We’ve all seen the video clips of the ongoing debate across the country regarding what kinds of reading material should be accessible to America’s children and youth. We’d like to think that Greenville County would be immune to having to battle this but the fight is here. Yesterday both sides stood their ground at the month meeting of the Greenville County Library Board.
I had the opportunity to be there to hear some of the speakers but I was standing at the threshold to the room so it was hard for me to judge the size of the crowd. I’m guessing there was somewhere between 100-150 people in there and it seemed pretty balance to me but one of the women I spoke with thought the balance may have been slightly infavor of the LGBTQ+ crowd. However, that said, there had been a meeting just a couple of weeks ago and there were perhaps 3 people on the side of conservatism and tradition values and 30+ on the LGBTQ+ side.
The group fighting against the proliferation of LGBTQ+ materials in our public libraries is asking the library board to remove the sexually explicit books from the children’s and youth section and put them in the adult section is my understanding. We don’t want to see our children exposed to this material. In a normal world, which of couse we do not live in, but if we did, this kind of material would be grounds for some kind of charges…it’s sexual exploitation and is corrupting America’s children and youth. We’ve heard about this going on in our public schools across the U.S. buried in DEI and BLM materials. Of course it’s also in the public libraries. Many of us don’t want it here in Greenville County. I would submit that the vast majority trying to protect our children from this assault on their innocence are Christians. We all have heard the following Bible verse read from the pulpit many times over from Mark 9:42…Jesus tells his Disciples….“whoever causes one of these little ones who believe [in me] to sin, it would be better for him if a great millstone were put around his neck and he were thrown into the sea.” To most of us it’s just common sense that you would not expose and encourage sexual activity or exploration in children and youth. At a minimum these discussions should occur with the full knowledge and consent of the child’s parents and not something they might randomly discover in a public library.
What I don’t get is it would seem to me to be pro-LGBTQ+ one must believe in sexualizing children and youth as early in life as possible. Is this what they believe? It exposes children and youth to something they are not ready for and it may become very confusing for them. But of course the LGBTQ+ community and the medical establishment that support their efforts count on children being confused. And of course, they are the “experts”…the doctors, counselors and librarians…they are all certified and educated and have way more knowledge than the average parent…right? They may have more education than the average parent but this does not mean they know what’s best for the child. It’s the parent’s role to make these decisions.
Conservatives in South Carolina have been lulled asleep and it’s time to wake up. Because so much of the state is conservative and votes strongly in favor of traditional values, we figure that our elected Republican officials will have our backs. But you would be wrong. The Left is organized and the act as one big pressure group. That’s not the way conservatives operate but we must get more active and show up. Just have the body count at meetings and events will go a long ways. We don’t have to be nasty but we should be vocal and let our voices be heard making sure our elected representatives know where we stand.
It’s one thing for consenting adults to choose what they do, but it’s another when you start messing with the kids as they have been doing for some time given the explosion in gender dysphoria across the country. Many of us have had the attitude of “live and let live” but again, that’s when it’s consenting adults. It’s a different deal when our children are involved. Oh and for those saying we want to ban books…that’s not true. We just think some of this explicitly sexual material should not be readily accessible to our children is all. Can’t we all agree on that?
BTW, the next meeting for the Greenville County Library Board of Trustees is scheduled for noon on April 24th at the same place – Hughes Library downtown Greenville.
Five Forks is an community within Greenville County and will a Simpsonville address but it is not part of the city of Simpsonville or Greenville. My kids would say it’s bougie but we like it because it’s got great access to downtown Greenville or down to Simpsonville or to the airport. It’s very convenient to lots of shopping for every day life as well. We moved here about 3 1/2 years ago and have loved living here. We know the area has a tough reputation for the traffic coming through Five Forks and that has been a bit rough at times.
They have been doing road construction for the most part since we moved in July 2019. It’s been 3.5 years and they are nearly done with it – thank God! I’ll let you know if it makes much of a different at 5pm coming through Woodruff Road or not.
There’s no doubt South Carolina has become a leading state in the rise again of domestic U.S. manufacturing. The Port of Charleston has played a huge role in the growth of manufacturing, distribution and the overall supplychain. Their Inland Port of Greer essentially extendes the Port of Charleston all the way out to the Upstate. The location of the Upstate being 90 minutes to Charlotte and 2.5 hours to Atlanta makes it a terrific location for all kinds of manufacturers who need to ship product throughout the U.S. as well as the rest of the world. The Upstate Business Journal has an excellent update on the state of industrial real estate here in Greenville. Be sure to read it.
Greenville County boasts more than 600 manufactures have operations here. That’s impressive and it only continues to grow. Greenville County is the largest county in the state of South Carolina with a current population of 514,000. Greenville County is expected to grow by 222,000 people and 86,000 jobs by 2040 as the trend across the America is for people to leave blue states for red states. It’s no wonder companies continue to expand operations here in the Upstate and specifically Greenville County.
Recently I spoke with a business owner who had been operating out of Florida. He was looking for new space for a distribution center in the Southeast. Atlanta was too big, too crowded and very expensive. Charlotte was also very expensive. Someone had told him to check out Greenville, SC and he was pleasantly surprised. He had never heard of it before but it had the infrastructure, access, ease of distribution and transportation – trucking, rail and air cargo with GSP International – and the prices were much, much better here for buildings. So he built a $2.5 million office warehouse here in Greenville.
There are many knowledgeable industrial and commercial real estate brokers in Greenville that can help you with that decision. The Greenville Area Development Corp. is also a very helpful organization for companies evaluating the Upstate.
