The upshot: I’m not looking quite so crazy for moving here any more.
two different people bought homes in spurg based on my advice a few years ago that it is the ‘next asheville (re big thing).’
i so rule.
Anyone I’d know? The “progressive” community here is small enough that I might actually have met them.
That’s another thing that’s cool about this city. It’s definitely got that early 1990’s Asheville feel where there’s this small, interconnected web of interesting people who are making a concerted effort to make the city more interesting. Asheville was very much like that once upon a time.
Are you Spartanburg propaganda specialist hired by the Chamber of commerce?
No, but I do keep up with this stuff professionally. I moved to Spartanburg specifically because I thought it was on the verge of a similar cultural shift to the one that happened in Asheville in the 1990s. I started a media project down here to sort of fill the void on the alternative media, which I why I’m so chatty about the positive things. I’ve really been surprised at how fast things are changing down here.
oh yeah. we are traveling in intersecting circles. its not like there are too many young hip hampton highters out there for there to be more than a few degrees of separation.
I know of at least two more people who moved here from Asheville as well, and I don’t think they’re the same two you’ve conned convinced to move here.
I expect a flood of Ashevillians down here soon enough. Now that the word is out that Spartanburg’s arts and culture scene doesn’t suck, that you can get a decent house for around $100k and that there’s some real economic development happening, it’s only a matter of time.
I was never able to convince any of my Asheville associates that Spartanburg was a good move. They all thought i was completely insane. They still ask me jokingly about it.
I feel sorry for them, considering what they are paying to live in New East West Asheville, which is essentailly the same scene as hampton heights for twice the price. But most people are followers, not leaders. They wont move there until it is already happened. Part of Spurg’s appeal for me was that it didnt have those johnny-come-lately hipsters trying to get in on the next big thing after the fact.
[pretentious self-mocking font]It’s the real visionaries like us who blaze the trails fro their ilk. [/pretentious self-mocking font]
I still think Spartanburg will really succeed as Charlotte continues to grow. Maybe a high-speed train from Spartanburg to downtown Charlotte? Can you imagine? The difference in property txes and home prices would send people to spurg overnight. you could seel your house to them at a profit and move to Traveler’s Rest. That is where i hope to retire,, just to have that as my address. Do you spose ‘drivel-ha’ lives there?
Can you imagine? The difference in property txes and home prices would send people to spurg overnight. you could seel your house to them at a profit and move to Traveler’s Rest. That is where i hope to retire,, just to have that as my address. Do you spose ‘drivel-ha’ lives there?
Traveler’s Rest does have a catchy name. And I think they have a decent cafe there, too.
To address your point: I’m guessing that I’ll be able to sell my house here at a very handsome profit in maybe two years. I wouldn’t dare sell it before the new downtown colleges open, because there won’t be real demand until then. In five years, I’m guessing we’ll be seeing Asheville-like profit margins (although still low prices, by Asheville standards).
Word to the wise: If you want to get in on the housing/real estate boom, look at Spartanburg before the spring of 2010. That’s when the business school opens.
