I am considering a move to Greenville, SC for a job in the neighboring town of Anderson, SC or potentially Spartansburg, SC. I am from Richmond, VA and love how there is mix of outdoor as well as city activities close by. I know with any move there will be some compromises, but I don't want to feel like I have moved off the grid. I have just completed a masters program for Occupational Therapy and money is tight. I was researching small towns that still offered a mix of culture (art shows, music, farmers markets) as well as easy access to outdoor activities (hiking, kayaking, etc), ALL while being affordable so I can pay off this massive debt and still afford to travel.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance

You will probably get better answers in a relocation forum:

http://www.city-data.com/forum/green...rtanburg-area/

And you might want to follow this discussion

http://www.fodors.com/community/unit...-early-30s.cfm

All I can add is that my neighbors (a gay female couple) in Manhattan have decided to relocate to Greenville. They are nearing retirement age and did lots of research before buying a home there. They have not moved yet, but have made many trips and mentioned that there is a great mix of residents, including many from other countries who moved there for work. I've seen a number of articles on the up and coming food scene in Greenville, too.

http://gardenandgun.com/article/sweet-greenvil

Please keep us posted on your decision!

Anderson is a nice large town or small city larger than but not hugely different from, say, Farmville without Longwood, though it takes itself more seriously. It is near Clemson if you want to stay linked to a university and not a bad drive to the mountains.

Greenville is like Richmond in that it looks awful from the interstate but has plenty of great stuff in town. The Main Street redevelopment is nationally know, and you have concert venues, minor league baseball, restaurants, bars, and a terrific park all adjacent to each other. Indy bars and indy music are north of downtown. There is lots of bluegrass and country as well. Greenville has Furman, which is a lot like U of R but doesn't have anything like VCU.

The economy is excellent by Virginia standards, and SC has done a great job of attracting manufacturers like BMW and Michelin. There is a substantial international population.

The mountains are near for hiking and fishing, and there is world- class rafting and kayaking on the Chatooga River.

The real problem in SC is that the government at the state level is dominated by tea bags and tea bag allies. The governor is a ditz who is living proof that voting for a woman solely because she is a woman is a really bad idea, though she is probably no more of a loose cannon than her dumb-as-a-post predecessor who left his wife for off his paramour, lied about it, and got elected to a higher office. There is probably even more smarmy religion than in Richmond but it doesn't seem to have slowed anybody down.

If I were you, I would go visit and prowl around for a job. If I really liked the outdoors, I would check out the small town of Pickens, northwest of Greenville. It is closer to the mountains but not to far for doing things in the city.

I take back some of the sniffy tone in my remarks about Anderson. The cool factor has grown.

Ackislander - I appreciate your honesty and relating the cities back to the only city I have know!

And I appreciate all the links above, as well. My only reason for posting here is that so many of the relocation forums on this geographic area were very outdated and I know a city really can turn around in a couple years (good and bad). I have a couple interviews set up within the area and am planning a weekend to check it out. never thought I'd be considering SC, but with the lure of the mountains and a good job, it sounds like it might be a good fit for at least a couple years. Thanks again and cheers!