Greenville Likes/Ways to Improve?

[g-man430]

Please explain what you mean by, "limited arts scene."

There are dance clubs in Greenville. You obviously didn't look enough for them.

Your perception of race relations is misguided. All people are accepted and welcomed, not based on skin color or ethnicity, but because everyone is a citizen living side-by-side to improve quality of life for others. Any problems you experienced are no different than any other city. There are less tolerant individuals in every city in the World. Greenville does a great job of providing opportunity for everyone to succeed. If you don't believe me, I've got plenty of friends from all kinds of imagineable backgrounds who'll tell you you're wrong.

I hate to say it but I agree with the sandlapper about racist problems. In the south, you have a lot more racist problems than you do in the north due to rednecks and stuff like that. In Greenville though, it's not as big of a problem as it is in other parts of the south. It's true too whether you agree with me or not.

[goodbye]

I did not answer for the South, but rather for Greenville. Please give examples of the better conditions in the North, because I know locations in Pennsylvania where there is far more segregation and drastically different living conditions depending on skin color or ethnicity.

Edit: This is the end of the racist discussion. These always bring out the worst in us and quickly degrade a normally constructive thread.

[goodbye]

LIKES

• ...

• The Greenville County School System and the Commitment to Quality new Schools as a first step to higher quality education for our kids

  ...

To the tune of $1 billion.

[jarvismj]

OK...here are my answers...

LIKES

• Main Street

• RiverPlace and the Reedy Riverwalk

• Falls Park on the Reedy River

• The Greenville Zoo

• The Park System in General

• The New West End Ballpark

• Heritage Green

• The uniform look of the signage throughout downtown

• The cool little vehicles that the parking enforcement drive around

• The Greenville County Library System - it's one of the best networks I've seen anywhere

• Wireless Downtown

• The Greenville County School System and the Commitment to Quality new Schools as a first step to higher quality education for our kids

• Furman University Campus

• Proximity to the Mountains and State Parks (Paris Mountain, Cesars Head, Table Rock, etc.)

• Proximity to Asheville

• Proximity to Charlotte and Atlanta

• Clear Skies and Mountain Views

• Beautiful Sunsets

• The Festivals (Fall for Greenville, Artisphere, Art in the Park, Red White and Blue, Greek Festival, etc.)

• The Downtown Music Scene

• Main Street Jazz

• Downtown AL!VE

• Saturday Morning (Farmers) Market

• The fact that there are no beltways...beltways = SPRAWL

• I-385 and I-85 being high bandwidth to acomodate current traffic and future growth

• The number of Parking Garages there are in Greenville

• St. Francis Hospital for Women and Families

• The people are so friendly that they actually wave to one another as they pass on the street (even perfect strangers)

• Snow (occasionally)

• Autumn Foliage

• Spring Blooms

• Mild Summers

• The climate in general

DISLIKES

• SPRAWL

• Road Construction (even the smallest projects) seems to take FOREVER here

• Ice Storms

• Not enough effort being put (state-wide, but especially in Greenville) into cultivating a high-tech work force and luring high-tech companies to provide high-tech jobs.

• The selection on the Radio Dial

• No Light Rail Transit (LRT) ... YET

• Litter and Grafitti atop Paris Mountain

• That's about it...

I'm going to target the dislikes here.

-Paris Mountain: I love it up there. I've grown up literally on the mountain, as my grandfather was the head engineer for WMUU 94.5, and their main transmitter is up on the mountain. As a 16 year old, I was able to climb the tower, and get an unparalleled view of the upstate. What in my opinion needs to be done, is to clean up this area, and then have Parks and Rec Dept build a observation deck, and charge a small admission to this. Something that would be unparalleled in our area. Something like this would drastically reduce the number of drug users and um, other things that I've seen go on up on the mountain.

