Greenville Off-Topic

[goodbye]

This is both off-topic, and definitely related to Greenville.

This post is intended for GREENVILLE area residents only. All others, please refrain from entering this discussion, unless you have something positive to contribute.

The question: "From your personal experience, do you perceive any hint of a common prejudice against Greenville by people living in other parts of the state?"

If you answer yes; what would you say is the reason for this? If you answer no; what would you say to those who are obviously prejudiced? A basic follow-up question: "What can we as residents of Greenville do to improve our relationship with the rest of the state as a whole?"

The discussion is now officially open.

[Greenville]

As a Greenville native and current Charleston resident, I have heard nothing but positive things about Greenville from others. Some people here, perhaps those who aren't originally from SC, might not be very familiar with it aside from hearing about it. But people from here are familiar with it, and most have visited. Of those who have visited, they are very impressed. People usually talk about how great downtown is, and others have mentioned how quickly the area is growing.

[linkerjpatrick]

No, but I have seen the opposite in that "Old time Greenvillians" tend to be very suspecious of the hugh influx f outsiders. This mainly has to do with the old greenville culture that is being lost to a more national and international influence. Ironically enough a lot of the older Greenvillians were textile mill workers or the children of textile mill workers (a lot of people in my family fit into this demographic). It's ironic because most of these people moved in to Greenville from other rural areas like the Piedmont (geographic area between the foothills and sandhills), N.E. Georgia, etc.

In the mid - twentieth century Greenville started to attract a lot more outsiders through the colleges of Furman and Bob Jones. I'm amazed at all the Michigan transplants that came to live and set up business in Greenville after attending Bob Jones or even being the parents of Bob Jones students. Say what you will about the school they did have a serious economic impact on Greenville when they moved here.

Later on we started to get more national and international businesses. i.e. Michelin, Hitachi, BMW, Lockheed, Flur (which aquired the local Danial company). The Interstates and Airport have helped make us more of nexus. Yet they are still quite a few old timers left. My grandmother used to give her sister the hardest time because she lived on the eastside while she lived on the westside.

Anyway from my experience I have heard more of a preduce against "eastsiders" which are typically not natives.

[GvilleSC]

At Clemson, there is no prejudice of Greenville that I have found, only love for the city. I've met all kind of people from Charleston, Florence, Dillon, Columbia, Lexington, Hilton Head, Pawley's Island, Spartanburg, Anderson, Greenwood, etc and all of the girls say: "oh you're from greenville? I absolutely LOVE greenville's downtown and shopping." The guys say something along the lines of: "It has a really nice and fun downtown". A few have even gone as far to say that they'd like to live in Greenville after graduation.

I've only experience prejudices on online forums- where things can be taken the wrong way very easily as a tone or intention can be unclear. It never leads to anything pretty.

To improve the relationships with other parts of the state is a tricky question. Each region is out for itself at the state government level-- they must fight for various funds for everything. It all kind of begins right there in Columbia at the State House, I'd say. As for the tourism issue, the 'if you're not the coast, you don't exist' mentality has created some resentment among various regions. Tourism looks to be changing though, but we'll just see how it ends up playing out. As a result, I don't want to throw ideas out just yet, but would rather see some more discussion to help me decide how I best think relationships in the state could be improved.

[g-man430]

People at Tri-County Technical College are always saying how they wished they lived in Greenville instead of Pendleton, Anderson, etc. So, I would say no to this question.

[g-man430]

I've only experience prejudices on online forums- where things can be taken the wrong way very easily as a tone or intention can be unclear. It never leads to anything pretty.

I'm not sure why, but I thought that was funny.

[krazeeboi]

Firstly, I don't consider what happens on here, or any other online forum, to be representative of what the average South Carolinian thinks about any other regions of the state. At most, I would say that apart from college students attending school in another part of the state, someone well-traveled statewide, being familiar with some other area (through family, friends, etc.), and of course us UP geeks, most people tend to keep within their own cities/metro areas and don't really have any strong opinions about other regions.

[whitehourseview]

I haven't experienced or known of any real prejuidice against Greenvillians. What I have heard and seen is lots of ignorance of the Upstate in general and Greenville in particular from folks in the rest of the state.

