I’ll admit I was taken by Greenville’s twinkling lights. The first time I set foot in the city nestled in South Carolina’s Upstate, I felt an immediate charm walking downtown beneath trees strung with white lights. Still, back in 2004, I never imagined I would stay. Greenville was growing, yes—but it felt too small for the Atlanta native in me. And if I wanted to make it in journalism, I was certain that meant living in a big city.
Twenty-two years later, I’m still here.
I’m far from alone in that decision. Greenville’s population has grown more than 4.6 percent since 2020, drawing newcomers from New Jersey, Ohio, New York, California, and Texas. The city has landed on lists from The New York Times, Travel + Leisure, and U.S. News & World Report. What those accolades don’t capture, however, is the insider’s view—the nuance of what it took to get here, and what it means to live through a period of rapid growth.
I’ve watched Greenville’s evolution with both pride and curiosity. It is a great city, but it is also one that has worked deliberately to become one. Collaboration between public and private entities has fueled much of that progress. Projects like the Peace Center, Unity Park, and The Commons food hall didn’t materialize overnight; they required sustained conversation, cooperation, and at times disagreement over values and who would ultimately benefit.
Like many cities, Greenville has faced challenges—gentrification, affordable housing shortages, and aging infrastructure among them. Measured, inclusive growth takes constant effort. That persistence may be one of Greenville’s greatest strengths.
When the once-dominant textile industry declined in the late seventies and eighties, city leaders pivoted, setting their sights on international investment and the automotive sector. Today, companies like Michelin North America, GE, and BMW Manufacturing anchor the regional economy, supporting hundreds of thousands of jobs and a broad network of businesses.
But a strong economy alone doesn’t make a city special. There is a genuine pride here—among leaders and residents alike. Downtown’s two-mile stretch of Main Street is home to more than 200 restaurants, nearly all locally owned. National retailers sit alongside independent boutiques like Augusta Twenty and We Took to the Woods. Longstanding running shops such as Run In and Fleet Feet serve both seasoned athletes and newcomers, supported by a community that shows up.
Those communities form around shared spaces, and that may be the beauty of a small city.
Greenville is big enough to find your people, yet small enough to run into someone you know at the grocery store on a random Wednesday afternoon. In an increasingly spread-out world, that intimacy matters.
“Greenville falls in the middle, smaller city that serves as the center of a million-metro area,” says Mayor Knox White, who has led the city for 25 years. “That gives us the opportunity to support a performing arts center, an entertainment arena, and a hospitality and restaurant scene…in a vibrant, livable community.”
I’ve seen that balance most clearly in Greenville’s culinary evolution. Over the past decade, chefs from Charleston, Miami, New York, Chicago, and beyond have put down roots here—drawn by affordability, natural beauty, and a better quality of life for their families. With broader recognition from the MICHELIN Guide across the South, talented culinarians no longer have to choose between career and community.
Greenville continues to grow. Others may just be discovering it—but this is why I’m still here.
