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I heard today that Spartanburg Regional will be add another building to it's Village at Pelham campus. This one will be 6 to 10 stories. That would be huge for this area, which is quickly becoming a busy part of the upstate. 

Gibbs Cancer Center & Research Institute at Pelham may occupy a six- to ten-level building in the next phase of Spartanburg Regional Health System's Pelham Medical Center, as reported on January 15 by GreerToday. See http://greertoday.com/greer-sc/6-10-story-world-class-gibbs-cancer-center-planned-for-greer/2015/01/15/

Edited by RiverWalker
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  • 5 weeks later...

These professional jobs would fit well in either downtown, but Greenville has a huge advantage in terms of size (visibility), amenities (livability) and momentum of quality growth.

 

No kidding Sherlock. That/s why we are trying to hold onto to what we have as we can't outbid you for new business unless its crappy distribution centers/manufacturing facilities that you don't want to begin with. 

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Its a crappy state for white collar unless you are an attorney, healthcare, or entrepreneur. Of course its a small state to begin with and that's another part of the issue.

 

And as the big three cities in SC (Greenville, Charleston, and Columbia) continue to improve amenities, and attract more and more professionals, those white collar jobs will come.  The taxes are good, the cost of living is great, and the weather is good.  The only thing lacking has been the perceived amenities in our cities.  Greenville is doing a great job improving that, and has a motivated group of business leaders who understand what it takes.

 

How do you think Austin overcame the influence of bigger cities like Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio to become Texas's hot spot?  It worked on its amenities and cool factor.  Greenville can do the same living in the shadow of Atlanta and Charlotte.

Edited by Greenville
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Austin is the state capital and has all those government jobs and is the home of the flagship university.  That is guaranteed employment.

 

"Cool" is overrated.   California was  the center of cool for years and has one of the worst unemployment rate in the country despite Hollywood and Silicon Valley.  Oregon has the city of Portland - home of hipster cool - and a higher unemployment rate than SC.  

Edited by B&R
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Austin and Greenville are very different....Austin has a major university, is the state capital, Is a highly educated city, and has a large corporate HQ presence for companies like Dell and Whole Foods.

Most cities have a list of amenities and can cite being on a "best of" magazine list, that alone will not attract companies. Being between ATL and CLT makes it harder for Greenville to attract HQ type functions, there is just not a compelling reason for a company to select Greenville over the larger cities. In a similar way, Greenville is an easier manufacturing choice because of abundant inexpensive land and cheaper labor.

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Not everyone wants to deal with Charlotte or Atlanta traffic, and Greenville has significantly cheaper housing in in-town neighborhoods.  Doesn't Greenville have its niches anyhow, such as engineering and auto industry jobs?

 

Greenville should improve its higher education offerings and transportation.  Clemson is a well-ranked school, but that's it for research universities (and even it can get better), and that's not enough to create a huge reservoir and synergy of talented people like Raleigh/Durham has.  (While Furman wows people in Greenville with its academics, that's not the same thing as a major research university.) For transportation, GSP has direct flights to few places, I-85 is falling apart and there are few other options; having passenger trains along the I-85 corridor, like NC has, would help as well.

Edited by mallguy
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I wasn't saying that Greenville is just like Austin, nor would I want it to be.  My point is that Austin was an insignificant city on a national scale 20 years ago, and it has worked hard to make a name for itself in a state that includes much larger cities like Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio.  Sure, it has some advantages that Greenville does not, but having the University of Texas and the state capital are far from the only reasons for its success.  Developing its tech industry, helping to grow its local headquarters, promoting its music scene, and appealing to young professionals has been huge for them.

 

Greenville can play up its strengths better than it has, and leverage those to increase the desirability of the city.  That was my point.

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Not everyone wants to deal with Charlotte or Atlanta traffic, and Greenville has significantly cheaper housing in in-town neighborhoods.  Doesn't Greenville have its niches anyhow, such as engineering and auto industry jobs?

 

Greenville should improve its higher education offerings and transportation.  Clemson is a well-ranked school, but that's it for research universities (and even it can get better), and that's not enough to create a huge reservoir and synergy of talented people like Raleigh/Durham has.  (While Furman wows people in Greenville with its academics, that's not the same thing as a major research university.) For transportation, GSP has direct flights to few places, I-85 is falling apart and there are few other options; having passenger trains along the I-85 corridor, like NC has, would help as well.

 

Greenville does have a lower cost of housing.  But, companies researching places for relo are looking at a larger list of parameters.  Sealed Air was very deliberate in saying they chose Charlotte because of the broader depth of talent and air service.  Charlotte does not have a major research university but is able to attract talent due to reputation "the cool factor" and being in the center of UNC, NC State, Wake, Duke, Va Tech and USC....all great schools.  Atlanta is another step up with Hartsfield and the ability to draw talent from across the south. 

 

I don't see Greenville increasing the visibility like Austin but more on the lines of a third tier city that can attract manufacturing and some on shore outsourced jobs.  Attracting tech on any significant scale will be hard unless there is a lucky shot, it is just too hard to compete in an industry that is centered around a few clusters in the country and becoming a more mature industry.  Greenville area still lags the other cities in SC with regards to an educated population but is attracting retirees at a faster pace.  I never thought Greenville County's over 65 population would be in the same neighborhood as Charleston. 

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