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That's so funny because one of our observations was that there wasn't any dog poop anywhere! So many don't clean up after their dog where we live now. It is a pet peeve of mine. I was so impressed to see so many dogs and no poop! I guess I just hit it on a good week.
Yes, maybe, or maybe you didn't go to the same places I do . Glad you were impressed!
what could we do about no. 1 and no. 3 on your list? ban smoking? deport smokers? forcibly import liberals and vegans? how do you know it is not a great atmosphere for liberals and vegans based on one brief visit.
i have never seen that many smokers here. most restaurants don't allow smoking and it is even banned in the downtown restaurants.
if you want a super liberal metro, Asheville isn't far from Greenville.
Good grief! I didn't suggest banning smokers or importing liberal vegans or changing anything for that matter. Sheesh! I was pointing out what we noticed in the time we were there. And yes, the restaurants ban smoking which we found meant a bunch of people standing on the sidewalks smoking. I never said it wasn't a great atmosphere for liberals and vegans but if you think it is a mecca for liberal leaning folks, you're dreaming. If I felt that would be a problem, I'd look elsewhere. For me it is a negative, but I don't think a perfect place exists.
I would go further on No. 3 and say it can be outright hostile towards liberals here.
My wife and I have had to deal with hostile work environments at more than one company, from ridicule to blatant racism towards our President, personal insults, etc. We've both had bosses rant about liberals and Obama during meetings, repeating fact-free internet-driven mythology along the way. Obama's coming for your guns and your gardens (yes, an employer spent 10 minutes of a meeting going on about how Obama, the president with an organic garden at the White House, is working to make home gardening illegal). Obama is creating his personal army in Texas, and won't step down after his 2nd term. Hillary kills people. etc.
A coworker told me to enjoy eternity in hell.
Another simply stopped all communication with me. He had asked me about Jesus, I told him I wasn't a believer, and that was literally the last time he spoke to me. Wouldn't even answer my internal phone calls. I'd have to leave a VM, and he would write a short, terse email response.
We had a brick thrown at our house during the '08 election (we had an Obama sign out front), and a Buddha vandalized on our front porch.
There's open mocking and fairly outrageous commentary at social events, too.
Two neighbors joked to us recently about how they run their Suburbans in their driveways all day to celebrate Earth Day, followed by a crazy rant about liberals creating global warming to make Al Gore wealthy, or something...
It's best to keep your mouth shut, and quietly find sanity among your friends and peers. That's my suggestion.
Or retire in Asheville, or Hendersonville.
And yes, we were shocked by the level of smoking, as well as obesity, when we first moved here.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Art123
Here's an ad I heard on the local radio recently. It's from a local pest management company and the ad is called 'Pests are Liberals':
It's good for business here to openly hate on liberals. Apparently.
Unfortunately, I live in a similar area now. I have stopped doing business with three different local companies this year because they couldn't manage to keep their views on politics and religion out of their business. As you said, we've just learned to keep our mouth shut. Thankfully, we have found a great group of like minded people. We are a small group, but we have developed some wonderful friendships and we don't have to keep our mouth shut when we are together!
Good grief! I didn't suggest banning smokers or importing liberal vegans or changing anything for that matter. Sheesh! I was pointing out what we noticed in the time we were there. And yes, the restaurants ban smoking which we found meant a bunch of people standing on the sidewalks smoking. I never said it wasn't a great atmosphere for liberals and vegans but if you think it is a mecca for liberal leaning folks, you're dreaming. If I felt that would be a problem, I'd look elsewhere. For me it is a negative, but I don't think a perfect place exists.
i never said Greenville is a liberal 'mecca'. in fact, I suggested that you consider Asheville, which is considered a liberal mecca. my point is there nothing we can do to change fact Greenville is more conservative / Republican. you mentioned it as though it is a problem for you. i think in terms of solving problems.
i've been int he upstate for 20 years and I rarely hear people talking about politics at work or elsewhere. it doesn't seem like a big issue. the main two things that I hear Democrats complain about are the roads, which I think are generally good or at least adequate, and taxes being too low, as they see it, especially the gas tax. the main road issue in m y view is the 385-85 interchange area and they've paved much of it and will be doing more, and are reconfiguring the interchange to add flyovers and other features to mitigate rush hour congestion. it is the second largest project in state history in terms of cost and i think it is a well thought out design.
in response to a post by another person, i've also never heard Republicans saying racist things in Greenville. it is the party of Lincoln and has a long history of being anti-racist, pushing and passing the civil rights legislation during Reconstruction and since then. Tim Scott is one of two GOP black senators in the country and this is despite the fact that GOP wins a small percentage of the black vote. We have a female Indian governor.
i've seen a person on this forum say Ben Carson is stupid , and he is a world renowned brain surgeon who successfully separated Siamese twins who were joined at the head, using a new technique that he devised. He made this insult in the same post in which he said GOP is racist. Probably the most hypocritical thing that I've seen in my life. i think the bigger issue in America today is false accusations of racism in an attempt to discredit political opponents. obviously there are some racists of every political ideology but I do not believe it accurate or fair to imply most Republicans in Greenville are racist.