-Alternative Music / More choices: I realize that we are in the Bible Belt, yet I'm tired of hearing all these stations that are corporate owned target a certain demographic. If you're into Contemporary Christian, great!! Just don't take up all of the FM band with it. I'm the same way with Classic Rock. I've on occasion listened to 101.1. I don't listen regularly, but hey, that's my right. There is too much bleedthrough from the Charlotte and Atlanta markets to really make a difference. If WNNX/99x were to put a transmitter in Toccoa, GA, I'd be happy...that I didn't live in Atlanta during rush hour. Unless something is done with the current radio situation, there are going to be more and more subscribers to XM and Sirius. It's that simple. I just listen to NPR 90.1...The only place I can hear Iron Maiden and Mozart in the same hour.

-Jobs: Face it folks, and I know that most members here have. Textiles is going going gone. I'm not going to advocate Darwinism here, but he was right about one thing; Survival of the fittest. We are not going to survive the changing economy if we don't embrace change, and run in the race. I can think of several options to resolve this. When a company closes down operations to move to Mexico, have them pay to retrain the employee's at a local community college to start a new career path. I realize that it would be a pipe dream to see this happen, but I feel that is being socially responsible. In a perfect world, someone who gets laid off can begin a certification program. This would enable those persons to benefit society, and to help get back into the system. Its got to be about give and take, people.

-Projects: This one is difficult here. I can understand that projects can get delayed due to weather, but even in moderately inclement weather (overcast, drizzle) there is no reason whatsoever that something can't be done. I know that I-385, was to my knowledge, a fast project by South Carolina standards. I used to joke that we would get the Big Dig workers down here, and they'd spend 2 years bit**ing about a contract, and a year building the project. Maybe if the city or state would offer an incentive to finish early, we would be able to truly be the shining star of the south, and be able to accomadate more growth and business.

[goodbye]

Before Montebello was announced, a developer had plans to put a nature park on Paris Mountain complete with cable cars scaling the steepest side. The report sounded pretty awesome from what I recall.

[krazeeboi]

Well every city has a "White Horse Road"; Greenville's didn't seem any worse than any other city's.

I forgot about Furman's campus. While I've only seen pictures of it, it does look like a rather beautiful place.

[Greenville]

Likes:

• downtown

• Greenville-Spartanburg International Airport

• the abundance of trees

• Greenville's charm

• the big business that goes on

• international community

• the mostly progressive City of Greenville

• awesome arts scene (Peace Center, Little Theatre, symphony, festivals, museums, etc.)

Dislikes

• too many highway patrol along I-85 ("let 'em play, ref!")

• sprawl

• not enough towers/paltry skyline

• the fact that sprawl combined and the paltry skyline cause some people to underestimate Greenville

• the anti-progressive Greenville County

• no real plans for light rail/mass transit

[RestedTraveler]

Hey Greenville! Are you trying to do your part to ensure that this thread gets beyond two pages?

[RestedTraveler]

-Paris Mountain: ... What in my opinion needs to be done, is to clean up this area, and then have Parks and Rec Dept build a observation deck, and charge a small admission to this. Something that would be unparalleled in our area. Something like this would drastically reduce the number of drug users and um, other things that I've seen go on up on the mountain.

I agree with this 100% and was thinking the same exact thing as I was standing up there. It would make an excellent location for an observation deck. At the very least, an extensive clean-up, some parking spaces, a couple of trash cans and some picnic tables would be nice. Someone I met in a park at the foot of Paris Mountain one day told me about this idea that the developer had for the cable cars and the resort at the top. It sounded awesome to me, but he, being a resident of the mountain, was glad that it didn't happen.

Another thing I could see done with that exposed crag (rock face) is to remove all the tags and to commission someone to come sculpt the exposed rock into something and then put lights on it to light it up after dark. Is this too Mount Rushmore/Stone Mountain?? I think not, depending on what was put up there.

[upstategeek]

Krazee,

What I meant by "not promoting" was shown by some later examples in the threads.

One example was "limited art scene." I felt like this for years, but realize more and more I am probably wrong. There is a huge art scene here, but it gets little credit or proper publicity. TV pretends its not there and the newspapers (News and Journal) cover it well, but segment it to one section each week. How many cities of Greenville's size have four live theaters downtown, plus strong programs at Furman and G-Tech? How many art galleries are there on Main Street, 10-15? Look at Heritage Green? Look at all the public sculptures. The problem is people don't know about it all so they don't recognize it enough.

