Considering Moving to Greenvile

#1
I'm heavily considering some big-time life changes and one of those is moving to Greenville. I'd just go ahead and buy a house first off (well, maybe, my buddy who lives there is having huge problems with trying to find something). What neighorhoods or parts should I avoid? Anything to look out for in the area? Should I go north-north or south or ?

It would be cool-ish to be somewhat near downtown area, or at least be able to bike there. But overall I'm looking forward to having better access to outdoor activities. I'll be further away from wheeling, but between the 4Runner and possibly procuring a tow pig, I should be fine.

My old engineering firm has a number of job postings, so I figure I'll go back to that, work on my EIT, get my PE. Seems like if I live up on the north side, my commute would be 15 minutes...worse case. That is an improvement over the 1/1.5 hour I have now.
 
#2
You are going to get all sorts of opinions on which side of town to live on. A ton of people love Augusta Road but it is $$$ and honestly you couldn't pay me to live there. A lot of people love the TR area. We looked at moving out that way, but it was just to long of a commute for our jobs. In the end we stuck it out on Roper Mtn Rd. There is a ton of construction, but it has to end at some point right? The north side gets you closer to outdoors. Anything close to downtown is going to be expensive. Luckily Greenville is small so you could technically bike downtown from a lot of places. We are only 5 miles out, but the roads are pretty bad for riding.
 
#3
Yeah that is one nice thing about Atlanta, all of the roads are pretty much bike friendly. The few that aren't, have good alternatives a block or so away. I might just give up on road biking and concentrate only on mountain biking again. In that case, being closer to Clemson would be awesome as I could pop over to Isaqueena...just like back in the day.
 
#4
TR is getting nicer with the swamp rabbit getting more business...I'm in bottom of Simpsonville now but I work in Asheville.. I'd like to be in upper part of TR or Taylor's where I can get a good bit of land to build on and still be 20min from downtown

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#5
For mountain biking I would rather be out by TR. Swamp rabbit into downtown Greenville or TR. Plus you are a lot closer to Dupont which is 1000x better than Isaqueena. You could even bike to Paris Mtn and ride there. Plus you wouldn't be to bad off to jump weekend roadie rides up to Saluda. TR isn't bad if you work over there. We don't go very often because we both work in Mauldin and there just isn't enough in TR to draw us out there unless we are meeting friends.
 
#6
What kinda living/neighbors situation do you imagine? Budget?

Lots of nice areas, some not so nice. I would personally avoid living in anything between 85 and 385 from Verde going West. It just seems to suck with traffic in that area, and construction in the area in still continuing as clippa mentioned.

The Southern side of the Greenville area is easier to get around IMO.

TR is nice to visit on a Saturday. Personally I would not want to unless work was really close.

My FIL is an real estate agent, I am sure he would love to help you out if you like.
 
#7
Sounds like it might be a good idea to come rent for a year until you know some facts (like where you're going to work and what activities you're going to frequent) and have your own feel for what area of town might be best for you. It's true that traffic is better/worse in some areas, but it will all pale in comparison to what you've been dealing with.

Another consideration is whether you're looking for a "fixer-upper" or an updated house or a brand new house and whether you require much acreage. Your answer to those things will greatly limit your search.

FWIW, the neighborhood that Steven and I live in is super close to downtown, has no through-traffic, lots are typically 1/3 acre w/ good back yards, and is slowly seeing homes renovated. If you buy one of the 1950s ranch homes in our neighborhood that has had no major renovations you'll probably pay about $125 a sqft. If you let a house flipper buy it and renovate it then the same home will sell around $150 a sqft. On a 1500 sqft ranch that difference could be $37,500.

I know a bunch of real estate agents in town and could give you a short list of good ones. Just let me know if you want it.
 
#8
Thanks for the ballpark pricing. $125~150 sq. ft is about half of what I'm dealing with now. So being able to step into a real house seems quite doable. Currently in terms of neighborhoods, I'm pretty spoiled. Having bars, restaurants, and other amenities well within a mile of my house. But I'm ready to put some distance between me and the crowds. I guess I just want to get out of an area that is full of whiny people and stop living on top of each other. Currently in a townhouse and I'm done.

I'm on the fence on a fixer-upper vs. move in ready. I've always done move-in ready. If I did a fixer upper, then that pretty much kills any wheeling for a year as my time would go into the house. Another thought process I've had is to go with a house that was/could be a rental. Live there for a year while I figure it out, then transition that to a rental. Would definitely need help from a realtor.