Last edited by ClemVegas; 10-31-2016 at 01:01 PM..
When I first moved here, I was shocked at the attitudes at my then real estate office. Not as bad as what Art posts, but I had to keep my mouth shut about a lot of things. HOWEVER, since leaving that office and finding some great groups of like-minded people I have not had any issues. I do love it here, and I am mostly vegetarian (not vegan yet, but close) and farly liberal.
I'll preface by saying I am more middle of the road 20-something Republican who was born and raised in South Carolina, but I personally have never witnessed any type of blatant animosity towards vegans or liberals or non-religious folks (and most certainly would never do that myself).
Now granted its certainly not a liberal city by any stretch of the imagination, but seems like one where everyone can get along well regardless of views. Sure, you have jerks like what Art was saying but that is highly extreme and I would say not the norm around here.
With that same token, the one thing people here (and just in general) don't care for are newcomers who move here with wanting to change things or with an elitist attitude (ya'll certainly do not come across that way at all) but unfortunately some do so some people who may refer to instances of animosity could very well be in that boat of people but that would not be an accurate reflection on what you would experience here.
And the dog poop thing seems to be right. I have only seen it on occasion and I jog the trail regularly with my dog (always clean up after her) and typically see several people with bags in their hands so I guess it depends where you are on that front but overall if you're a dog lover, Greenville would certainly meet that criteria!
i never said Greenville is a liberal 'mecca'. in fact, I suggested that you consider Asheville, which is considered a liberal mecca. my point is there nothing we can do to change fact Greenville is more conservative / Republican. you mentioned it as though it is a problem for you. i think in terms of solving problems.
i've been int he upstate for 20 years and I rarely hear people talking about politics at work or elsewhere. it doesn't seem like a big issue. the main two things that I hear Democrats complain about are the roads, which I think are generally good or at least adequate, and taxes being too low, as they see it, especially the gas tax. the main road issue in m y view is the 385-85 interchange area and they've paved much of it and will be doing more, and are reconfiguring the interchange to add flyovers and other features to mitigate rush hour congestion. it is the second largest project in state history in terms of cost and i think it is a well thought out design.
in response to a post by another person, i've also never heard Republicans saying racist things in Greenville. it is the party of Lincoln and has a long history of being anti-racist, pushing and passing the civil rights legislation during Reconstruction and since then. Tim Scott is one of two GOP black senators in the country and this is despite the fact that GOP wins a small percentage of the black vote. We have a female Indian governor.
i've seen a person on this forum say Ben Carson is stupid , and he is a world renowned brain surgeon who successfully separated Siamese twins who were joined at the head, using a new technique that he devised. He made this insult in the same post in which he said GOP is racist. Probably the most hypocritical thing that I've seen in my life. i think the bigger issue in America today is false accusations of racism in an attempt to discredit political opponents. obviously there are some racists of every political ideology but I do not believe it accurate or fair to imply most Republicans in Greenville are racist.
Don't want to live in Asheville. Love it, but I prefer the weather of Greenville over Asheville. That's one of the things I love about Greenville; it is an easy drive to not only Asheville but so many other places we have been and loved, but don't necessarily want to live for one reason or another.
Not trying to change the politic climate of Greenville. For me, it is a negative. Others see it as a positive and some probably don't even notice. Someone upthread said there isn't enough music and the next person said there was plenty! Neither is wrong. They both have their opinions and see things from their own perspective based on their interests. No big deal, but it is something that I noticed in the short time we were there based on the lawn signs & bumper stickers, the people with the megaphone in Downtown (we have one of those loons in my city, too so I'm used to it) and the general knowledge that the south is less liberal. I'll survive.
I truly hope that the "most hypothetical thing you have ever seen in your life" is when someone called Ben Carson stupid. I've seen things far, far worse than that.
Personally, in the five nights we were in Greenville, we found every single person we encountered to be incredibly nice and friendly. Shop owners, restaurants, people in the neighborhood we were staying in, people out on the trail, everyone at the farmers market, the police, and the list goes on. We commented to one another so many times about how polite everyone ones. A huge plus in my mind.
I'll preface by saying I am more middle of the road 20-something Republican who was born and raised in South Carolina, but I personally have never witnessed any type of blatant animosity towards vegans or liberals or non-religious folks (and most certainly would never do that myself).
