Posted by play4quarters on July 7, 2013 at 8:38am
Hi All,
My wife and I would like to relocate to South Carolina. Considering Greenville and Charleston.
I was wondering if anyone might comment on either place? Interested in how active the Drupal communities are, economic climate of these communities and quality of life.
Thanks, in advance, for any advice.
Comments
Yankee who moved
We moved to South Carolina from Seattle about five years ago. We live in Columbia, right in the middle of the state -- about half-way between Greenville and Charleston. I'd highly recommend either city -- lots of tech folks, great quality of life. Here, not so much. The economy in SC in general sucks, high unemployment and lots of education problems. Hope you've got a job prospect if you're headed this way.
Thanks for the feedback.
Interesting. Glad to hear you'd recommend both areas. I'm putting out resumes now and wouldn't consider a move without something lined up.
Thanks again for your time and thoughtful response!
Visit the downtown area of Greenville
The Mainstreet area of Greenville is pretty impressive with lots of nice resteraunts and other places of interest. I have lived here since 1997 and moved from Los Angeles and Southern California, where I grew up. Houses are cheaper with larger pieces of land, in most areas. There are more trees than other parts of the country. There is a wonderful bike path in Greenville called The Swamp Rabbit Trail that you should look up. Greenville is relatively close to Atlanta and Charlotte. The GSP airport is nearby if you travel for work. There is an Apple Store in Greenville. And, Ryan Szerama of Drupal Commerce now lives in Greenville.
Music too...
Thanks Jeff.
I see you're a musician and active with the Youth Orchestra. That's awesome! I'm a guitar player (in it for the joy of it). I'm guessing the music scene in Greenville is pretty good as well? I've seen enough great amateur musicians and smaller city orchestras to know that scene alone can satisfy my needs. I do know from reading that Greenville hosts larger name bands as well.
Seems like there are a TON of drupal folks that are musicians, either professional or amateur. Must be our creative sides at work.
Does the GSP airport only support commuter planes or do they handle the larger ones as well?
Nice on the apple store. PC users for eons, and now I'm a mac fanboy :)
Is there any organized meetings for drupal folks in Greenville or at Furman?
Greenville is at or near the top of our list. Always difficult finding a job without a local address, but keeping my fingers crossed.
Thanks so much for your time and thoughtful response.
GSP and Drupal Greenville group
Cool on the guitar. There are a number of outlets for you with the guitar and I can give you contact info on some people in the area if you wish for that.
GSP is called "International" because they have a couple flights to Germany a week because of BMW and Micheline having their North America headquarters here. The BMW plant is very close to the airport. You could take a tour of it. I've heard it's fun, but haven't done that yet. Southwest I think still is at GSP along with Delta, which is based in Atlanta. I've hosted a music conference for a couple years and GSP makes it nicer than having to drive to Atlanta or Charlotte and the parking and getting in and out of GSP is much easier than a big airport.
I have attended Drupal Camp Atlanta and Atlanta Business Summit and loved it and thought it was big and highly organized. I plan to go again this coming October. There isn't a Greenville Drupal group yet. Months ago Ryan Szrama and I talked about the possibility of one. There is a small group in Columbia that I haven't attended. I have attended the Asheville Drupal Camp and plan to go again this comngi August. It's smaller and has a nice group of people. Maybe there is enough numbers to get a Greenville Drupal group happening sometime soon. You should try joining all the regional Drupal groups and see if you can get network with people there.
I make a living primarily at playing trumpet and teaching private brass lessons and clinics. I quit working with the youth orchestra after 12 years to pursue my own conferences and other rewarding interests. Drupal factored into that and I am now way too far into Drupal and love it. I make decent money on the side with Drupal work. But, most of my interest in Drupal is to learn new things to make my own site and my online teaching business more cutting edge.
You should attend the Drupal Camp Atlanta event and use it as a time to meet some people there. I believe the main host is Mediacurrent and they are a big company out if Atlanta. You should meet some of those people.
Sorry so late in responding
Sorry so late in responding Jeff.
