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My daughter is considering Wofford for college (we are from the midwest), and I was wondering what the area around Wofford and the downtown was like. We have visited briefly and then only during the daytime. Would it be "safe" for a female student to walk to downtown? How about doing this at night with another female?
Do students tend to stay on campus most of the time, or do they venture into other areas of Spartanburg more than occasionally?
First, Wofford is a terrific school, recently ranked the #1 school (all schools) in SC.......great academics. The campus setting is incredible. The area around the college has improved greatly over the years as Wofford and the hospital have effectively bought out the neighborhoods that separated the institutions. It is a short walk to downtown which has a village type setting.....small restaurants, shops etc.... It is a small downtown, nice and walkable. Would I walk there at night from Wofford.......it is roughly a mile so, I would not recommend that in most cities. But, is it safe for female students, yes.
During the week, most students stay around campus as the school is almost all a residential campus. There are short trips out to places like Willy Taco, Westgate, downtown or Hillcrest for restaurants, grocery stores or other items. When on campus, it is very secluded and the local community does not come onto campus which helps with the safety aspect. On the weekends, students may take trips to the mountains an hour away, downtown Greenville, Charlotte, or to the beach. They also visit the larger schools like Clemson and Carolina.
Again, Wofford is a terrific school. The administration and professors go to great lengths to make the Wofford experience challenging and unique. There is no grade inflation at Wofford, you simply get what you earn. I Would recommend this school to anyone.
How is Wofford "ranked the #1 school (all schools) in SC" when Furman has always and continues to be rated higher than Wofford among the category of liberal arts colleges which both Wofford and Furman are in? Hmmmm......
How is Wofford "ranked the #1 school (all schools) in SC" ...
There are about as many college ranking lists as there are colleges, and most of them end up with different schools at the top of the list. Earlier this year, Forbes Magazine put out their list, based on ROI-related measures such as 4-year graduation rates, tuition costs, graduate success rates, etc. Overall, it's the type of rating system you'd expect from a top-notch financial magazine, avoiding most of the touchy-feely stuff that shows up in most ranking systems. Wofford was the top SC university in their rankings, followed by Furman. I'm not a grad of either, don't really care, but the ranking appears better-done than most. <Forbes Rankings>
Back to the OP's question... I grew up in Spartanburg and return frequently to visit family. It's a neat little downtown area that has made progress in the past few years. I would feel comfortable with my daughter walking around downtown at nite as part of a small group (more than 2 females) of students. In no way, however, would I recommend that one or two females walk from Wofford to the downtown area at night. I think Spartanburg is a relatively safe place if good judgment is used. IMO, doing that would be poor judgment. I may be wrong, but I feel sure Wofford's administration and security would tell you the same thing. Wofford is an excellent university, there's just a lot of dark corners between the campus and the downtown area. Just one dad's $0.02 worth...
Last edited by PawleysDude; 11-02-2014 at 08:50 PM..
I have not set foot onto Wofford College's campus. Judging by looks from North Church Street, it is nice.
Take caution if you are around Northside, Howard Street and west toward Saxon. It has not been safe around these areas for some time. The Northside area is undergoing a revitalization project.
Spartanburg's downtown is very nice. It has a great variety of local restaurants and retail. For necessities like groceries, you will need to travel out of downtown several miles to the nearest supermarket. There are independent pharmacies downtown, and major chain pharmacies, like supermarkets, are miles away.
How is Wofford "ranked the #1 school (all schools) in SC" when Furman has always and continues to be rated higher than Wofford among the category of liberal arts colleges which both Wofford and Furman are in? Hmmmm......
Forbes. Keep in mind magazine rankings of colleges are worth as much as you want to read into them For some, you will see headlines proclaiming "we are a top...........fill in the blank". Some schools manage to these rankings which is kind of funny.
But, Wofford is a great school as is Furman.
Spartanburg is a nice town but as others suggest, I would not walk from Wofford to the central part of Downtown. There are buffers around the college between any bad neighborhood and Wofford so I would not worry too much.
I have not set foot onto Wofford College's campus. Judging by looks from North Church Street, it is nice.
Take caution if you are around Northside, Howard Street and west toward Saxon. It has not been safe around these areas for some time. The Northside area is undergoing a revitalization project.
Spartanburg's downtown is very nice. It has a great variety of local restaurants and retail. For necessities like groceries, you will need to travel out of downtown several miles to the nearest supermarket. There are independent pharmacies downtown, and major chain pharmacies, like supermarkets, are miles away.
Keep in mind that the Wofford campus extends over to Pine Street. There's both a CVS and Food Lion a few hundred feet from campus on that side.
CVS #4174, located at 87 Garner Road, Spartanburg, South Carolina 29303-3175; and Rite Aid #11595, located at 786 North Pine Street, Spartanburg, South Carolina 29303-3173, are the immediate chain drug stores.
Food Lion #2661, located at 95 Garner Road, Spartanburg, South Carolina 29303-3175, would be the closest supermarket, and the only in its present community. Anything like Bi-Lo, Ingle's, Publix or Walmart would be a drive.
As a Spartanburg native and a female, I would not walk downtown from Wofford. It's a long, disconnected walk with a lot of empty parking lots. Maybe during the day it would be OK, but not at night unless it was with a group of guys and girls. On the other side of Church Street from Wofford is the Northside. While the city and related organizations are working to stabilize the area, it is still rough with a demographic that relies solely on their feet for transportation. Nothing wrong with that, but if said demographic is of the rough element and they come upon a single female or two, well... I'll let you figure it out. When my hubby was a city cop (2005-2008), the Northside was his playground and he never wanted for calls, that's for certain. There is a decently high murder rate in Spartanburg (for a city of its size) and its centered in this area, along with what's left of the projects around the Beacon. But assuming your daughter has no reason to be in these areas, she should be safe. I will say that it seems that crime is on the decrease though.
Spartanburg touts itself as College Town due to the number of colleges/schools in the area. Wofford is a good school though it has a certain element of privileged schmucks attending it. Spartanburg is coming up ever so slowly and certainly has a cooler vibe than what I grew up with. But at the end of the day, I couldn't imagine coming from the midwest just to attend school there unless Wofford has some specific program that she is interested in and cannot get at other schools. College, in my opinion, is what you make it. I attended the College of Charleston, which in the early 2000s had the unfortunate reputation of being a party school. Fortunately that is not the case anymore. I didn't enjoy my first year there but I eventually got used to it. I attended for a specific major that was only taught at ten schools nationwide when I attended, so party school or no, that was my in state option. Paying out of state tuition was not an option for my family, even with help from scholarships.
Good luck to her.
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