my first choice of a place to live is Greenville.
I don't know why so many people are bothered by churches, but it sure comes up a lot on here. They don't bother me; I attend every week, and sing in the choir.
All of the south east is hot and humid, compared to the rest of the country. Since the OP is from Atlanta, it should feel like home. Same goes for the bugs and critters. Sure, it's nowhere near as bad as FL, but if you flew in from, say, South Dakota, you'd find it pretty stuffy.
As for the politicians, 'wing-nut' is a euphemism for crazy. I know SC is different from FL and CA. SC seems to have a dis-proportionate number of politicos that make the national news. The governor goes missing? Then he's 'hiking'? Then it turns out he's having an affair? I'm conservative, but SC has some leaders that are so conservative it would be comical if it weren't real.
I love Greenville, warts and all. I've lived in a number of places, and no place is perfect, or even close to it. So- you find a place that comes the closest to what you want out of it, and if you're lucky, you get to live there.
All the new construction around Hampton Inn is Greenville's version of "Fantasyland", a small theme park that strangely enough, has no admission price (a well hidden one). It's all been done in the past few years. It was a pretty big construction zone until a few years ago. Yes, it is beautiful and fun to walk around. THIS IS NOT GREENVILLE. It is a place you can bring your friends and family from out of town and try to fool them into believing this is where you live.
You can't get Vermont or Cape Cod or whatever you are looking for on a Greenville budget. Greenville has a lot of things that don't make sense until you live here awhile and then they make sense. We are not a homogenous population. We are not all rich and not all poor. Many of us are law-abiding, but some of us are not above criminal things. So, we ride around in our 21st century armor (cars) and talk to each other via radio, billboards, and fill up the roads and have to build more. If you do not like this, please don't move here and be unhappy. Move to Boca.
Since the OP is from Atlanta, it should feel like home
Yes, and it seemed like how Atl was a long time ago. Now I can't make heads or tails of where this town is going. Schools are good, then you find out 80% don't speak english or the school cheated on results. Areas are great, then someone gets shot. Black ghetto/urban culture dominates the area. Greenville has sweet tea too, which can't be overlooked when searching for new locales.
As for politicians, well, every state has crazies. You may recall one from here, South Dekalb county, hit a police officer on Capitol Hill. Most of politicians eveywhere are morons and thats why they choose to be in office.
How is the Greenville Airport? I read it will be redesigned soon.
We are not a homogenous population. We are not all rich and not all poor. Many of us are law-abiding, but some of us are not above criminal things. So, we ride around in our 21st century armor (cars) and talk to each other via radio, billboards, and fill up the roads and have to build more.
That describes most cities in America.
Quote:
Originally Posted by xsdc32
How is the Greenville Airport? I read it will be redesigned soon.
Although there is an ambitious expansion/renovation being planned, the airport is a great facility as it is now. Easy in/out, it's modern (if a bit boring on the inside) and no-nonsense. All gates have jet bridges, and the airport's grounds look more like a state park than an airport. There are flight status and real-time maps showing aircraft enroute to or departed from GSP, and the airport provides free wi-fi.
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