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We're currently in Raleigh, NC and are thinking about moving in the next two years because we'd like to get out of the big city to raise our children. It would be nice for them to have a yard to run around in, and we're also hoping to move somewhere a bit more conservate. Is Greer/Greenville, SC a family friendly area? Are there publics parks and playgrounds? Is it homeschool friendly (are there any co-ops)? I read that the air quality is poor and the water quality just ok, but when I went to stateoftheair.org, the air quality report was good. Was just wondering which was accurate because of asthma. What is the weather like? We were hoping it wasn't too much colder than Raleigh (maybe even a little warmer). Lastly, is it tough to be an outsider? I grew up in a small town, and it was initially difficult for my family to fit in since we weren't originally from there.
Hello and welcome! The entire Greenville area and city of Greer specifically are family-friendly. Greer is between Greenville & Spartanburg and straddles the county line (if memory serves). It has everything from a quaint downtown with restaurants to strip malls along Wade Hampton Blvd (US Hwy 29) and many types of residential housing. I don't know how many parks Greer has, but they just built/opened a large nice new city park adjacent to downtown a year or two ago
I'm not sure if Greer is on the Greenville Water system or not, but that system was recently ranked as having among the best-tasting city water in the country. Air quality concerns in this area relate mainly to ozone levels during very hot weather. There are occasionally alerts issued during the summer for certain at-risk groups to limit outdoor activity on those days.
Otherwise, the climate is a true 4-season one with beautiful, long-lasting falls & springs and stunningly crystal-clear winter days in between storm systems. I don't think there's much difference in the climate regarding temperature regimes between Upstate SC and the Raleigh/Durham area.
I'll leave it to others more knowledgeable to comment on the home-schooling environment in Greer or this area as a whole. Good luck!
Thank you UpstateBooster; I really appreciate all the helpful info! I just looked at some of the photos of Greenville, SC and they look beautiful. Looks like housing is slightly cheaper thand Raleigh too from doing a quick search.
We moved to Simpsonville a few months ago and are thinking of moving to Greer when our lease is up. We like the mountain views in some Greer neighborhoods and the proximity to Greenville. We like Greer's town but hope it continues to grow as it seemed many buildings and storefronts were empty. The entire Greenville area seems friendly and family-oriented. People are definitely willing to accept "outsiders". There seem to be a high population of people who have moved here from other places. I have heard this area is bad for people with allergies, but I am not affected by them.
Thank you TJ28 - I appreciate your perspective! My asthma is mostly exercise induced, but I'm not a runner, so hopefully I'll be fine working out indoors. We have a ton of empty store fronts around where we live in Raleigh actually. Seems like they build them faster than they could ever hope to fill them. Some have been empty for years now.
I'm not sure if Greer is on the Greenville Water system or not, but that system was recently ranked as having among the best-tasting city water in the country. Air quality concerns in this area relate mainly to ozone levels during very hot weather. There are occasionally alerts issued during the summer for certain at-risk groups to limit outdoor activity on those days.
Funny you should say that. My little brother (who's 10 and from Spartanburg) and I were eating at Saffron and he exclaimed that he liked the taste of the water. An interesting thing for a kid to observe.
Sadly, Greer proper is served by the Greer CPW and water quality is nothing to write home about. Other than that, I can definitely recommend Greer. I live three blocks from downtown (and the city park) in a historic neighborhood. There are some empty storefronts but they bely the fact that there are seven restaurants, a coffee shop, and several boutiques. I love being able to walk downtown and I run a lot as well. You have pretty much every major grocery store within five to ten minute drive (depending on traffic), lots of chain restaurants (if you're interested in that sort of thing) and shopping (there's a Target...plus a Wal-Mart Neighborhood Market that is about to open).
I don't know much about homeschooling in the area but this link might help:
I hear the public schools in Greer are really good though, as long as you are on the Riverside High School side, which most of the newer subdivisions feed into. There is a good assortment of charter schools in Greenville.
In short--we love it in Greer and our biggest concern is not being able to find a bigger house to rent in our current neighborhood! We do hope to buy in the near future though.
Last edited by oldhousejunkie; 01-08-2013 at 07:38 AM..
While Greenville ranked high for the taste of it's water, I'd advise people to have their tap water tested. You can buy a water-testing kit and do it yourselves.
We've tested our tap water twice, and both times (spring and summer) the results for pesticides were off the chart, literally. The pesticide strip was darker than the scale you compare it too. It was deep in the "danger, do not drink" zone.
So we don't drink it.
This area is also consistently ranked as having poor air quality. Unlike NC, SC has no vehicle emission standards, or other burn regulations.
You can drive whatever piece of junk you want, even if it leaves a visible cloud behind everywhere you go.
You can burn whatever you want, whenever you want it, especially in the outlying areas like Greer. I've driven by burn pile after burn pile of thick black smoke when you leave the city of Greenville.
...In short--we love it in Greer and our biggest concern is not being able to find a bigger house to rent in our current neighborhood! We do hope to buy in the near future though.
Thank you for all of the helpful info oldhousejunkie, and thanks for the homeschool link too! I found several local co-ops online yesterday that look great. Here's hoping we'll be able to make the move in the next two years.
While Greenville ranked high for the taste of it's water, I'd advise people to have their tap water tested. You can buy a water-testing kit and do it yourselves.
We've tested our tap water twice, and both times (spring and summer) the results for pesticides were off the chart, literally. The pesticide strip was darker than the scale you compare it too. It was deep in the "danger, do not drink" zone.
So we don't drink it.
This area is also consistently ranked as having poor air quality. Unlike NC, SC has no vehicle emission standards, or other burn regulations.
You can drive whatever piece of junk you want, even if it leaves a visible cloud behind everywhere you go.
You can burn whatever you want, whenever you want it, especially in the outlying areas like Greer. I've driven by burn pile after burn pile of thick black smoke when you leave the city of Greenville.
Thank you for letting me know all of this Art123. I looked up the 2011 water reports for Greenville and Greer, and Greer's lead levels were quite high (it was 11 - the max contaminent level is 15) so I think we may try to find a home on the Greenville water system. As for the pesticides, is there a filter we could attach to the kitchen sink to reduce them?
What you're saying about the air agrees with some reports I looked at this morning. For Greenville most of the levels were fine, except for Nitrogen Dioxide and PM2.5 which were the two items in the AQI that were above the national average. Which makes sense since a major source of both NO2 and PM2.5 is motor vehicle emissions. I wonder if SC will eventually require some sort of standards compliance?
I wonder if SC will eventually require some sort of standards compliance?
Good gosh I hope so. I've lived/visited most places in the South - (and with the exception of Alabama) South Carolina has some of the junkiest, most smoke-billowing cars on the road. It's amazing - once you cross the NC state line, the cars (and roads - ha!) seem much cleaner/newer.
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We have a ton of empty store fronts around where we live in Raleigh actually. Seems like they build them faster than they could ever hope to fill them. Some have been empty for years now.
Other than that, I can definitely recommend Greer. I live three blocks from downtown (and the city park) in a historic neighborhood. There are some empty storefronts but they bely the fact that there are seven restaurants, a coffee shop, and several boutiques. I love being able to walk downtown and I run a lot as well. You have pretty much every major grocery store within five to ten minute drive (depending on traffic), lots of chain restaurants (if you're interested in that sort of thing) and shopping (there's a Target...plus a Wal-Mart Neighborhood Market that is about to open). 
