Looking at possible job transfer to Spartanburg (Charleston, Greenville: transplants, apartment)

[KlaresWasser4189]

Whoa, wait, OP! I read your history and saw that you wrote a thread about moving to Eau Claire, WI around this time last year! Are you a troll? Nope. I really DID move to Eau Claire, or tried to, at least. But then I ran into a series of unfortunate events, such as not being able to find my own apartment, and I got lonely and homesick, and had to move back home to Virginia. I did live in Dubuque, IA five years before moving to Eau Claire, and let's just say, I am glad to be back east.


I currently work at Lidl, a German supermarket with expanding branches in the eastern US. I may have the opportunity to transfer with Lidl to Spartanburg, though I'd be taking a cut in pay to just $15/hr or so. Yes, I know. I may need to get a second job if I actually do want my own apartment, that's just the reality America is coming to. I am willing to live with roommates in a rooming house to start off, as long as it's just for a few months and not forever.



I did switch to fully online education with my community college in Eau Claire (one disaster I ran into was that in-person education at a community college feels too much like being back in high school), and fully online means the school doesn't care where I live (except I will be paying out-of-state tuition if I'm not living in WI, obviously). It's in software development, a career that will allow me to become a homeowner and all that .



While I do consider myself a "Virginia man," my grandma (Mom's side) was actually from Cheraw, SC (though she and my grandpa had settled in FL) so I DO have some SC heritage . I've been to Charleston twice and passed through SC on I-95 countless times to visit said grandma and grandpa in FL. However, I don't think I've been to the mountain region of Spartanburg/Greenville. Google images show that it looks an awful lot like Dubuque, IA. Spartanburg even has a similar clock tower to Dubuque! (Except in SC and nearby states (NC, TN, VA), I get REAL mountains, not just hills and bluffs like in IA and WI! ) Just some questions/thoughts:


Weather: Now, I really do prefer the four seasons, and I know SC is not the best place to live if I like cold, snowy winters. Even though it's super hot and humid in the summer, would you agree that Spartanburg still has "the four seasons," just milder winters? I would actually like small snowstorms, i.e. "enough to turn everything white, but not enough to cause major inconveniences and accidents on the roads." Is Spartanburg one of those southern cities where even 1-2" of snow is enough to shut the whole city down? Or not? I imagine Spartanburg is more used to snow than, say, Charleston, because the former is closer to the Great Smokies, hence higher elevation, hence more snow.



Friendships and meeting people: One big reason I left Eau Claire (and Iowa, for that matter) is because it was very hard to meet new people; in the Upper Midwest, everyone keeps their friends from.....like.....kindergarten! Five years total in both states, and I had gotten to know SO FEW people. In cities like Eau Claire, newcomers are ignored and treated like crap, causing me to get so lonely and homesick. What I need is a city "with a lot of transplants," and then it's (supposedly) really easy to make friends and get accepted into a community. Are the locals in Spartanburg "welcoming" of newcomers and/or are there a lot of other transplants there looking for new friendships? I do like church and things like Christian fellowship groups. Is Spartanburg one of those "Bible belt" cities in which if I go to church and say, "Jesus Christ is the greatest person who ever lived!", then I'll have friends?



Crime: Unfortunately, it does seem like Spartanburg can rival Detroit and St. Louis in terms of crime. Is it really that dangerous?! If I just use my common sense and stay out of the bad/crappy/shady-looking neighborhoods, I'll be fine? (Or else Google the safe neighborhoods of Spartanburg when I'm looking for my own apartment.) They (whoever "they" might be) say that even in cities like Detroit, most violent crime is perpetrated among (rival) people who know each other. In other words, don't deal drugs, don't join a gang, and you won't get murdered. Would you say that about Spartanburg?


Diversity: Northern Virginia is one of the most diverse areas in the nation. At the Lidl I work at, I hear more foreign languages than English! Now, Spartanburg, from what I gather, is either "white" or "black" (probably not unlike southern Virginia, like Richmond or Norfolk). For those of you who have lived in Spartanburg a long time, or born and raised, are there still opportunities to meet people from all over the world? I speak German and French, and some Spanish. I wouldn't really expect a huge diverse crowd in any SC town (again, SC seems to be either "white" or "black"), but I just thought I'd ask.