Question About Greenville (Cleveland: real estate, high crime, homes) - Mississippi (MS) - City-Data Forum

bigboyz06 · 10-31-2013, 01:49 AM

I've seen quite a few comments painting Greenville in a negative light. My question is do you think the city will ever make a turn around and what do you think needs to be done in order for that to happen?

Mouldy Old Schmo · 10-31-2013, 09:20 AM

I highly doubt there will be any improvements in Greenville. There is no decent tax base. Industries have closed and there has been a "brain drain" for many years. The casinos primarily take money out of the pockets of poor folks.

Listener2307 · 10-31-2013, 09:34 AM

Yeah, we've talked about Greenville until we've about talked all the alternatives to death.

No, I don't think Greenville will ever come back. It has been passed up by time in the form of I-20 to the South, I-40 to the North, I-55 to the East, and the Mississippi River is no longer used as a major transportation corridor as far as Greenville is concerned.

Most people who could leave Greenville, did leave Greenville.

It's too bad, but it happens. There are shrinking and/or abandoned towns everywhere in America, and the rest of the world, too, for that matter. The people nowadays will join with their elected officials and shriek, "We gotta have some....", whatever. And they will get a little bit of what they ask for, too. More welfare, more programs, more studies.
But few new residents to replace those who have finally found a way out.

gvillesux · 10-31-2013, 10:09 AM

there is always a chance for turnaround, but honestly it equals about a snowball's chance in hell. There is simply not enough employable population left to bring in new industry, and the crime is horrible for a city this size. There are NO safe areas of Greenville, at least if you go to a major Metro area with similar crime stats you find there are large sections with little crime and smaller areas with extremely high crime to make the average. But Greenville has the same level of crime in every neighbor hood except a couple where the residents have gated access and 24 hour security patrols. Even those are not immune to crime, but at least there you are less likely to be a victim while in the neighborhood.

In order to turn Greenville around it would take removing 1/2-2/3 of the existing population and bringing in at least that many families that are willing to work. The school system is a joke, and private schools are expensive. My wife's annual salary is barely enough to pay to send our 2 kids to school and pay for their afterschool/summer care. If we could send them to a public school she would not even have to work, but that is not happening. We could move to another area, and should have years ago, but my family business holds us here. If things continue to slide down that won't be a factor in a few years, as it is now 95% of our business income is out of state so moving it would be fairly simple. The hardest part would be selling the property and our homes, real estate is just not moving quickly around here due to all the issues.

bigboyz06 · 10-31-2013, 01:52 PM

Wow, that's really unfortunate!

brickpatio · 10-31-2013, 06:03 PM

Maybe you should move to Cleveland, MS and commute to Greenville for work. Cleveland feels a lot safer, more charming, and has a university there. And they have doable public schools.

Listener2307 · 10-31-2013, 07:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by brickpatio

Maybe you should move to Cleveland, MS and commute to Greenville for work. Cleveland feels a lot safer, more charming, and has a university there. And they have doable public schools.

Now there's an idea!
In fact, if I had a job in Greenville and I didn't want to live in Greenville, I would use that brand new bridge and look at some of the small towns in Arkansas. I've been to several of them and they strike me as small, quiet towns - nothing out of the ordinary. They appeal to me, and maybe they will to someone else, too.

gvillesux · 10-31-2013, 08:43 PM

Cleveland is ok, but the commute gets old. I know, I drove it for a few years! If I move from here it will be completely out of the Delta since Cleveland will eventually go the way of all the others in the region. They have already started over the last several years and 10-15 years from now will be no better than Greenville except the immediate surroundings of DSU.

AR is not bad, but the schools are not much better so we would be stuck still paying for private school over here.

EarlVanDorn · 10-31-2013, 10:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bigboyz06

I've seen quite a few comments painting Greenville in a negative light. My question is do you think the city will ever make a turn around and what do you think needs to be done in order for that to happen?

I don't believe Greenville will ever turn around. The only hope is if an educational voucher system were in place. As it is, whites have no choice but to send their children to private school. It's expensive, and the quality is not as good as a good public school elsewhere.

bigboyz06 · 10-31-2013, 11:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by EarlVanDorn

I don't believe Greenville will ever turn around. The only hope is if an educational voucher system were in place. As it is, whites have no choice but to send their children to private school. It's expensive, and the quality is not as good as a good public school elsewhere.

What do you mean by the comment "whites have no choice but to send their children to private school"? If the school system is substandard then I'm sure people who can afford to would send their kids to private school regardless of what their race happens to be.