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[Sirpopopop]

I got a new business opportunity recently that would take me from the Northeast to Greenville, SC. However, before I take the plunge into working there, I would like to know a little more about the area beyond what I've read on the internet, which is basically two different stories.

Story 1: Greenville is a growing city, with decent weather, hospitable business climate, and a nice, revived, vibrant downtown.

Story 2: Greenville is kooky Bob Jones University ass-backwards conservative-ville, which is dead after 8 p.m.


If Greenville is like the latter, then obviously, I won't be taking the plunge, since I'm a relatively light-skinned Indian guy. However, if Greenville is like the former, I will probably take the plunge.

So GAF - give me some information.

 

[TacticalFox88]

As long as you stay away from religious colleges, Greenville isn't that bad. It's a great place to retire if you know where to look for housing.

 

[EYEL1NER]

Eh, I've lived in SC since New Year's Eve '08 and I haven't been to Greenville yet. OR Myrtle Beach for that matter.
So I can't tell you much about it.

There's an Apple store there? I saw they had one when I needed to get my iPod Touch swapped out at a store (4th gen malfunctioning button problem). I ended up going to the store in Charleston.

You are gonna be a little ways out from some of the 'good' stuff in these parts. You will be closer to Nor Carolina than me though, and in Asheville, there is a place called The Orange Peel. They usually have a ton of big-name awesome metal, rock, hardcore, punk, just all kinds of music shows there.

There is some passable barbecue in the state. Nothing that is even remotely close to being as good as Kansas City bbq, but some of it is decent. But most places use that god-awful mustard-based sauce, so if you can choke that down, it won't be too bad.

Ummmmm....I don't know. I hate S. Carolina. The south is so different than anywhere I've ever lived and I can't say I like it at all. Service is bad where I live. Like, you hear about Southern Hospitality and stuff and you will meet some people than you think, 'Damn, that guy was nice as hell to me.' But if you go anywhere around Shaw AFB/Sumter to eat, shop, whatever, you will see some of the rudest fucking people ever.

Also, everyone here bitches about how bad people in South Carolina drive and while I have seen some bad drivers, the blame around my parts can't be placed entirely on them. Shaw AFB has thousands of people from all over the country here and apparently some of the worst drivers from around the country, so it's probably a lot of us poisoning roads off base. But if hate it when people don't use their turn signals for anything remotely requiring them to use one, get used to it, because there isn't a car in the state with functioning blinkers.

I could bitch about it all day, but there are some good things about S. Carolina though. Not many I can think of off the top of my head though.

EDIT: But after seeing you list number two up there in the OP, I can't speak for Greenville, but most of the places I've been to in the state besides Columbia are like that, in the 'there ain't shit to do, because it's late at night or Sunday.' There is nothing more frustrating than deciding you are hungering for a particular food and driving there to get it and seeing that they are closed on Sundays. Fuck Sundays. Gotta drive to base if you wanna buy booze, no where is open, Sunday drivers are out...
Columbia has USC and Clemson and stuff, so it's not too much like that. Five Points is a popular place right outside the college where the dudebros go. But it's got a bit of that to it as well. I've been some places in Columbia that shocked me that they were 'closed that early?!' or 'closed on Sunday?!' Even the Columbiana Mall was closed on Easter last year and it shocked me.

 

[Sirpopopop]

Based on my prior visits to SC, I really liked the Charleston area.

Based on the response I've seen here, it appears Greenville might not be like Charleston at all.

 

[SatelliteOfLove]

BJU has a compound mentality, it's not like some factory of killjoy polluting the environs.

Try The Handlebar. They book some GREAT music, and good food.

 

[cartoon_soldier]

I got a new business opportunity recently that would take me from the Northeast to Greenville, SC. However, before I take the plunge into working there, I would like to know a little more about the area beyond what I've read on the internet, which is basically two different stories.

Story 1: Greenville is a growing city, with decent weather, hospitable business climate, and a nice, revived, vibrant downtown.

Story 2: Greenville is kooky Bob Jones University ass-backwards conservative-ville, which is dead after 8 p.m.


If Greenville is like the latter, then obviously, I won't be taking the plunge, since I'm a relatively light-skinned Indian guy. However, if Greenville is like the former, I will probably take the plunge.

So GAF - give me some information.

I am from Charlotte, NC. I have a boss who lives in Greenville.

He once made a joke about "thank Obamacare" when some guy complained about his taxes on a paycheck. And from what I have heard, and having met a few people who went to BJU and yea they are very conservative.

In the end, you are moving to SC and that to a town with BJU. That place had a no interracial dating rule in place till the fucking 2000s. It's a conservative bastion and you will probably find a lot of ultra-conservatives too. That doesn't mean you won't be able to party past 8pm somewhere or find the non-right wing company.

Based on my prior visits to SC, I really liked the Charleston area.

Charleston is cool, but also since it is a big tourist attraction, very different than Greenville. But even in Charleston, as the tour guide explains the civil war stuff to you, one can almost hear how proud they were of the war they fought. But then, it has awesome places to eat.

