Greensboro is a great place to live, but like anywhere, along with its pros, it also has its cons. Part of figuring out the perfect place to settle is taking all of its attributes into consideration. To help with that, we’ve compiled a short list of the biggest pros and cons one might face in choosing the city of Greensboro as their place of residence.
Starting with the Pros,
Pro Number 1 The size of the city itself.
This could be a pro or con depending on your outlook, but with under 300,000 people, the city of Greensboro, while not considered a small city, it is definitely not considered a huge one either. That being said, even with its smaller size, it still has plenty to offer, and in a closer vicinity that some larger cities may.
Pro number 2 is the many amenities the city has to offer
Greensboro is packed with plenty of entertainment, restaurants, activities, and resources such as the Steven Tanger center of the performing arts, The Greensboro science center, Friendly center which includes an Apple store, REI, high end shops, and tons of great restaurants all in one central location.
Pro number 3 is Affordability
While the size of the city and its smaller population may be a setback for some, it allows the average price of living to be substantially lower than bigger cities such as Charlotte or Raleigh. Not only is the average cost of food, dining, utilities, etc.. lower than that of bigger cities, but most importantly, you stand to save the biggest amount of money on housing by choosing Greensboro. The Real estate median sales price for the 2nd quarter of 2021 for the US was $380,000. The average price for Greensboro was $235,000. Granted, those figures do and will fluctuate over time, but still that’s no small hop.
Pro Number 4 Is its Central Location
One of the best features about living in Greensboro is its extremely convenient distance from almost wherever one might choose to go in the state. From Greensboro, it is roughly a 2 hour drive to the mountains, and then 3 hours to the nearest beach. Additionally, to the larger surrounding cities such as Charlotte or Raleigh, you would be looking at roughly a 1.5 hour drive, depending on traffic.
Pro number 5, and most importantly, The people
People in the south, as a general stereotype would have it, are some of the nicest, most friendly folks you will come across. And not all stereotypes lack validity. For the most part, residents in the city of Greensboro who have lived elsewhere, will admit to a generally higher quality of living, and being happier and more relaxed than when they resided in larger cities.
Although the pros do tend to outweigh the cons, for the sake of transparency, we do want to let you know some of the less attractive things about the city that are important to keep in mind while choosing a place to live.
Con number 1 Crime Rate In Greensboro
Although most Greensboro residents would subscribe to the town being safe and orderly for the most part, like any city it does have its downfalls. The crime rate in Greensboro is slightly higher than the average across the country, and unfortunately, it does tend to take place mostly in the lower income areas. So, if you’re looking for a home, our suggestion to you would simply be to do a little further research.
We recommend sites such as Google Crime Maps, and Neighborghoodscout.com, Here you’ll find an overview of highest price homes vs lower priced ones, as well as top rated schools, etc… and the index on how crime affects all of the different areas differently
Other resources include the Greensboro city website, which has more detailed crime maps, the Channel 2 news, Crimemapping.com, and Niche.com, according to which over 80 % of people who voted said they genuinely felt safe in Greensboro as a whole.
Con number 2 Longer Winters
With being so centrally located, you might think that the seasons would make the most sense here, but a lot of the time they are as unpredictable as can be. In the summer it is very hot, but on the other hand, the Winters are longer than you may think, sometimes bringing snow all the way into March. Not every year, but for longtime residents, an early spring snow or ice storm is not completely unheard of. On the bright side, as is with North Carolina weather anywhere, it’s safe to expect to wake up freezing, and have to shed layers due to a 30 degree temperature increase by lunchtime.
Con number 3 The City Lacks its own identity.
The last on our list of cons is something that might not be first to come to mind when considering the negatives of moving somewhere. More of a con to the growth of the city itself, than to those who already live there, but some would say that Greensboro lacks a sense of identity. As Greensboro used to be a big textile town, since the end of that era, as much as it has to offer, what it lacks is a reputation for one special thing in particular. For example, as Winston Salem is known to be a city of arts and entertainment, Greensboro is still searching for who she wants to be. With being the ACC headquarters, home to the largest aquatic center in the country, home to the Steven Tanger Center, Is it a sports town, performing arts town, or something else? With a little more direction toward its own identity, though, there is no doubt it could really help the city to thrive
In conclusion, not to sway buyers or movers in one direction or another, but it’s always good to come equipped with all of the facts, not just the positives, when considering where to plant the seed for a home. We hope this was helpful and should you or anyone you know have any interest in moving, or any questions at all, please don’t hesitate to contact Jeff at Valentino Group, he would love to help!
