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How does the outside view Greenville?


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^Hey, I wouldn't be opposed to that, since it would show that ol' "backwards, backwoods South Carolina" actually has a 1M+ metro. :thumbsup:

But after thinking about it a little more, I realized that for some reason, people tend to think that every city within a state is the same. I remember talking to a guy who had just moved to Charlotte from NYC, and I asked him what he thought about Charlotte. He says so far he likes it and that it went beyond his expectations, because he based his perception of Charlotte on a trip to/through Fayetteville/Eastern NC on I-95. I wanted to say, "Well that was stupid," but I just grinned. :D

I hope people don't do the same for our state, because I-95 doesn't represent us well AT ALL. :(

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That is interesting, krazee. I have always found it funny how some people in the northeast lump SC and NC into one "Carolina." One doctor of mine from MA asked me several times when I was going back to "Carolina." Ha ha.

I also hope that nobody judges us based on I-95! I have only been on a brief stretch of it one time, and it does NOT represent us well at all! How would a New Yorker like it if someone who had never visited Manhatten judged it based on suburban New Jersey? My guess is not a whole lot, as the two places are very different!

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Greenville city leaders feel the need to explain themselves to potential businesses they are trying to recruit. I have no doubt that those companies do their research. The average visitor probably doesn't, and I bet Greenville leaders feel no such obligation to explain our misleadingly small city population to them. Can you imagine a "Welcome to Greenville" sign on the interstate, with a "We are really a 1 million + metro, not merely a city of 60,000!" at the bottom? :lol:

Or ... perhaps a series of billboards as you enter Greenville County on I-85 from either the North or the South with something like the following:

"Did you know ... that Greenville County's Population is 401,174 (2004 Census Estimate)?"

"Did you know ... that Downtown Greenville won the 2003 Great American Main Street Award mainstaw.jpg?"

"Did you know ... that Greenville has a beautiful new Downtown Ballpark (insert great picture of West End Field here)?"

"Did you know ... that something spectacular is just one exit away (insert great photo of Liberty Bridge and the Upper Falls Here)?"

....

Then, right before CU-ICAR ...

"Did you know ... that South Carolina and Clemson Univeristy have a center for Automotive Research? Well, LOOK TO YOUR <LEFT | RIGHT>!"

etc.

We're missing an opportunity along I-85 to market ourselves to millions of passers by every week.

If the I-85/I-385 interchange were turned into something really awesome, that'd get people's attention, too, and may change how some of those passers-by view Greenville.

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Or ... perhaps a series of billboards as you enter Greenville County on I-85 from either the North or the South with something like the following:

"Did you know ... that Greenville County's Population is 401,174 (2004 Census Estimate)?"

"Did you know ... that Downtown Greenville won the 2003 Great American Main Street Award mainstaw.jpg?"

"Did you know ... that Greenville has a beautiful new Downtown Ballpark (insert great picture of West End Field here)?"

"Did you know ... that something spectacular is just one exit away (insert great photo of Liberty Bridge and the Upper Falls Here)?"

....

Then, right before CU-ICAR ...

"Did you know ... that South Carolina and Clemson Univeristy have a center for Automotive Research? Well, LOOK TO YOUR <LEFT | RIGHT>!"

etc.

We're missing an opportunity along I-85 to market ourselves to millions of passers by every week.

If the I-85/I-385 interchange were turned into something really awesome, that'd get people's attention, too, and may change how some of those passers-by view Greenville.

I LIKE THIS A LOT!

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I have to agree with Krazeeboi on this one. Even though I agree that most people don't think too much about population figures or bother looking them up, people often ask "how big is it" when refering to cities. And what they usually want to know is the population of the city, not the UA or MSA or anything else. And I still think that when someone passing through looks on the SC map, it would be better for Greenville it the city area and even size of the name better reflected its true size. When you look at our cities on a map, it is not too impressive, especially Greenville, as the yellow shaded city limits are very small, and the name of the city isn't too big since it is based solely on municipal population figures. On a map, greenville and rock hill probably do not look too much different.