Geographically, it is important to remember how small the Greenville area is compared to the rest of the state.

Folks in the Pee Dee, Midlands, Savannah River district, Lowcountry, etc., I think know little about Greenville as a whole. They might hear about schools like Furman or Bob Jones, or be aware of economic growth, etc., but that's about it.

I think I said on another thread that Greenville has more in common with other places on the I-85 corridor even down towards Atlanta or up towards Charlotte, even northward, than it does with the rest of South Carolina.

Lots of places in South Carolina revolve around what happens in Columbia, even culturally. I would think that Greenville is really out of the Columbia orbit and influence, and as a result is out of the conversation with the rest of the state.

[krazeeboi]

Folks in the Pee Dee, Midlands, Savannah River district, Lowcountry, etc., I think know little about Greenville as a whole. They might hear about schools like Furman or Bob Jones, or be aware of economic growth, etc., but that's about it.

I agree. Before coming to this forum, I knew much more about Charleston and Columbia than the Upstate.

Lots of places in South Carolina revolve around what happens in Columbia, even culturally. I would think that Greenville is really out of the Columbia orbit and influence, and as a result is out of the conversation with the rest of the state.

Charleston definitely has its own sphere of influence, and I would say Myrtle Beach does to an extent as well. But at the same time, the Upstate does seem to be somewhat isolated from the rest of the state.

[linkerjpatrick]

I think I said on another thread that Greenville has more in common with other places on the I-85 corridor even down towards Atlanta or up towards Charlotte, even northward, than it does with the rest of South Carolina.

Lots of places in South Carolina revolve around what happens in Columbia, even culturally. I would think that Greenville is really out of the Columbia orbit and influence, and as a result is out of the conversation with the rest of the state.

when I have traveled to other parts of the State (mainly from the sandhills to the coast) it feel like a different state or even a different country. The culture between the upstate and the "lower part of the state" as people in SC like to say is so radically differernt in so many ways, the soil, the dialects, the water (low country water smells and tastes funny to me). if I watch SCETV it feels really weird because when they show Statehouse Week or that Gardening Show or some of the other program it doesn't feel like where I come from. On the other hand I can watch North Carolina Public TV (usually channel 33 around here via broadcast signal anyway) it feel a lot more like home to me. In a lot of cases it would seem like Greenville is a part of North Carolina instead of South Carolina.

[crescentmoon]

Is this inquiry about the city of Greenville or Greenville County? The two are really very different things. Yes I do think there is prejudice towards Greenville City. And I don't think you have to go far outside the city limits to find it.

I find it interesting that much that has been mentioned by posters in their answers regarding "Greenville" is actually outside the City --- and in some cases isn't even within the county. It seems that some of us apparently consider a lot of the Upstate as "Greenville."

[GvilleSC]

Is this inquiry about the city of Greenville or Greenville County? The two are really very different things. Yes I do think there is prejudice towards Greenville City. And I don't think you have to go far outside the city limits to find it.

I find it interesting that much that has been mentioned by posters in their answers regarding "Greenville" is actually outside the City --- and in some cases isn't even within the county. It seems that some of us apparently consider a lot of the Upstate as "Greenville."

I believe I'm correct in saying that this question is discussing the Greenville Metro.

Also, just because an area is outside of the city limits doesn't remove it from Greenville. It's still in the Greater Greenville area and the metropolitan area. Mauldin, Simpsonville, Greer, Travelers Rest, Easley, Fountain Inn, and Powdersville are all considered Greenville really. BMW is a part of Greenville's range of influence and it's not far fetched to say that it's "a part of Greenville". Yes, even in Spartanburg County.

Some people who live in suburbs that have somewhat of an identity like to think they're on their own, but would be little more than a one horse town without Greenville's influence and overflowing growth.

Edited January 12, 2007 by GvilleSC

[linkerjpatrick]

They are several "Greenville's" to consider.

Downtown Greenville (what happened to uptown?),

Greenville Metro - All of Greenville County plus surround towns and developments bordering in neighboring counties that touch and have a lot of commuter to Greenville like Fountain Inn, Piedmont, Powdersville, Dacusville (if you can find it), Easley, Pickens, Greer, Woodruff, Inman, Campabello, Duncan, etc.

