Magnolia Place Activity, and Greenville Leads SC Population Growth

AARP Ranks Greenville, SC Top Place to Live
The AARP recently ranked Greenville as their second best place to live, coming in behind only Tuscon, Arizona. They noted that after 30 years of redevelopment, you will enjoy the pedestrian-oriented downtown atmosphere described as "family-friendly from penny candy to goat cheese pizza". The Swamp Rabbit Trail, a multi-use trail converted from an old rail line, drew accolades as a progressive way to link parks and neighborhoods. Plus, an average commute of 19 minutes from a median home value of $151,080 with 220 days of sunshine makes the city very attractive for easy living. One of the little known facts about Greenville is that due to local employers BMW, Michelin, and Fluor, Greenville claims one of the highest international-investment-per-capita levels in the U.S.

Activity at Magnolia Place
If you are driving along Woodruff Road near the Costco where the recession-idled Magnolia Park Town Center sits, you will see there is finally some activity taking place. Rooms To Go has started the site preparation for its new 35,000 square foot store that will replace the current one on Haywood Road. That is the first sign of new development since Costco built their new store back in 2007, although developer Menin is working on a sizeable tenant to take some of the 150,000 square feet of old mall space still available. Future development at Magnolia Park will include an additional 400,000 square feet of retail, 375,000 square feet of office, and one or two hotels.

Foreign Films at Cherrydale
For movie fanatics who enjoy independent and foreign-release films, the Regal Cherrydale cinemas will dedicate one screen for these types of films. The Upstate Film Society has worked with Cherrydale for several years on their spring and fall film festivals, but this is the first attempt to consistently bring this genre to the Greenville audience. The opening film was "The Hurt Locker", a grand prize winner at 2009 Venice Film Festival about a bomb squad working on roadside explosives in Iraq. This film was held over for a week due to overwhelming response and Food Inc started last Friday, a documentary about the food industry. Check out the Upstate Film Society's site for upcoming shows.

Census Shows Upstate Leading in Growth
According to the US Census Bureau, Greenville County led the state in population growth between the Julys of 2007-2008 with 10,000 new residents added. Most of these came as relocation which accounted for 74% of the growth. In geographic terms, most of the growth was in the southern and eastern portion of the county; south of US highway 29 (Wade Hampton Blvd) and east of US highway 276 & I-385. This takes in the areas known as the Eastside of Greenville, Greer, Mauldin, the Woodruff Road corridor, and the eastern Simpsonville region. Greenville County is the most densely populated in the state with about 438,000 residents; neighboring counties Spartanburg and Anderson have 280,000 and 182,000 residents respectively.

Mauldin was the fastest growing city in the Upstate and fourth in South Carolina over the same time period. Mauldin's population increased 7.7% over that time due to annexation of the Pineforest and Oakforest subdivisions, as well as several other key expansions. Mauldin is centrally located near the intersection of I-85 and I-385 and has focused on city services, particularly capital projects to improve the city and its schools. The city recently landed a new Samsung service center and announced the expansion of local business Innegrity LLC. Greer has been a perennial growth winner due to extensive annexations, but came in second with 5.2% in population growth and ranked number 12 in the state.


Current Weather
It will be hot early in the week with highs in the 90s but should cool off on Wednesday with highs dropping into the 80s. A chance of thundershowers will prevail throughout the week.

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New Homes for Sale Listings on our Website

A beautiful thing has come to our website...

NEW GREENVILLE Homes for Sale QUICK SEARCHES. The quick searches allow you to search the entire Greenville County Multiple Listing with pre-set searches.

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