There are number of non-profit organization that welcome newcomers to our beautiful city Greenville, SC. People are moving here from all over the world, not only from Florida, California or New York City, but also from from Canada, France, Germany and Japan, from Central and South America and Africa. People are coming for jobs, to retire or because they are attracted by affordability and natural beauty of the Upstate South Carolina.

Those moving from other countries face a myriad of new challenges, they might have to overcome a language barrier, and very often at least a mild cultural shock. The newcomers have to get their South Carolina Driver License, rent or buy a house, find a good school for their children, figure out how to spend their leisure time and take the full advantage of all the best that Upstate lifestyle can offer, and last but not least find their favorite ethnic food. However, what they are often missing the most, and what they need the most are friends, new friends and sense of belonging to new community.

One of the places that can offer unqualified help and assistance for newcomers from abroad is a non-profit organization: The International Center of the Upstate (ICU). I am myself a proud member of this fine, community based organization.

According to ICU web page InternationalUpstate.org
"The International Center of the Upstate (ICU) is a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting cross-cultural understanding for individuals, businesses and the community in the Upstate of South Carolina. Since its inception in 1999, the ICU has helped many newcomers settle into the Upstate of South Carolina and to enjoy other cultures. More than 70 countries on six continents have been represented in the ICU since 1999. This rich cultural mix among its members makes the ICU a great organization for meeting new people from all around the world in a warm, informal atmosphere."

Next time you meet an international newcomer looking for a friendly cheer-up and some help with moving to  and settling down in Greenville,  you can surely mention International Center of Upstate. The people there not only offer help with everyday nuisances a newcomer is facing but also friendship. Call ICU and talk with one the members or just call me for more information and little chat.

Some of the resources and guide for people moving and relocating to Greenville can be found on my webpage DorotaMatys.com, you are more than welcome to drop by!

Good news for real estate agents and all other heavy cell phone users.

Wireless service should soon get better and offer more advanced features around Greenville, Spartanburg and Clemson. At&T will upgrade and expand service including deployment of third generation 3G broadband mobile network in early 2008. According to wikipedia.com : "3G technologies enable network operators to offer users a wider range of more advanced services while achieving greater network capacity through improved spectral efficiency. Services include wide-area wireless voice telephony and broadband wireless data, all in a mobile environment. Typically, they provide service at 5-10 Mb per second".
For mobile services users that means not only improved voice access, but also high speed internet, data transfer and wireless entertainment with quality comparable to that at home and in office.
Following cell sites/towers will be added:

•     State Scenic Highway 11, east of Table Rock State Park
•     North of Highway 492 (Pelham Road) in Greer
•     Eastern Spartanburg
•     U.S. Highway 221 and the surrounding commercial and residential areas in Spartanburg

Since 2004, At&T has invested nearly $230 million on wireless service adding capacity and growing its 3G network in South Carolina.

For those planning to move, relocate to Greenville and newcomers here is a mini guide to popular wireless service providers in Greenville and Upstate South Carolina.

Sprint
www.sprint.com
765 Haywood Road, Greenville,SC 29607

AT&T
www.att.com/wireless
Cingular Wireless
2015 Augusta Street, Greenville, SC 29605

Suncom
1538 Poinsett Hwy, Greenville, SC 29609
http://www.suncom.com/

Verizon
1137D Woodruff Rd, Greenville, SC 29607
www.verizonwireless.com
   
Sprint
www.sprint.com
765 Haywood Road, Greenville,SC 29607

Alltel - Cellular Wireless
www.alltel.com
1618 Woodruff Road Suite B, Greenville, SC 29607

Gardening is one of favorite pastime of homeowners in Greenville. However, it is not without some challenges. The soil in Greenville area is mostly red-clay, and only well-established gardens can boast black topsoil accumulated from years of gardening. Beware also of a few frost days with the last one to be expected mid-April.

Apart from big box nursery sections in stores such as Walmart, Lowe’s and Home Depot there are quite a few local nurseries. Those nurseries offer not only top quality plants but also excellent service and professional advice how to select right plants for your garden and how to make sure they will flourish for years to come.

Some of the popular nurseries in Greenville area

Lichtenfelt Nurseries http://www.lichtenfelt.com (great selection and beautiful display garden)

South Pleasantburg Nursery http://www.growise.com/spleasantburg.htm (roses, hostas, very nice water garden)

Martin Nursery http://www.martinnursery.com (children favorite, they love the play-house!, good selection of tropical and house plants)

Growers Outlet http://yellowpages.southcarolina.com/Growers+Outlet.262135.107894834.home.html

(competitive pricing, check Greenville Journal for weekly advertising)

Underwood Nursery http://www.underwoodnursery.net/page4.html  (check out their very informative website, a must for every water garden aficionado)

The Garden Treasury http://www.thegardentreasury.com/

If you have questions about combating pesky japanese beetles or amending tough red clay soil you can count on your fellow gardeners as there is very active discussion forum focused on gardening in Carolinas on www.gardenweb.com:

http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/carolgard

and also more general forum for all southern states site:

http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/south

If you are looking for roses that grow well in South Carolina climate visit Upstate rose nurseries:
There are two not far away from Greenville, one in Landrum and another in Laurens.

http://www.ashdownroses.com/ Ashdown Roses, 2220 S Blackstock Rd, Landrum, SC 29322, (864) 468-4900

http://www.rosesunlimitedownroot.com/ Roses Unlimited, 363 N. Deerwood Dr., Laurens, SC 29360
 

If you know any other place that could be of interest for gardeners you are welcome to add further links.

Greenville seems to be increasingly a very attractive place to live. Not only Greenville is one of the most affordable places in US (20th lowest cost of living) but also one of the trendy ones with scoring respectable 80th place in "creative class" and 95th in "bohemian indicator". The newest best cities to live ranking can be found on Kiplinger Magazine website and is also mentioned in the local newspaper The Greenville News.

http://www.greenvilleonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2007705290351