Take a look at just about any Facebook Page about Greenville, SC and you’ll see that lots of people are moving here. There are plenty of vocal residents here who are always complaining about the outsiders moving to Greenville. What cracks me up is that most of those who express that attitude themselves moved here from somewhere else. It’s pretty rare to run in to true Greenvillians these days. They are here but they are outnumbered by those who have arrived from elsewhere.
For me this fact that there are so many people who have moved here from around the country and around the world make this such an interesting place. You have the mix on the incredible charm and history of South Carolina combined with a growing and robust economy attracting all kinds of companies and people to the state and specifically here to the Upstate.
According to this article in the Greenville Journal, “Greenville County‘s population is expected to grow by 222,000 residents and 86,000 new jobs by 2040, according to a recent county report. The population today stands at 514,000. Already the county is planning a number of community meetings to address the current plans to handle the continued population boom.”
Our family moved here from Minnesota July 2019. We’ve been here three years and there continues to be great change here to the Upstate. The building that has gone on both in terms of commercial / industrial as well as residential has been great to see. The road remain an issue here and probably always will be. But as America starts to bail out of the northern and NE states along with CA, OR, and WA, South Carolina is an excellent option. I know Florida gets all the headlines, but people should really consider the great state of South Carolina.
If you’d like to explore your real estate options here in the Upstate of South Carolina, please don’t hesitate to reach out as I’m a broker associate / Realtor with eXp Realty.
Call this part of the charm of living in the South…if you’ve ever tried to figure out if you are actually within the city limits of the City of Greenville, SC, you’ll understand how challenging it can be at times. Above is a screen shot I took from the city’s GIS system. It’s a fantastic system and I’ll link it below. Part of the challenge here is you’ll have an address that says Greenville, SC but it won’t be in the city. It will just be part of Greenville County. It’s helpful to know this as a property owner as you’ll be subject to more scrutiny of course if you live within the city limits.
What a gorgeous evening for the Greenville Poinsettia Christmas Parade last night! Thousands showed up to celebrate this wonderful tradition. Very few maskers were seen in the crowd. Most of those walking, riding or performing in the parade also were not wearing masks either, thank God.
Last year’s event was cancelled of course because of all the Covid hysteria. It was great to see that the City of Greenville has mostly come to its senses when it comes to allowing large public events. This comes on the heels of a MASSIVE turnout for Fall for Greenville just a few weeks ago. BTW, I have not heard of a single case of COVID, DELTA or some other cold variant being transmitted due to that event.
It was a wondering parade starting promptly at 6pm and ending at 6:55pm. The Furman marching band was terrific and led the parade through Main Street. There were lots of other high school marching bands, dance schools, local media, roofing contractors and musical groups among the floats. Thousands lined both sides of Main Street in a wonderful, peaceful community event. I’ve said it’s the best Christmas parade I’ve ever attended. Some have laughed at me saying I haven’t been to much then, but I have to disagree. Sure there are other events where they have more spectacular floats and probably bigger crowds, but to experience this in the gorgeous setting of downtown Greenville on a beautiful evening is hard to beat. BTW, it was 70 degrees at 5:30pm as we were waiting for the parade to start.
If you haven’t attended one of these parades, put it on your list to go next year!
I think we can mark Greenville County as one of the beneficiaries of the changes sweeping across the country given the Covid-19 pandemic.
Greenville County saw a record capital investment commitment of $631 million in 2020 according to the Greenville Area Development Corporation (GADC). This blew away the previous record of $476 million in 2014. The investment is coming from a broad range of companies in various industries. The biggest investments are coming from manufacturing and distribution which remains huge here in the Upstate. But we are also seeing other investments starting to percolate from other industries such as information technology.
It’s becoming increasingly clear that Greenville, SC is going to be hitting a lot of peoples’ radars over the next decade. It certainly has come a long way but it’s time to shine is here.
I know people get tired of growth of Greenville, but you are either growing or dying. You can’t have it both ways. Greenville stands to benefit both in terms of manufacturing growth but also in the transition to work from home (WFH). The area is beautiful. The weather is better than much of the rest of the U.S. Cost of living is still relatively low and there are lots of amenities…shopping, the arts, sports etc. I think the schools are still seen as a bit of a weakness but they are working on that. There are plenty of private school options in the area as well. Living here so close to the mountains and just 3.5 hours drive to the beach…it’s just a great place to be…and many others are coming to find that as well.
If you’re thinking of moving here, don’t hesitate to reach out. I’d be happy to talk. If you want to look for homes, please check out my site at GVLHomesandLand. — John Murphy, Broker Associate, eXp Realty 864-276-1448.
#greenvillesc #greenvillerealtor #GADC #UpstateSC #greenvillebroker #greenvillerealestate #greenvillehomesforsale #greenvilledevelopment #greenvillecounty #cityofgreenvillesc
South Carolina has become a “hot spot” for coronavirus cases and the government officials are concerned that we are going to see an explosion in hospitalizations and deaths. Mind you at this point, there have been 691 recorded deaths from the coronavirus in South Carolina which has a population of 5.2 million people. Local officials in Greenville are jumping in to action as seen by the City of Greenville issuing a mask mandate for all grocery stores and pharmacies within the city limits. Now Greenville County School is suspending all sports practices and training through July 20th.
Greenville County Schools athletics is a massive operation. There are 16 high schools in the county. Summer workouts and training is a huge part of all sports programs here in the state of South Carolina. This news yesterday came as quite a shock and surprise to many in the sports community.
There is no guidance yet as to what might happen after July 20th. Most high school football programs are slated to begin official practices at the end of July. That doesn’t give them much time to adjust if they need to. The first games are supposed to kick off on August 20, 2020.
The South Carolina High School League had a meeting yesterday and a Zoom conference with the commissioner. They are very cautious about committing to any start to fall sports.