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I think everyone agrees that Greenville has a nice downtown. But, seriously dude, your statement about Columbia is complete BS. I lived in upstate SC for most of my life. I am there at least a couple of times each month and I would move to Columbia in a minute if I had to leave Charlotte. While Charleston would be fun for a while, dealing with tourist and college aged kids living the beach "drinking" lifesytle would get old fast. The upstate would be nice but, I would miss the diversity (people, restaurants, activities, ease of travel etc...) that you find in Charlotte which is not present in the upstate. And, there is not a huge difference in Greenville, Columbia or Charleston economically, that is a myth that has not been supported by any long term (more than a quarter over quarter) economic analysis. All three have up and down blips but, long term stats do not vary greatly (but then again, I have been asked to apologize for using proper math analysis on this board, so what do I know) Besides, you are not comparing these cities with Atlanta or Charlotte which are completely different in 1,000 ways.
I did read the Greenville News article today, that would be a good topic for another thread. In my opinion, I think they are overreaching in congratulating the city. While downtown is definitely nice and it is good to see a newspaper play a cheerleader role instead of looking for problems (would love to see the Observer do more in this area), locating a business to the area is much more than standing on a bridge.
This is bad. You are assaulting his opinion. An opinion cannot be BS. You can disagree with it, but it cannot be BS. You have a valid point about economical similarities, especially in terms of employment rates (Charleston, Greenville, and Lexington are all at 6.8%.) However the Upstate is the most economically diverse region in the state. The Midlands are dependent on manufacturing and government, and the Lowcountry is dependent on tourism. The Upstate has that plus others. In regard to your thoughts of the Greenville News article, I have to disagree with you. Mainly because it explicitly said that there was more than just a bridge involved. And its not like the reporter pulled the anecdotes out of his/her ass, he/her spoke to those that relocated here, and what made them relocate. The common denominator was downtown.
Back to the subject on hand, OP, I am glad you enjoyed your visit, and everybody here appreciates your thoughts and comments.
However the Upstate is the most economically diverse region in the state. The Midlands are dependent on manufacturing and government, and the Lowcountry is dependent on tourism. The Upstate has that plus others.
While the Upstate economy may be slightly more diverse than the Midlands and Lowcountry (although I doubt it), you are clearly overlooking the significant presence of other industries in those cities. Financial, technology, medical, insurance, manufacturing, education, research, military, etc. — The list goes on.
This thread has turned into another opinion-based "city vs. city" argument and will likely end abruptly without resolution.
This is bad. You are assaulting his opinion. An opinion cannot be BS. You can disagree with it, but it cannot be BS. You have a valid point about economical similarities, especially in terms of employment rates (Charleston, Greenville, and Lexington are all at 6.8%.) However the Upstate is the most economically diverse region in the state. The Midlands are dependent on manufacturing and government, and the Lowcountry is dependent on tourism. The Upstate has that plus others. In regard to your thoughts of the Greenville News article, I have to disagree with you. Mainly because it explicitly said that there was more than just a bridge involved. And its not like the reporter pulled the anecdotes out of his/her ass, he/her spoke to those that relocated here, and what made them relocate. The common denominator was downtown.
Back to the subject on hand, OP, I am glad you enjoyed your visit, and everybody here appreciates your thoughts and comments.
I am not assaulting anyone or anyone's opinion, don't be so sensitive. I think it is BS that someone would write that there are only two places to live in SC and Columbia is a distant 3rd. I am not disputing that Greenville is nice but, only 2 nice places to live in SC????? No way.
As for economics, the midland's economy is based on higher education, military, state government, business services, research, manufacturing etc....All three regions have similarities in terms of economic diversity. Columbia, as expected, is a little higher with government but has also grown very fast in the private sector. The upstate is more manufacturing oriented than anything. The big driver for growth is BMW related, nothing wrong with that. Charleston's growth today is driven by Boeing's 6,000 positions.
Oh yea, the article, yes, the writer spoke to a couple of folks. Sorry, I guess education levels, cost of living, real estate costs, and other factors are second to a nice Main St. in site selection. Perhaps if Jim Rogers drives downtown he will move Duke's Headquarters down there from the just completed 50 story Duke Energy Center. Come on, that is silly. Like I said, I like to see newspapers write positive articles about cities. But, this one is more of a cheerleading exercise than anything. Did Certus move to One because of the Liberty Bridge??? No, it moved because of a nearby acquisition and the company leader is from Greenville. And, I am sure they got a good rate to anchor the One Project. But, if The Greenville News says so, I guess it is true. And, don't forget, Greenville is not the fastest growing part of SC.
Been here visiting for a few days. What a great place. Only thing close to it in SC is Charleston. Pretty well forget everything in between...including where I live, Columbia/Lexington.
Greenville is awesome.
I'm curious. I gather from your other posts that you've been in SC for some time now. How is it that you're only just now spending time in Greenville?
And while everyone has their preferences and I myself love a nice downtown which Greenville clearly has, there's a lot more that goes into picking a place to live so it's a bit hard to justify the "these two are the best, the other is a distant third" statement, especially based on just one brief, albeit pleasant, visit. Otherwise, Charleston would have, like, over 2 million people and Savannah would be king in Georgia instead of Atlanta.
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