Greenville-Spartanburg Commute Time (Wade Hampton, Greer, Woodruff: rent, neighborhoods, buy)

[cofc2003]

Does anyone know what the commute is like from the Augusta Road area of Greenville to the area around USC Upstate in Spartanburg? I know the mileage, but it's hard to tell what the traffic is normally like. For those of you who make this drive a lot, is it something I should try to avoid? We're considering our housing options and are debating on whether or not living in Greenville and working in Spartanburg would be too difficult.

[Made_it_To_the_Metroplex]

I'd say 30-40ish min, but I-85 can either be an efficient conduit of heavy traffic through the Upstate, or it can be a nightmare - sort of a Jekyll & Hyde. It's really a crapshoot during morning & evening rush hours. If traffic is stopped for an accident, it can back up for miles pretty quickly. Hwy 29 (Wade Hampton Blvd) is the only real alternative, and has many traffic lights. Reidville Rd gets you into Spartanburg, but not near USC Upstate. I may be a bit off on that last part, but others can jump in with better info, as I don't make the drive during work/school days.

[drfranklin]

I live off S. Pleasantburg - I commuted to downtown Spartanburg (via I-85) for more than a year - my commute time was always 40-45 minutes (leaving at 6:50 am and arriving almost always at 7:30am), with normal flowing I-85 traffic. Of course, any wrecks/breakdowns will increase the commute time.

I do not recommend taking Wade-Hampton - as UB said, it has dozens and dozens of traffic lights and not one is synced. Additionally, 29 has got to be one of the worst aesthetically appealing roads in this area (I've never seen so many ugly strip centers and billboards).

As for housing, I'd much rather live near downtown Greenville than Spartanburg - my opinion only - this topic has been discussed numerous times in other threads. On the other hand, life's too short and I hate long commutes - fortunately, my commute is much shorter now .

[cofc2003]

Thank you. It's a tough call. We'd definitely rather live near downtown Greenville, but I'm sure the extra mileage would add up quickly. We'll probably rent for the first six months to a year in Greenville and get a feel for the drive. If it's too long, we'll buy closer to Spartanburg.

[FitMom77]

If you decide against downtown Greenville, you should definitely check out the 29650 area of Greer, particularly around Batesville Rd and Gibb Shoals Rd. My husband commutes out of Charlotte, and it works great for us. Neighborhoods are nice, schools are great. We have easy access to 85 via Hwy 14 or Pelham Rd, and we can be downtown in 15 minutes, Pelham Rd. in 5 minutes, or Woodruff Rd. in 10 minutes. Personally, its my favorite area of Greenville. From those exits, it's 25-30 minutes to downtown Spartanburg.

We did move to Spartanburg for just over 2 years to be closer to Charlotte, but we moved back this past January because we just did not like that area at all. We decided that his extra 30 minute drive a couple of times of month was WELL worth it to be back in Greenville.

[cofc2003]

Thanks. Other than the drive, our other concern about Greenville is the schools. We're also considering Greer since it seems like the schools out there are a little better than those in Greenville.