Now granted its certainly not a liberal city by any stretch of the imagination, but seems like one where everyone can get along well regardless of views. Sure, you have jerks like what Art was saying but that is highly extreme and I would say not the norm around here.
With that same token, the one thing people here (and just in general) don't care for are newcomers who move here with wanting to change things or with an elitist attitude (ya'll certainly do not come across that way at all) but unfortunately some do so some people who may refer to instances of animosity could very well be in that boat of people but that would not be an accurate reflection on what you would experience here.
And the dog poop thing seems to be right. I have only seen it on occasion and I jog the trail regularly with my dog (always clean up after her) and typically see several people with bags in their hands so I guess it depends where you are on that front but overall if you're a dog lover, Greenville would certainly meet that criteria!
Best of luck with your move!
Thanks! I don't expect to encounter any animosity towards vegans! lol The south in general is simply not known as being very into veganism. That's okay. I get that. There were definitely some things on the menus that we were able to find. Honestly, while we are vegan we are far more into eating healthy than anything so eating out isn't something we do often anyway. I would much rather prepare my own food so I am not even remotely worried about it from that aspect. However, as a general aside, it definitely isn't as vegan oriented as some places we have lived or visited.
Thanks! I don't expect to encounter any animosity towards vegans! lol The south in general is simply not known as being very into veganism. That's okay. I get that. There were definitely some things on the menus that we were able to find. Honestly, while we are vegan we are far more into eating healthy than anything so eating out isn't something we do often anyway. I would much rather prepare my own food so I am not even remotely worried about it from that aspect. However, as a general aside, it definitely isn't as vegan oriented as some places we have lived or visited.
Yeah I can't imagine why anyone would make a remark or be hostile towards someone for what they like to eat, and certainly have never witnessed that here.
Living a healthy and active lifestyle is something you certainly won't be alone in around here. The Swamp Rabbit Trail is one of the best trails in the country for cycling and running from what I understand and I think that has spurred many people around here to get into a healthy lifestyle, including their diets, etc.
The smoking you mentioned earlier is actually something I noticed as well when I moved here. Now I myself am a smoker (not proud of it but I am) and can say that most of what you probably saw in Greenville especially if this was on Main Street is due to people from the bars walking outside onto the sidewalks. None of the bars have an outdoor smoking area and even though many have outdoor patios and decks, all but one or two I can think of allow people to smoke there so essentially, the only place a smoker can go is onto the sidewalk so you'll likely see a good bit of people smoking around downtown because of that especially since most people like to smoke when they drink but I would not say it is an overall accepted habit around here. In fact, I try and hide it as much as I can and have cut back a good bit because of that.
They also do not allow smoking at any city sponsored events and festivals like Fall for Greenville, Artisphere, or even the First Friday events.
Don't want to live in Asheville. Love it, but I prefer the weather of Greenville over Asheville. That's one of the things I love about Greenville; it is an easy drive to not only Asheville but so many other places we have been and loved, but don't necessarily want to live for one reason or another.
Not trying to change the politic climate of Greenville. For me, it is a negative. Others see it as a positive and some probably don't even notice. Someone upthread said there isn't enough music and the next person said there was plenty! Neither is wrong. They both have their opinions and see things from their own perspective based on their interests. No big deal, but it is something that I noticed in the short time we were there based on the lawn signs & bumper stickers, the people with the megaphone in Downtown (we have one of those loons in my city, too so I'm used to it) and the general knowledge that the south is less liberal. I'll survive.
I truly hope that the "most hypothetical thing you have ever seen in your life" is when someone called Ben Carson stupid. I've seen things far, far worse than that.
Personally, in the five nights we were in Greenville, we found every single person we encountered to be incredibly nice and friendly. Shop owners, restaurants, people in the neighborhood we were staying in, people out on the trail, everyone at the farmers market, the police, and the list goes on. We commented to one another so many times about how polite everyone ones. A huge plus in my mind.
i note that somebody upthread complaind a commerical for pest control company on talk radio that said 'liberals are pests'. in my view, that's no big deal and in good fun. i can't see how something can be more hypocritical than calling GOP racist, but then calling a black retired brain surgeon stupid. this person was complaining about republicans being insulting but has no problem insulting people including a gentle mild mannered person like Carson.
i understand everybody has their perspective. i wouldn't recommend moving here if you want to be completely surrounded by liberals. i personally don't have a problem living somewhere where i am in a political minority but many people struggle with it. Greenville is the most populated county, MSA and CSA in the state of SC so it would be incredible if a person could not meet other liberal people here. every liberal that i know here loves living here.
i've never seen any republican / conservative people downtown with megaphone. generally if there is political activism down there, it is liberal / democrat people, such as BLM. they shut down roads a couple of months ago.
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. Glad you were impressed!