 

[grumble]

You know, Story 1 and Story 2 can both be true.

I know very little about the southern US, but I've heard it's more Republican, religious, and has a worse civil rights history. Good golf. If you take the plunge, let us know how it goes.

 

[EYEL1NER]

Based on my prior visits to SC, I really liked the Charleston area.

Based on the response I've seen here, it appears Greenville might not be like Charleston at all.

Charleston is a nice place. Now, I wouldn't care to live there. I can't stand the roads in downtown Charleston or even the layout of the city. I prefer my big cities BIG. Charleston of course could not be built like, oh, New York or something, due to it's location. But it does have a nice feel to it. Some of the suburbs like Summerville are nice. My grandma really wants to come visit me so I can take her to Charleston.

But yeah, from the information I've gotten about Greenville, it's not gonna be too similar to Charleton.

 

[cartoon_soldier]

Good forum to read if you want some insight into the area:

http://www.city-data.com/forum/greenville-spartanburg-area/

 

[BertramCooper]

I went to Greenville while visiting one of my fraternity brothers who was at Clemson for grad school.

It was nice. It has a decent downtown area with some good restaurants and bars. It seemed very clean and safe as well.

That's about as detailed as I can get, though.

 

[Sheppard]

Eyeliner you are in the military right? Are you at Shaw AFB?

fake edit: Rock in Rio is the best Eyeliner.

 

[EYEL1NER]

Eyeliner you are in the military right? Are you at Shaw AFB?

fake edit: Rock in Rio is the best Eyeliner.

Yeah, I'm at Shaw.

And no live album will ever top a studio album, which is why Brave New World (from which I have taken my great avatar) is the best.

 

[Sirpopopop]

You know, Story 1 and Story 2 can both be true.

I know very little about the southern US, but I've heard it's more Republican, religious, and has a worse civil rights history. Good golf. If you take the plunge, let us know how it goes.

Yeah, you're right. Story 1+2 can both be true, if BJU's influence is confined to a compound area as Satellite claims.

However, BJU is the kind of university, where if both stories are accurate, but with the caveat that BJU casts a pall over the area, that changes the situation quite a bit.

I can handle living in conservative areas, that's fine, I've done it before, and have absolutely no problems doing so again. I can even handle dealing with some, "The South Will Rise," sentiments. I can also handle dealing with some racism, since it is something you will need to deal with, in any location in the world.

I do have issues with places like BJU that outlawed interracial dating until very recently.

If what Satellite says is correct, then I can handle the place no problem.

 

[Liu Kang Baking A Pie]

Greenville is the second best city in SC.

With that said, SC is a rotten shithole just like the rest of the south. The only place I would ever consider living in within the southeast is Asheville, NC, and that's only if I have to.

 

[Honey Bunches of Alex]

Good, laid back people, lower gas prices (meh), lower cost of living.

There's nothing wrong with the "religious colleges"...

 

[Wilsongt]

Greenville is the second best city in SC.

With that said, SC is a rotten shithole just like the rest of the south. The only place I would ever consider living in within the southeast is Asheville, NC, and that's only if I have to.

I live in SC and I agree with this statement completely.

Greenville is fine, Charleston and Myrtle Beach are fine. Columbia is iffy, but it puts you far too close to our ignorant governor, plus it's a college town due to USC being right there.

Greenville is such a central location, though, to Atlanta and Charlotte.

 

[Liu Kang Baking A Pie]

Good, laid back people

I'm white and I got racist bullshit from people who were obviously concerned that I didn't appear to be fully white. They're not laid back. They're happy being around people exactly like themselves and are waiting for an opportunity to hate.

Seriously, fuck the south.

 

[Honey Bunches of Alex]

I'm white and I got racist bullshit from people who were obviously concerned that I didn't appear to be fully white.

Seriously, fuck the south.

Yeah, I've got beaten up because I was white by black people once. Indeed, fuck the south.

*eyeroll*

Shit happens. They know not what they do.

 

[Liu Kang Baking A Pie]

Yeah, I've got beaten up because I was white by black people once. Indeed, fuck the south.

*eyeroll*

Whoosh? What are you talking about?

 

[Kodiak]

I met a girl in Yellowstone National Park during a summer job. We fell for each other and ended up dating all summer long. She had another semester of school to finish up in Indiana whereas I still had two years ahead of me at school in Georgia. So, for the semester while she finished up we did the long distance thing and it was really tough.

A few weeks before Christmas break one of her friends was going to drive down to greenville to see some friends who went to school there. My girlfriend had the bright idea to go with her and that I could drive up to meet her there, essentially half way to Indiana.

I got in to Greenville that first night and picked her up from her friend's friend's apartment, and we spent the weekend literally in the back of my car. Driving around, going to random stores and sneaking in to hotels for free food.

Looking back I can see there were already signs that pointed to how dysfunctional our relationship would be.

But yeah Greenville is kind of OK.