There are a lot of things going on underneath the surface of Greenville that people don't realize are here, which need to be promoted better. The city and county have some great public parks outside of Cleveland and Falls, but no on seems to realize it. We have a great little zoo downtown.

I'm a runner, and I always hear there are no running trails. There are a lot of running trails, you just have to look for them.

I guess a problem Greenville has, is we sometimes don't realize what we have going on. That is why I really like this board. People get on here to say what they like and promote the cool things going on. OK, stepping of soap box now, strike the U.S. flag behind me, turn off the patriotic music.

[breed]

Because I'm lazy and I wanted to be pointed... one of each.

Like: Greenville Zoo

Before going to the zoo, I never thought that a zoo could be intimate. Bringing my kids to the Greenville zoo has always been a better experience than any other zoo I've been to. In most zoos, animals are far in the distance. (Is that part of a sleeping lion, or a brown rock?). You can get alot closer to the animals than other zoos. Of course, one of the drawbacks is that occassionally you have to get rid of an albino tiger for urinating on patrons.

Dislike: lack of a major college in Greenville

Sure we have Clemson and Greenville Tech, but I know for a fact that the lack of a major university's presence in Greenville hurts it when competing for business. While ICAR might disuade that concern somewhat, it really doesn't, as it is very specialized. Universities and colleges are places that spawn innovation, provide cheap, highly-skilled workforce, and provide crtical mass in terms of money and population to help foster progressive projects like transit. Greenville doesn't really have it. I don't know what the fix for that is, though. Furman University would probably fit the bill, if they were larger.

[krazeeboi]

I don't think Furman will be getting much larger anytime soon, as its size is one of its biggest draws.

[btoy]

Because I'm lazy and I wanted to be pointed... one of each.

Like: Greenville Zoo

Before going to the zoo, I never thought that a zoo could be intimate. Bringing my kids to the Greenville zoo has always been a better experience than any other zoo I've been to. In most zoos, animals are far in the distance. (Is that part of a sleeping lion, or a brown rock?). You can get alot closer to the animals than other zoos. Of course, one of the drawbacks is that occassionally you have to get rid of an albino tiger for urinating on patrons.

Dislike: lack of a major college in Greenville

Sure we have Clemson and Greenville Tech, but I know for a fact that the lack of a major university's presence in Greenville hurts it when competing for business. While ICAR might disuade that concern somewhat, it really doesn't, as it is very specialized. Universities and colleges are places that spawn innovation, provide cheap, highly-skilled workforce, and provide crtical mass in terms of money and population to help foster progressive projects like transit. Greenville doesn't really have it. I don't know what the fix for that is, though. Furman University would probably fit the bill, if they were larger.

Did they get rid of the Albino Tiger? Please say that is not so!

[GvilleSC]

Did they get rid of the Albino Tiger? Please say that is not so!

I heard that too! But I didnt know if it was true or why....!!?!

[NYTransplant]

I was there about 6 weeks ago & didn't see an albino tiger.

[wellen]

There was an albino tiger at the Greenville Zoo. If my memory serves, they had to put it down 5 or 6 years ago.

I also vaguely remember that albino cubs were on loan to the zoo a couple summers ago.

The do have a new addition today.

[goodbye]

I don't think Furman will be getting much larger anytime soon, as its size is one of its biggest draws.

Furman University is smaller simply because it only accepts the smartest students. The school is able to charge a much higher tuition fee because of that, and because it is one of the top twenty-five most beautiful locations in the nation. But those reason aside, the school actually is growing, even if not as quickly as others in the state. I personally hope they never lower the scholastic requirements to get in.

[Greenville]

I think Furman is a great asset to Greenville. It is too bad that it isn't still located downtown, or else Greenville would be given credit for being more of a "college town."

