Greenville, Sc....aliso Viejo?

Grip72 · February 21, 2008

ok so i live in calgary, AB canada but i HATE it here and i am seriously considering moving to the states

AND my company has an office based in Greenville SC and one in Aliso Veijo, California

so im' trying to look into either of these places

can you guys give any input?1

hubbycap · February 21, 2008

If your salary stays the same you will get a much bigger bang for your buck in Greenville.

Orange County, CA is expensive to live in but has much to offer in the way of atmosphere and culture. That said, California is extremely liberal and very much a nanny state. SC is much less overbearing and even has no motorcycle helmet laws.

SC has mountains and the ocean and between Charleston, SC, Charlotte, NC and Atlanta, GA you get plenty of culture without having to put up with the extreme oppressively governed populated area.

Dana_15 · February 21, 2008

67Redneck lives in Greenville I believe, he's a cool guy, he'll give you some advice. I've been there a few times while I was stationed in Georgia, one of my friends lived there...seemed like a nice place.

Nods Dad · February 21, 2008

If your salary stays the same you will get a much bigger bang for your buck in Greenville.

Orange County, CA is expensive to live in but has much to offer in the way of atmosphere and culture. That said, California is extremely liberal and very much a nanny state. SC is much less overbearing and even has no motorcycle helmet laws.

SC has mountains and the ocean and between Charleston, SC, Charlotte, NC and Atlanta, GA you get plenty of culture without having to put up with the extreme oppressively governed populated area.

I think this pretty much somes it up

MyBigToy · February 22, 2008

I lived in Greenville for a year and nine months; it's a nice place. Your money will go a lot further there than in CA.

You're close to the mountains and about 3 to 3-1/2 hours from the beach. It does get hot and humid in the summer but the winters are pretty mild.

67ChevyRedneck · February 22, 2008

If your salary stays the same you will get a much bigger bang for your buck in Greenville.

Orange County, CA is expensive to live in but has much to offer in the way of atmosphere and culture. That said, California is extremely liberal and very much a nanny state. SC is much less overbearing and even has no motorcycle helmet laws.

SC has mountains and the ocean and between Charleston, SC, Charlotte, NC and Atlanta, GA you get plenty of culture without having to put up with the extreme oppressively governed populated area.

That first sentence is VERY true!!!! Although, SC has one of the lowest median incomes in the entire country, but we also have one of the lowest average costs of living. Gas is a good example, before the friggin 30 cent increase over the last THREE DAYS! it was 2.74 for quite a while.

Home prices are VERY reasonable as well. You can buy A REALLY NICE home (if you like subdivisions) depending on location for $150-250K. Personally, I'm looking to buy a home outside of greenville this year (I like country living) and I've found some nice ones with a couple acres for 120-140K.

I don't know about home taxes but people say they're not bad. Car taxes suck but there are NO inspections of any kind. You have to pay a yearly car tax on your vehicle. If you own a brand new one it can be very high and as the vehicle depreciates it gets lower. Examples. My 67 is $36 per year. My 8 year old silverado has dropped to $250/year. The 99 Corolla is about $150/year and the 2005 Tacoma is still around $400/year. It also depends on vehicle, if you buy a big expensive 4x4 or a luxury car, you may be paying $800/year for it for the first couple years. Also, when you buy a new or used car, the tax is capped around 300 or 350 dollars, so it's really not that bad. My parents live in NY and I think tax is up to 8% there, so if you buy a 40K vehicle you'll be paying $3,200 tax up front, but SC caps it at about $300 so again, it's not that bad.

Downtown Greenville is AWESOME. They have totally renovated the entire downtown over the past 10 years. There's a new movie coming out with George Clooney in it called leatherheads and most of the movie was filmed in the upstate and Downtown Greenville Area.

I'm a civil engineer here and the development is insane. Most everything is either new or renovated. The greenville/spartanburg area is really growing. Traffic is OK, it really only sucks during "work times" but it's tolerable. Traffic jams on 85 and 385 are usually only a couple mile long "slow downs" not flat out sit for ten minutes and wait crap like cali probably has And really, the only super busy area is I85 from exit 51 to 53 (two major exits).

The negative. *Some* people are still backwards as hell. I think you know what I mean, but most in the "greenville area" are pretty laid back (because it's mostly yankees ) Also, our education system somewhat sucks. Were like 48 or 49th in the country They are improving though. On the flip, some of our colleges and universities are well known and have well respected programs, Clemson and USC are two of our best known schools (I went to Clemson, GO TIGERS )

The awesome. There's lakes and mountains galore. Charlotte is an 1.5 hours north. If you like racing your within' an hour of several dirt tracks and a couple hours away from several nascar venues (chalotte, darlington, atlanta...). Columbia (capital city) is about 1.5 hours away. Charleston (BEAUTIFUL CITY and my favorite place in SC to visit) is about 4 to 4.5 hours away. Myrtle beach is about the same. Were about 2 hours from Atlanta.

I love it here.

Also: I've never pooed in my pants from an earthquake either.....

Edit:

What company do you work for? I may know where it is and can tell you if it's in a nice or busy or whatever area.