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My family is taking serious consideration relocating to either the Greenville, SC or Chattanooga, TN area. I will also post my questions in the Chattanooga forum as well. We currently reside in IL We plan to visit both areas in December after xmas. We have vacationed in Brevard/Asheville, NC area and know it pretty well.
We are an active outdoor couple in our early 40’s with kids 8 and 10. We are avid cyclists; both road and mountain biking, hiking, running, exploring, camping, etc. Obviously, this is why we are drawn to the mountains. I am in healthcare and can get a good job most anywhere. My wife is currently a tenured English professor and has less job opportunities but we are looking.
A) We don’t want to be in the middle of a city but would prefer VERY quick access to wooded trails, etc. for quick after-work exercise and fun. I would love to jump on the bike from the house and have a great trail or road ride in HILLY terrain with the ability to take off into the mountains on the weekends.
B) With kids, we want decent public schools and safety where our growing kids can have stuff do and hang out with neighborhood friends after school. As they grow into teens we want to make sure they have an exciting area to grow in. We don’t want to be too rural for this reason.
C) We just need a basic 3/2 house around 200k or so.
How about Travelers Rest? I see Paris Mountain is right there. Is it to rural? Is the terrain rolling with good mountain views in TR or do you need to travel further north for that?
My wife sees some opportunities at Clemson U. but it seems a bit far from Greenville and we don’t know anything about the area in/around Clemson. Is it too rural and flat?
What else is around there that might work for us?
Thanks for your insight and I look forward to your responses. I would love to hear how you active people get your fix on a daily basis there.
You can see the mountains from Traveler's Rest, and from other various places in the Greenville including as far out as Fairview Road in Simpsonville. You will be closer to them in TR than other parts of Greenville metro.
Clemson is not flat and a beautiful area with a nice lake right next to campus and two other clear water lakes near campus. You can see the mountains from various points in Clemson.
Clemson has a huge research forest that has numerous mountain biking trails. Paris Mountain in Greenville has mountain biking trails.
For Greenville, you could look at the TR neighborhoods near Furman University. That's not that far from downtown Greenville, and there is some big box type stores in the Cherrydale shopping center. You could also look at neighborhoods along State Park Road and Stallings Road like the Pebble Creek golf course neighborhoods. there are right at the base of Paris Mountain.
I like the area of Greenville near Pelham Road and Haywood. You are not far from Paris Mountain here, there are views of the Blue Ridge as you drive around, the mall and the major shopping road, Woodruff Road, is nearby, and not far from downtown.
Downtown Greenville has the Swamp Rabbit trail, which follows the path of a former railroad track, and people bike it from downtown up to Traveler's Rest, and there are restaurants in TR near the trailhead.
Re: being close to trails - Half Mile Lake community on State Park Rd. There's a good stretch of road riding from your house to a dirt trail on Paris Mountain though, not all with a decent shoulder. And in winter, Paris Mountain State Park is normally open past 6PM on only 1 day / week.
In Clemson: the Clemson Experimental Forest has lots of great dirt trails.
@ Simpsonvilllian:
Thanks for the info. Will definitely check out Clemson area when there. Not sure about the Haywood/Pelham Rd. area, might be a bit congested but will check it out also. The SRT is great for sure but I probably wouldn't want to do much serious road biking on it due to joggers, walkers, dogs, etc. We are certainly going to jump on it though when we come.
@bikeoid
Thank you. The area on the map you suggest seams to be called "Willow Heights" yes? Looks like it is at the south base of Paris Mountain which could be great. Not sure how much there would be for kids to do right in the area though...looks like sparse collections of roads off of 253 from the map view. Will definitely check it out when there.
@bikeoid
Thank you. The area on the map you suggest seams to be called "Willow Heights" yes?
The Half Mile Lake community I was thinking of is close to here . It is a decent sized community - not sure how it compares kid wise, but should be good for families.
Clemson might be smaller than what you are looking for but it would be great in all other aspects. There isn't a ton of shopping but there is enough to meet your day to day needs and the mall in Anderson or Greenville won't be far away. The schools in Clemson are very good. Clemson is mostly rolling hills as they peter out from the mountains to the north; it's a pretty area. There are places to ride in Fant's Grove but the more serious mountain biking trails are at Isaqueena. There is a hospital in Seneca and a larger one in Anderson. Clemson is the obvious university but there are smaller schools in that area (Southern Weslyan in Central and Anderson in Anderson).