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Oh yes, the name thing really bugs me out! There is a political map here on campus (Winthrop) in the Life Sciences building of the world, and cities I know that are of comparable size to, or even smaller than, our major cities are capitalized, emboldened, or of a bigger font than ours. That burns me up.

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Trying to look for a silver lining...

One of the benefits of having misleading population numbers is that it helps insure that businesses that do locate here are the ones who know what they are doing. Of course, with the advantages of internet and GIS, most companies nowadays know what they are doing. But sadly, even some people in the stat industry often look at municipal population numbers as a reliable stat.

This is especially true with those viewing the market from the western states, where annexation laws are more city-friendly. As a counterpoint, the use of MSAs in some parts of the west are not really appropriate, as they are based off of county lines, and counties tend to be much larger out west.

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Trying to look for a silver lining...

One of the benefits of having misleading population numbers is that it helps insure that businesses that do locate here are the ones who know what they are doing. Of course, with the advantages of internet and GIS, most companies nowadays know what they are doing.

Excellent point! And case in point, the announcement yesterday that Gary Player is moving himself AND his company here. People know quality of life and in this day and age, I think QOL edges out stats.

Companies are chomping at the bit to locate in a high QOL area, as this gives them an additional card to play to their employees as a "benefit" without actually having to fund the benefit. But, I'm off subject, as this wasn't about companies, it was about average citizens....a girlfriend I believe. So back on subject.

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Hey! I didn't mean to ruffle any feathers by my remark. But if I did. I am sorry. I think that all of our places here, from the smallest towns to our major cities, have a role to play. And have their advantages in their geographical locals. Like GSP being Between Charlotte and Atl, a perfect place for business. Columbia in the middle of the state for practical and obvious reasons. Charleston, one of our most important, for the ports. Myrtle Beach for tourism. And we can't forget Rock Hill who, don't know exactly when, will eventually catch the spill over of business of Charlotte. Like its neighbors, like Concord, Kannapolis, and Gastonia. Well I won't say Gastonia. But you know what I mean. This isn't about that though, its about G'ville. Hey Krazee. You should start a thread like this one. See what others think.

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No feathers ruffled here. Hope I didn't ruffle any either.

I do have first hand experience with this as I had barely even been to SC in my life, when my company ask me to set up a Southeast office in SC. I spent a couple of weeks in the big three to get the feel, vibe, attitude and chose Greenville. Never looked at population numbers until we had looked at all the other stats. Pop numbers and skylines are great, but these stats don't make a city. The people, their attitude and civic pride make a city. The average person makes a judgement more on these touchy/feely qualities than on population numbers. IMO. And we were talking about the average individual, not companies.

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  • 2 weeks later...

OK, all of you who love this city, you gonna love this one...

I was suppose to fly home last night to GV, but weather and a poorly run airline changed that plan. Realized I was going to spend the night in MKE and called Marriott to get a last minute room. I'm hooked up with Marriott Rewards for my work travel. So the reservations agent is this nice lady, doing all the standard protocall on the phone, she is finishing my reservation and sees my home address in my profile....she suddenly ask me, "You live in Greenville, South Carolina" sounding very excited. I answered yes (thinking she may have a sister here or something). She goes into this 20 minute (no lie, I clocked it on my watch) conversation with me about she LOVES Greenville and any chance she gets, her, her husband and kids come spend time here. They come for vacation. They come for long weekends. She knew about Pretty Place (the chapel), Liberty Bridge and Falls Park, La Bastide, Saluda (Purple Onion), Main Street, the new ballpark, etc, etc. She could have been a UP'er! :P She currently lives in Phoenix, said her husbands job has allowed them to live all over the world (Madrid, LA, Silicon Valley, India, Brussels). She contiued to rave that Greenville was her favorite spot ever. The conversation with her was very sincere, she wasn't just doing the usual 3 minute babble they do for a regular customer.