Greenville County (I'm County Greenvillian myself),

Old Greenville - This would include the westend, and western downtown, Augusta Road, the mill villages, "city view", Sans Sousi, West Greenville, etc.

New Greenville - Eastern downtown, the Eastside (basically E. North Street/Haywood Road, Pelham Road, Woodruff Road and parts of Taylors

[gs3]

I haven't experienced or known of any real prejuidice against Greenvillians. What I have heard and seen is lots of ignorance of the Upstate in general and Greenville in particular from folks in the rest of the state.

Geographically, it is important to remember how small the Greenville area is compared to the rest of the state.

Folks in the Pee Dee, Midlands, Savannah River district, Lowcountry, etc., I think know little about Greenville as a whole. They might hear about schools like Furman or Bob Jones, or be aware of economic growth, etc., but that's about it.

I think I said on another thread that Greenville has more in common with other places on the I-85 corridor even down towards Atlanta or up towards Charlotte, even northward, than it does with the rest of South Carolina.

Lots of places in South Carolina revolve around what happens in Columbia, even culturally. I would think that Greenville is really out of the Columbia orbit and influence, and as a result is out of the conversation with the rest of the state.

I agree with this. As an out of stater that has been in Greenville around 4 years, myself and many of my friends have much tighter bonds with Charlotte, Atlanta and Asheville/NC mountains than the rest of South Carolina.

During the week with work I'm in Atlanta and Charlotte often and on the weekends I play in the mountains, both SC and NC. My company is based in SC but has very little internal SC business. I think people that work for many companies in the Greenville area can say the same.

I have gotten to know Myrtle Beach and Charleston fairly well as they are tourist destinations, and therefore have gone on many weekend trips.

When a city is so close to other states (about 50 miles via 85 to either GA or NC, or 20 miles due north to NC) I think that has a real impact on how it relates internally to the rest of its home state.

[gs3]

Anybody seen Skyliner online lately?

Missing his imput and his photos lately.

[g-man430]

Anybody seen Skyliner online lately?

Missing his imput and his photos lately.

He was on here yesterday. I'm not sure if he posted anything or not. You might have seen the story in today's Greenville News about the new BMW X6 that will be produced at the plant here beginning in 2008. Here are some pics of what it will look like: http://www.carmagazine.co.uk/secret_new_ca...d=52&page=1

Edited January 16, 2007 by g-man430

[g-man430]

Here is the article on the BMW X6 production plans: http://greenvilleonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/...2/1003/BUSINESS

[gs3]

He was on here yesterday. I'm not sure if he posted anything or not. You might have seen the story in today's Greenville News about the new BMW X6 that will be produced at the plant here beginning in 2008. Here are some pics of what it will look like: http://www.carmagazine.co.uk/secret_new_ca...d=52&page=1

Beautiful vehicle! Thanks g-man.

I'm looking forward to seeing the camouflaged vehicle on the streets around here, the way we saw the camouflaged new version of the X-5.

Glad to know Skyliner is around. He must be busy.

[g-man430]

Speaking of people missing, where has NYTransplant been?

[RestedTraveler]

Speaking of people missing, where has NYTransplant been?

Not sure. I sent him an UP e-mail the other day with a question about something, but haven't received any response yet.

[Greenviller]

What is the area known as the "Pee Dee?"

[GvilleSC]

What is the area known as the "Pee Dee?"

It's basically the area surrounding Florence. The region between Columbia and the Grand Strand (Myrtle Beach). See the image on this link.

[wellen]

Dear Monkey Overlords of urbanplanet.org,

I like the new additions. Very cool!

Your work did not go un-noticed and is much appreciated.

[RestedTraveler]

Dear Monkey Overlords of urbanplanet.org,

I like the new additions. Very cool!

Your work did not go un-noticed and is much appreciated.

Amen to that! Be sure to post your feedback over here, too. The upgrades (that I've noticed so far) are very nice. I especially love how it now resizes photos down to fit on your display and gives you a way to enlarge them if you want to see them at full size. That's nice.

Testing quick edit.

Edited January 17, 2007 by RestedTraveler

[g-man430]

The quick editing is NOT working.

Edited January 17, 2007 by g-man430