The area kind of south of Paris Mountain that people are talking about (Half Mile Lake, etc.) would also be good. Like Clemson, it's mostly rolling hills in that area. It is rural but pretty close to a lot of shopping at Cherrydale. Schools in Greenville County vary a bit in quality so make sure you keep school assignment in mind when looking for a house (there are lots of great schools in Greenville County, though). That would give you access to the trails in Paris Mountain (they can be crowded at times). Greenville has several hospitals, but they are all either part of Greenville Health (GHS) or Saint Francis Bon Secours. Greenville has Furman and Greenville Tech along with some smaller schools.
Either of these will give you access to tons of outdoor opportunities in the upstate (what we call this part of SC) and Western NC. A bunch of land has been purchased for conservation in SC in recent years. Most of it is sitting undeveloped but covered with old logging roads that are closed and make good hiking and biking trails. Most of the Jocassee land owned by the state sees little use but has some great trails. The Nine Times Forest area has rock climbing, hiking, mountain biking, and more all within an hour of Greenville. DuPont state forest in southern NC is more developed and has some fantastic mountain biking relatively close to Greenville and/or Clemson. Western NC is full of outdoor opportunities. It would be hard to bike and/or hike all the trails within 2 hours of Greenville in a lifetime.
House prices in this area are relatively low so you can buy a really nice home for 200K pretty easily.
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>We are avid cyclists; both road and mountain biking, hiking, running, exploring, camping, etc.
>We don’t want to be in the middle of a city but would prefer VERY quick access to wooded trails, etc. for quick after-work exercise and fun. I would love to jump on the bike from the house and have a great trail or road ride in HILLY terrain with the ability to take off into the mountains on the weekends.
>With kids, we want decent public schools and safety where our growing kids can have stuff do and hang out with neighborhood friends after school. As they grow into teens we want to make sure they have an exciting area to grow in. We don’t want to be too rural for this reason.
>We just need a basic 3/2 house around 200k or so.
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Travelers Rest (TR, as we call it) seems to be PERFECT for you guys. It's out of the hustle and bustle of Greenville (avoid Woodruff, Haywood, Pelham roads and their traffic). It's growing for sure but still has the unique small-town feel. Some neighborhoods are directly on the Swamp Rabbit trail. I know that may not fit your biking style perfectly but it's a beautiful trail. I think it's about an 8 mile bike ride to downtown Greenville - perfect for summer nights. You could get home from work, hit the trail, and enjoy nights at the lake on Furman campus (they have summer outdoor concert series there with orchestras and chorales) or go all the way to downtown for ice cream, music, shopping, etc.
TR is also right on Highway 25, which is a direct shot up into Hendersonville, Asheville, Brevard, etc. So you're about an hour from unlimited camping, mountain biking, hiking options. Another 30 minutes or so and you're on the Blue Ridge Parkway.
Half Mile like, as others have mentioned, is a fantastic family-oriented neighborhood and is very close to Paris Mountain State Park. I have family that lives there and their HOA does a bunch of family activities - Halloween, Easter, Christmas, etc. etc. It's an extremely HILLY neighborhood but there are no bike trails directly connected to the subdivision.
if you live in the part of TR around Furman University where most of the newer housing is in TR, that is not really away from the hustle and bustle. There is a lot of traffic on Poinsett Highway and North Pleasantburg. There isn't that much traffic on Haywood and Pelham most of the time.
if you are wanting to be in rural area, then consider the Blue Ridge Plantation area, Tigerville area.
While the TR area sounds right up your alley, I wouldn't recommend it because of the schools. Everyone I know that lives up that way sends their kids to private school.
I know many who do it, but I would also not want the Greenville - Clemson commute....unless a 30-45 min drive with little traffic sounds nice. (Back in the day I found it not so bad to get ready for the day/decompress from the day, but current family duties have taken over and I need a short commute.)
While the TR area sounds right up your alley, I wouldn't recommend it because of the schools.
The TR schools are kind of average. I think that's why the area East of Cherrydale (like Half Mile Lake) is a better recommendation. Most of that area is zoned for Wade Hampton High School, which is excellent.
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We plan to visit both areas in December after xmas. We have vacationed in Brevard/Asheville, NC area and know it pretty well.
