Up and Coming City

[walker]

I found this on REDDIT a few days ago.  It’s not about Grand Rapids per se but it covers many of our recurring topics:

Up and Coming City

[GVSUChris]

Oh yeah a friend sent me that the other day and damn it was good. Spot on. 

[GRDadof3]

On 3/27/2021 at 9:45 AM, walker said:

I found this on REDDIT a few days ago.  It’s not about Grand Rapids per se but it covers many of our recurring topics:

Up and Coming City

That is funny. That's Greenville SC which also was one of the few other popular sections on UrbanPlanet. Up and coming!

[Khorasaurus1]

Greenville seems like Grand Rapids, except...moreso. 

[Chester Cheeto]

I was just in Greenville about a month ago, it did have some strong GR vibes, or GR has some strong Greenville vibes, either way 

The wife and I flew into Asheville and travelled around the Carolinas, Greenville was probably our favorite stop, Asheville the least favorite.

[gvsusean]

4 hours ago, Khorasaurus1 said:

Greenville seems like Grand Rapids, except...moreso. 

Greenville is 1/2 the size of GR, but its got "more"? wow, may have to take a trip!

[Khorasaurus1]

50 minutes ago, gvsusean said:

Greenville is 1/2 the size of GR, but its got "more"? wow, may have to take a trip!

It's not that it has more stuff, it's like it has all the characteristics of GR, but heightened. Like, instead of Lake Michigan, it has mountains. Instead of rural West Michigan conservative types, it has rural South Carolina conservative types. Instead of "pretty impressive for the Rust Belt" growth and development, it has Sun Belt growth and development. 

It's why the video resonates, but no one has made a similar video about GR. 

[GR8scott]

On 3/30/2021 at 11:23 AM, gvsusean said:

Greenville is 1/2 the size of GR, but its got "more"? wow, may have to take a trip!

Funny video, I'm very familiar with Greenville and there are certainly many comparisions with trends here and other cities around the country ie. breweries, former factory lofts, gentrification etc.  Its a very nice city and impressive in many ways and at about 70k so about 1/3 the size of GR. I wouldn't necessarily say it has more than GR but for comparisons sake I would say it packs a punch for its size, there seems to be more retail national chain options not seen in GR in restaurants, hotels ect. The infrastructure is probably better at least nicer wider highways and airport is very spacious and easy access. Its very "green" with luscious landscaping along the highways and airport. The city itself has less of an urban feel but it does have very nice skyline and street presence for its size.  Its got a bigger arena with a bowl that goes all the way around, ok i'll stop with that...

PS Palmettos are not natural in that area but it is the Palmetto state and  just weather tolerant enough to see a few palms planted here and there, probably the only place on the east coast that you can see palms with mountains in the background. 

Edited March 31, 2021 by GR8scott
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[GRLaker]

I had always thought of Greenville as more Kalamazoo-like than Grand Rapids-like. 

[walker]

I guess the breweries didn't work out for them in Greenville after all:

People From "Up & Coming" Small Towns

[GR8scott]

14 hours ago, walker said:

I guess the breweries didn't work out for them in Greenville after all:

People From "Up & Coming" Small Towns

Lol must have been competitive, pre-pandemic business had Greenville ranked ahead of GR in breweries per capita, https://www.foodandwine.com/beer/craft-beer/cities-most-craft-breweries

 

[GRDadof3]

Interestingly Greenville city is only about 67,000 but it's metro is almost 1 million. I always thought of it as a Southern Ann Arbor. A lot of its developments looked like the new stuff in AA to me. 

[Pattmost20]

3 hours ago, GRDadof3 said:

Interestingly Greenville city is only about 67,000 but it's metro is almost 1 million. I always thought of it as a Southern Ann Arbor. A lot of its developments looked like the new stuff in AA to me. 

I would not have guessed their metro was that big. You learn something new everyday...

[RegalTDP]

1 hour ago, Pattmost20 said:

I would not have guessed their metro was that big. You learn something new everyday...

It's a bunch of interconnected small towns that add up to a lot of people in the region.  Their CSA includes Spartanburg and Clemson, and it's actually slightly larger than GR's CSA. 

Edited April 2, 2021 by RegalTDP

[walker]

This was so popular a year ago that now there's a sequel:

Up and Coming City - part 2

EDIT: here's another related video by the same people:

Renting Apartments in 2022

Edited June 27, 2022 by walker