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Please tell me everything you know about Greenwood! My husband and I are wanting to move our family (4 boys!) to a nice small town in S. Carolina. I keep coming back to Greewood bc of the size, the hospital, and the lake..plus the cost of living seems pretty good. We currently live in a town in southern Illinois with about 13,000 people. We have a couple of major eateries (Cracker Barrell, Friday's, Ruby Tuesdays) and two major dept stores (Kohls and JC Penneys), and that is it, so any town that has more than that is big to us! We are not concerned with night life or being entertained all the time. We are mostly interested in outdoorsy stuff and being somewhere with minimal congestion!
Hi Ash Rose.
I'm a native and live in Greenwood currently. The town is nice enough and the people are great but there are some significant things you should consider when you make your scounting trip here.
Greenwood is 1 hour from Greenville and 45 minutes from the closest interstate about any way you cut it. That drive time to get anywhere becomes a pain over time.
We don't have a Kohl's or any nice department store. We have JC Pennys and Belk and even our Belk doesn't have many things a standard Belk store carries. I went in over Christmas and, like always, they told me to go to Anderson (about 45 minutes away) to that Belk store. We don't even have a target and our Kmart is pitiful. I say all of that to say that the shopping here is woefully lacking. It isn't a big deal for me because I'm not a huge shopper but with 4 boys, that might become an issue.
Greenwood's unemployment rate is probably at the 15% mark now. I'm not sure if you are bringing your job with you (telecommuting) but if you move anywhere in SC you had better have work lined up. We were third in the nation in unemployment back in oct/nov. Unfortunately the job prospects for our little town are not particularly good as I have not heard of any new industry planning to locate here. The last jobs added at Fugi photo film paid around $7.50 per hour, as did the jobs at Sykes call center. The premier employers in town are Self Regional Hospital, Eaton and Capsugel. You can check their websites to see if there are any openings posted.
We have a nice State Park facility and nice lake...although it is narrow and shallow. The Mountains are about 2 1/2 hours away, Charlotte and Atlanta are both about 2 1/2 hours away and Charleston is about 3 1/2 hours away so our positioning is pretty good. The climate is good. The cost of living is OK, although our sales tax is 9%, which is beyond ridiculous considering that we still pay property taxes and state income taxes here. THe property taxes for Greenwood just went up as well. I'd strongly suggest you look for a house located outside of the city limits to help manage your tax burden.
The positive points are this is a great place to raise kids.....it is a very family oriented area. To me it seems pretty safe.....although the drug crimes seem to be more prevalent now. But I think that is in most places.
I'd encourage you to look at the suburbs of Greenville - Simpsonville and Traveler's Rest especially. The Upstate is a BEAUTIFUL area and I'm not discouraging you from our area but just come down and drive around some different areas to get a feel for what might be the best fit for your family. Anderson might be another option for you to consider.....they have lake Hartwell over there, which is beautiful!
Thank you so very much for your breakdown of the town and area! The things you said about the shopping do make a difference, do you not even have a WalMart? I will def need a WalMart..haha..one stop shopping. So, in your opinion, what is so nice about Traveler's Rest? I really like the look of further upstate, but the city of Greenville was making me a bit nervous. Is it really congested with traffic and people? We lived in San Diego for about 3 years when my husband was in the Marine Corps, and it was horrible and gave me major anxiety bc of the sheer number of people! It was very overwhelming! I think I could handle a smaller city, but we def don't want to live IN the city. Also, my husband will be working as a RN, and he will def line up work before we even think of moving. He will probably go out before us and live and work there for awhile. We do plan on driving down sometime this summer to check out the towns for ourselves, but it's so exciting doing research and trying to figure out the best place! I will look more into Traveler's Rest, Simpsonville, and Anderson!
Greenwood does have a very highly recognized hospital (Self) for it's size. But if your research into SC is going to include a job search then you'd have much more options in the Upstate (which it seems you like the look of so far) with several larger medical systems each with multiple hospitals.
Greenwood is a nice small city but as has been said--it's kind of far from stuff and the amenities you'd find in the larger metros. There is no Interestate running through Greenwood. Another thing is that you won't have as many people from the Northeast or Midwest moving in to a place like Greenwood as you would the Greenville-Spartanburg metro--that's something I know a lot of transplants like to consider.
I'm not sure if you're looking to live in an area with a newer suburban feel or if you are looking for a more remote small town rural setting--you can get either one in the Upstate area and still be close to major shopping, nice malls, family entertainment, dining, etc.
Oh, and if you do find Greenville and its main suburbs like Greer and Simpsonville to be too congested ("congested" means different things to different people, I guess) then you might want to do what other people do and look at Spartanburg, Pickens and Anderson counties.
Personally I'd add Spartanburg to your list because it's close to Greenville but less congested and has all the stuff you mentioned you are looking for.
My husband loves the moutnains and areas like that, so the upstate is looking beautiful! Since we are from such a small town anything more than our noon traffic is congested to me..haha. We are very small town people, so I am def going for that kind of feel. My husband and boys love the outdoors and really enjoy more of a rural feel. I have been checking out further north and there are just so many options it's overwehlming! Greenville is a very big city to me...the closest big city to us has has about 67,000, and I can barely get around the place. Also, the closest airport is 2 hours away...we are in the middle of nowhere, but it would be nice to be a bit better positioned and closer to those extra amenitites that we only lived near when we were in San Diego. There is absolutely nothing in our town or close to it! I looked at the pics of downtown Greenville, and it is absolutely beautiful! So, are there any northern towns that have mountain views? What about the Easley area, is it nice?
My husband loves the moutnains and areas like that
We are very small town people, so I am def going for that kind of feel. My husband and boys love the outdoors and really enjoy more of a rural feel.
So, are there any northern towns that have mountain views?
If you take a look at a South Carolina map, you'll see U.S. Highway 29 that connects Greenville and Spartanburg. Many areas I can think of that are north of that highway seem to resemble your description above. This includes Travelers Rest and the less congested areas of Greer in Greenville County and places like Inman and Landrum in Spartanburg County. Landrum is a quaint and small mountain town on the NC border.
Quote:
Originally Posted by ash~rose
What about the Easley area, is it nice?
You could post this in the Greenville-Spartanburg subforum and probably get some responses. From what I know the Easley/Powdersville areas are really growing as suburbs of Greenville.
I've lived in greenwood for 13 yrs and my wife and I can't wait to move back to my hometown of greenville sc. The ONLY thing to do in Greenwood is eat out and go to Walmart. There's absolutely nothing to do if you don't go to bars(which have to close at 2am in the county) the civic center is run down and closed, the state park is decent but usually overcrowded. Also people here brag about the low crime rate,but were statistically higher than bigger cities like greenville or columbia. I prefer and recommend Greenville SC. The traffic isn't "that" bad and there's TONS OF THINGS TO DO. Cost of living is virtually the same,as I've lived in both areas. The houses are nicer in greenville. If you move to greenwood ,id have a good job lined up and if its a factory job,don't expect it to last long because most of them are closing down or are for sale
I'm sorry. Gotta ask a quick question. Where are you people working in this town. There are no jobs. This is the least health conscious community I have ever lived in. The most Gossipy and judgemental group of people on the planet. Its a time warp. Ignorance and close-mindedness abounds. People go there to retire and die. Restaurants are EVERYWHERE and by looking at the waist lines of people in the local Wal-Mart and the number of people in their cardiac dept in hospital its apparent. Thats GWD in a nutshell.
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