Longest conversation ever with a reservations agent.

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That's great, gsupstate! So I assume you gave her our address, right? (www.greenville.urbanplanet.org) I am amazed how many people have become aware of Greenville's existance and been absolutely impressed. Just goes to show how enchanting the place is. I for one am proud to call it my home! :wub::yahoo:

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One of the travel sites that I happen to like is tripadvisor.com.

They just introduced a new feature called "GoLists" where users submit itineraries or top tips for their favorite destinations or for their hometowns. That way, visitors who use tripadvisor.com can see what insiders do during a long weekend in a particular town.

I think we should create GoLists for Greenville. Here's where you get started: http://www.tripadvisor.com/UserLists

But if you're not up for that, then how about using this thread to share your top "places to go, people to meet, things to see" picks for Greenville that you'd recommend to outsiders. (GoLists even include the things visitors should avoid at all costs. And they can be "themed" -- as in theatrical offerings, outdoors activities, etc.

Check out the link above to see more about what they're like. And anyone can post one. Let's make sure Greenville is a GoList-friendly city.

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One of the travel sites that I happen to like is tripadvisor.com.

They just introduced a new feature called "GoLists" where users submit itineraries or top tips for their favorite destinations or for their hometowns. That way, visitors who use tripadvisor.com can see what insiders do during a long weekend in a particular town.

I think we should create GoLists for Greenville. Here's where you get started: http://www.tripadvisor.com/UserLists

But if you're not up for that, then how about using this thread to share your top "places to go, people to meet, things to see" picks for Greenville that you'd recommend to outsiders. (GoLists even include the things visitors should avoid at all costs. And they can be "themed" -- as in theatrical offerings, outdoors activities, etc.

Check out the link above to see more about what they're like. And anyone can post one. Let's make sure Greenville is a GoList-friendly city.

This is a great idea for a thread! :thumbsup:

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  • 4 weeks later...

Ok, here is a "feel good" for you guys...

The guy beside me on my inbound plane this evening was coming here for the weekend to play golf with some friends. He started coming here several years ago on business and made friends. He was HIGHLY complimentary of Greenville. Most interesting was his take on Greenville and Upstate......

He was talking about how GSA has become this dynamic place and done it simply through determination and blood, sweat and tears.

- Greenville was NOT a port like Charleston, Norfolk, Mobile, etc.

- Greenville was NOT a capitol like Columbia, Raleigh, Nashville, Little Rock, etc.

- Greenville was NOT on a navigatable river like Memphis, Louisville, etc.

- Greenville was NOT a crossroads for rails like Atlanta, Jackson, etc.

- Greenville did NOT have an abundance of natural minerals like Birmingham with coal and iron ore.

- Greenville did NOT have a major university.

I guess I've never really thought about it those terms, but he said Greenville impressed him with what it's become, having basically nothing other the sheer beauty of the region and the people's will.

It really made me think.....most other Southern cities had something major to set them on the path to growth and many still rely on those things (ie: Charleston and the port or Columbia and the capitol). Greenville was simply a little mill town by a waterfall and was able to parlay that into "The Textile Capital". When textiles went away, Greenville reinvented herself again, and hasn't skipped a beat.

Something all Greenvillians should be VERY proud of! :thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:

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What a great account, gsupstate! Thanks for posting your conversation with him. Those points really are thought-provoking, aren't they?

One thing I would like to add, which is perhaps inherent in his points, is that Greenville is a young city. It's not historically important, it's not well known across the country, and quite honestly, it has just started to come into its own over the last 20 years or so. And as you stated, gsupstate, that progress (which is pretty incredible when you stop and ponder it) is all Greenville. It's not because we have a beach nearby, or celebrities, or history. It's all Greenville. And I think we're just starting to tap into our potential.

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