Currently still putting resumes out so hopefully I can make something of that. Once I've got a plan, then I'll make the jump.
 
#9
I knew you'd get tired of ATL. I sure miss the food and culture of that place but that's it.

Gareth and I are neighbors and live between N pleasantburg and N main area. I love the location because I can get to downtown in 5 minutes or TR in 10 probably. I'm an easy ride to 385-85 which is my daily commute towards Spartanburg. Very easy to get around and don't deal with much traffic (the traffic in Greenville is laughable compared to what you deal with everyday in Atlanta) a lot of cool joints around for food and beer (piney mountain & community tap are my go too) and I feel the price of housing is reasonable compared to other parts. I also have a 20x30 garage and fenced in backyard which you can't find everywhere.

I would look for somewhere off East North st (overbrook area) or somewhere off or close to state park Rd from N pleasantburg. I looked in TR before I bought my house but every place was either a dump or way to far away. Lauren's rd close to downtown has some nice places as well but a lot of it is still up and coming and not necessarily the best area right now but will be in less then 5 years, I lived off Underwood dr and my neighborhood was a dump but several of my neighbors sold their 800sqft houses for $240k+


I don't care what anyone says but Greenville is not as bike friendly as they portray. There is barely any bike parking downtown and not a lot of bike lanes. Swamp rabbit trail is nice and I'm ready to see it expand more. You coming from Atlanta and the beltline though, it doesn't compare even close.


You'll enjoy Greenville though. It's big enough without being to big.


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#10
Steve,

Do you really like that area? I have been looking at some rental property over there. It seemed like a nice place to live. Not crazy impressive, but pretty solid and in the right price range for me to look at.

Greenville is anything but bike friendly. They claim it because they have the swamp rabbit trail, but it gets so busy you can't really bike it with any speed. Great for riding and drinking or taking the family out though. They just put in bike lanes by my place, but they don't lead anywhere yet so they are pretty much pointless.
 
#11
I do a lot. I lived in an apt in Taylors in 12-13 and then in a rental house off Laurens rd close to Cleveland park from 14-16. We bought our house in September and it checked off all of our wants. City limits, good schools, yard/garage, and the neighborhood feel to raise a family in.

I'm really close to a Lowe's and Home Depot that I don't have to battle people to get to (woodruff rd Lowe's sucks) a lot of choices for restaurants, and all your essentials are right around here, when I lived off Lauren's we'd go to woodruff rd a lot but rarely ever anymore. The area doesn't see near the traffic that wade Hampton, woodruff, or Haywood sees so it's way easier to get to where your going.


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#12
If you wanted to consider an investment area, you might give some thought to Conestee. Right now the area is very inexpensive, however the area has some potential and some developers are putting major money into it. The developers have made several attempts to purchase my property there, They are installing a brewery, some restaurants, tubing on the river. The Conestee park is also an attraction, as well as the swamp rabbit trail.


https://upstatebusinessjournal.com/news/redevelopment-plan-announced-conestee-mill/
 
#14
I did some interwebs searching. Conestee might be a good first move. Some reasonable properties there to start off with a rental. Then move later on. West Greenville might be what I'm looking for. Kirkwood is just two neighborhoods over from where I'm at currently...or buy like, 10 acres somewhere.

I sent out many emails this past weekend to about 8 head hunters and applied to a number of jobs. I'm a bit worried as my current situation doesn't allow me to manage the usual job-hunt activity I've used in the past. So no clue on how long it'll last. Kinda sucks since I've got ridic time off this year. Was hoping to do a few trips out west but might have to pocket those plans for later.
 
#15
Took Keegan to the greeville zoo which is at Cleveland park. That was a disaster yesterday afternoon. Not living in greenville, i'm not sure if every weekend it is that crazy busy or not but it wasn't enjoyable.
 
#16
It gets crazy this time of year with first few days of spring. That area is growing too and traffic is pretty congested at times. Knowing neighborhood roads helps you avoid a lot of traffic.


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#17
Took Keegan to the greeville zoo which is at Cleveland park. That was a disaster yesterday afternoon. Not living in greenville, i'm not sure if every weekend it is that crazy busy or not but it wasn't enjoyable.
We stopped by downtown greenville a few weekends ago, when it was nice. Crowded, but you could still park and no one was acting a fool. We found some taco spot, had a decent lunch. Wasn't elbow to @$$ and no one was being rude.

Unlike Atlanta...
 
#18
Steve said what I was going to say. I lived in 4 different areas of gville and the e. North area was my favorite. I did simpsonville, Mauldin, LAURENS rd, and e north.
 
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