The Atlanta Camp sounds great!
I've just started working at Converse College, check out their website as they have a great school of music and I know they have some events you'd be interested in...brass too.
Love a great brass section!
Best!
Glenn
Hello! I literally JUST
Hello! I literally JUST relocated to Greenville, SC because of my job in Drupal :)
Ryan Szrama lives here and is very active in the Start-up / Tech scene and I work closely with him at Commerce Guys. We're looking to start up a Drupal specific meetup, but it's on the backburner until at least October.
Economic climate and just the climate in general is pretty awesome. Let me know if you're looking to buy a house, my realtor was AMAZING.
Josh
BTW ... if you're looking for
BTW ... if you're looking for employment as a Drupal Dev ... there are lots of options...
http://www.mergeagency.com/
http://www.orangecoat.com/
There are more ... but a quick google search didn't bring them up ...
Or you could work remotely for Phase2 or Commerce Guys or one of the other bigger Drupal shops that support remote workers :)
Josh
no job search assistance necessary.
Today's play4quarters' first day as Online Experience Manager at Converse College!
Thanks for talking up the GSP area, guys!
Very glad you didn't choose Charleston, Glenn. :)
Lydia
Job search ended indeed.
I'm stoked. Had a great first day and looking forward to great things to come.
Not only do I get to do Drupal, but the team of people I'm working with are just flat out some of the nicest people you'll ever meet. I've never felt so welcomed in a new job.
Very happy with my choice Lydia!
Hah, awesome. I almost bought
Hah, awesome. I almost bought a house in Spartanburg near the Methodist College but settled down here in Greenville to be closer to family. Right now we're thinking of a meet-up downtown on November 1 in the early evening; will figure out the exact place and time as the day draws nearer.
thanks Josh
Hopefully we'll get to hook up once we get a Drupal Group going. Looking forward to meeting all of you!
Best!
Glenn
One more vote for Greenville
One more vote for Greenville here. I like visiting the beach. Visiting the beach.
I'm not sure I'd like to live near it again unless I didn't have work to do and could play in the water all day. Otherwise I'm just dealing with the humidity for no good reason. ; )
I relocated to Greenville from Louisville, KY last year and haven't looked back. The city is beautiful, and I've connected with a lot of Drupal and web development folks since moving here. I discovered a hive of tech activity downtown and have been able to get plugged in pretty easily - it's an open group that's more concerned with growing than maintaining a clique.
We've yet to get a Drupal user group going, but Josh Miller (fellow Commerce Guy) just moved down here and we may give it the college try in a couple months. Think I'll get started by responding to Jeff's e-mail and meeting him for coffee this afternoon. : P
By the way: the big draw here
By the way: the big draw here for me was family, but the second biggest was Greenville's downtown. Third behind that would be the mountain backdrop and climate. Yes, it's South Carolina, but it's hardly a sweltering sweat pot. We have a great view, fun things to do outdoors, and a growing craft beer culture that's hard to complain about. If you visit, make sure you walk downtown, eat at Grill Marks, and stop by The Community Tap for a pint. : D
count me in
Hey Ryan.
Great to see you're in Greenville. You helped me out a while back with a Recurly recommendation...thanks again for that!
Please count me in regarding a Upstate Drupal Group. I'd love to be part of that and will help in any way I can.
Best!
Glenn
Columbia here
I've been in Columbia myself for 9 years. And yeah, not a lot of tech opportunities here, except for .NET ones...(ewwwww).
I think I'd rather live in Charleston, not for the beach, but for the history, but if that were the case, I'd move back to Savannah.
Anyways, Columbia's nickname is the armpit of the South, and for good reason in the hot and humid summers, except for this summer.
There is a Drupal group here, but I have yet to be able to meet up with them. They meet on like the 2nd Monday of each month. It used to be at the Richland Library downtown, but has since moved somewhere else, I think.
I do some Drupal stuff at my current job, but mostly in Coldfusion right now (another ewww).
Laughing at .net and
Laughing at .net and coldfusion ewwws. Thanks for the helpful feedback ccoppen!