Greenville-Surrounding areas?? (Cleveland, Lake: apartment, rentals, house)

[MKWife]

I have a friend who's husband is being stationed in Greenville,MS. (They are looking for surrounding areas)

From what we have read Greenville doesn't seem to be the best area for a family.
They would prefer not to have such a long commute.They have 2 small children so any info on schools would be great as well as safe places to live.

Can anyone send me in the right directions for home rentals(Message me),they would need a 3 bedroom and need to rent a house and not an apartment.
Info info at all that you could give would be great!
Thanks.

[mississippimagnolia]

They are going to have to put their kids in private school. There really is no other option in Greenville. When we moved to Greenville, people told us we would have to put the kids in private school. I just assumed they were being snobby. I was wrong. You simply cannot send your kids to public school anywhere in the Delta.

The good news is that there are some decent private schools in the area. My kids went to St. Josephs. The elementary school is Our Lady Of Lourdes: Welcome (http://lourdes.greenville.ms.us/Site/Welcome.html - broken link) The High School is St. Josephs: St. Joseph's Catholic School - Middle School and High School College Preparatory Education - Greenville, SC It's a good school. It's not an all Catholic student body by any stretch of the imagination. I think something like 40% of the kids are non-Catholics.

We had lots of friends who sent their kids to Washington School. website It has a good reputation. However, we were told by several people that it was so good because "other than a couple of athletes, it is all white". I didn't want my kids in a school like that. We are a white family. But we have always valued diversity. My kids were raised all over the world. That kind of environment just wouldn't have worked for us.

As far as rentals...your friends will have to be very careful about where they rent. They should definitely go to Greenville and drive around. Greenville has a reputation of being dangerous. But honestly, I didn't feel unsafe. However, there are certainly parts of town that should be avoided.

[gvillesux]

they will have their choice of higher rent locations in a few subdivisions, low rent but shabby homes in the county, or living across the bridge. Lake Village is only a 15-20 minute commute, and a MUCH nicer location than inside Washington County.

[oldenfatt]

You also might consider living in Cleveland and commuting to Greenville. Cleveland has its fair share of problems, but its a gem compared to Greenville.