And Clemson, despite being 7-8 times larger than Furman in terms of enrollment, is very close in selectivity. The average SAT for accepted students last fall at Clemson was 1240, and the acceptance rate was lower than for other area schools like Furman, Wofford, South Carolina, etc. I am looking forward to it being more closely linked to Greenville in the future (ICAR, automotive graduate school, high-speed rail/CAT bus routes between Clemson and Greenville, etc.).

I am glad that the Greenville metro has two great schools like Furman and Clemson, plus a great technical college like Greenville Tech. I hope USC Upstate eventually gets to expand into Greenville.

[goodbye]

Greenville Tech consistently ranks among the top five technical colleges in the nation. I believe it is back at the top now. That is a big positive for Greenville.

[Danmire]

The do have a new addition today.

Went to the zoo over the weekend. The Orang Utan exhibit is awesome. That was too cool checking them out. The baby was out too. I hadn't been in about 5 years and just forgot that it was there. They have a bunch of new animals that weren't there the last time I was there, pair of lions, leopards, Orangutans. They are also building a giraffe enclosure.

Definitely worth an afternoon out.

[The_sandlapper]

Please explain what you mean by, "limited arts scene."

There are dance clubs in Greenville. You obviously didn't look enough for them.

Your perception of race relations is misguided. All people are accepted and welcomed, not based on skin color or ethnicity, but because everyone is a citizen living side-by-side to improve quality of life for others. Any problems you experienced are no different than any other city. There are less tolerant individuals in every city in the World. Greenville does a great job of providing opportunity for everyone to succeed. If you don't believe me, I've got plenty of friends from all kinds of imagineable backgrounds who'll tell you you're wrong.

Skyliner I am merely stating my likes and dislikes of Greenville no more no less. I'm not tryin to make this into a vs. contest. I am well aware that every city in the south and the nation for that matter has problems and yes even my beloved Columbia has problems too. But please don't attack me for giving my opinion in a thread listed as such.

[GvilleSC]

Skyliner I am merely stating my likes and dislikes of Greenville no more no less. I'm not tryin to make this into a vs. contest. I am well aware that every city in the south and the nation for that matter has problems and yes even my beloved Columbia has problems too. But please don't attack me for giving my opinion in a thread listed as such.

Go ahead, but Greenville has a great arts scene. I'm not sure what you're referring to either...?

[g-man430]

Yeah people, don't attack the sandlapper or me. Let people state their opinions. That is what this forum is about, isn't it. There is only one thing left to say:

GREENVILLE ROCKS!!!!

[Greenville]

After having lived in the south, mid-atlantic, and even the northeast for a time, I have decided that the racial "tension" in the south is way overblown. Sure, there are rednecks who don't like people of other races, and there are minorities who resent Caucasians, but overall the South does not seem to be better or worse than anywhere else I have been. I have seen and heard my share of ignorant comments from people in other areas of the country when it comes to racial things, just as I have in the south. It doesn't excuse such behavior or thinking, but it certainly does illuminate the fact that racial tension is not exclusive to the south.

I think that the "south is racist" sentiment is largely a stereotype from generations past. Today, it is mostly fueled by mass media. The same people who paint the south as slow, backwards, dumb, etc. are the same ones who portray the south as having more racist people. Perhaps you can go out into the rural areas and find more tension, but in any city of reasonable size I don't think you will find it. The same can be said for cities in the north, west, etc.

Again, I am not denying that problems do not exist between races. They do, but it is getting better. With respect to Greenville, it is not an issue.

[g-man430]

Another thing that Greenville needs to improve on is making their exit ramps look better like with trees. WAIT, their already starting to do that. I noticed when I was driving on Woodruff Road heading west from Wal-Mart to the Shops at Greenridge today, there was a sign that said Trees Greenville with a list of sponsors and names on it, kind of like the one for the cancer survivor park or the urban forest project at Falls Park. It was located on the exit ramp for getting onto I-385 north heading west on Woodruff Road. Not only that but they were putting trees in today between the interstate and the ramps along this interchange. It looks really nice with mulch and everything.

-More info: http://www.greenvillechamber.org/interior....d=43&newsid=279 or http://www.treesgreenville.org/