Thanks for all the great replies!! We're looking from Greenville to Aiken and anyplace in between, so we're looking for any suggestions. We're open to the amount of property and we'd like to live in an area with an active downtown, though we don't want to live in the downtown. we'd like to have things to do and see like local events and festivals, restaurants, antiques, shopping, friendly people who won't make a northern feel like an outsider, hiking, natural water (lakes, streams, waterfalls) historic sites, etc. I will be retired, so we'll have a fixed income and we need to be able to live as cheaply as possible. Thanks!!!
Judging what you just described, Greenville or the rural areas around it seem perfect. Hiking trails in the beautiful mountains are plentiful and closeby. There are many large lakes for boating, fishing, and canoeing (lake jocasse is my favorite, absolutely beautiful and with an undeveloped shoreline). Pisgah Forest is one of the original public areas for hiking and camping and within an hours drive. The downtown area is vibrant with several festivals highlighting area restaurants and art and crafts. The nightlife there is fun, filled with families and pedestrians at many restaurants and bars. There is a weekly downtown open air market in season selling locally grown produce, berries, products etc. it's quite popular. The Peace Center has a variety of cultural events, symphonies, operas, and Broadway shows ( I'm going to see "Wicked" soon, and their calendar is full). The DuPont forest is closeby, famous for its waterfalls and hiking, horseback riding trails, and mountain bike trails. The last of the Mohicans was filmed there. Asheville NC is an hours drive and it is fun to visit for its beauty and quirky traits.
Look at anywhere in Greenville county, but the northern part is the prettiest. Pickens county is also nice, but further from the downtown of Greenville. The northern part has the best of both worlds. It's close to the mountains, lakes, hiking trails, whitewater rivers and streams, but also just a short drive to the urban center and what it has to offer. And traffic is minimal and land is not ridiculously priced. Travelers Rest is a sleepy town that is beginning to awaken, as it was just linked to Greenville by the opening of a rails to trail pathway ( the Swamp Rabbit Trail) which is a paved biking/walking path. It's about 15 miles between the two, but this trail system is expanding. On weekends it is filled with cyclists, runners, etc and just families out for fresh air. We often bike to TR for lunch or to visit the bakery. Other nearby towns fun to visit are Saluda NC, Landrum SC (a great antique shopping destination), Tryon (the center of Hunt Country) and the Blockhouse Steeplechase, Asheville (home to the famous Biltmore house, built by the Vanderbilts last century) , Hendersonville ( the Apple Festival) , etc. or drive 3 hours to Charleston, with its rich Southern history and beaches. The Blue Ridge Parkway also is beautiful, especially in the Fall. But forget the infamous "Grand Strand" of Myrtle Beach. It's horrible and unappealing.
Weather is mild. It snows perhaps several times a year. And just the prediction of snow results in school closings and businesses closing down. It's actually funny.
Since Michelin and BMW came, Greenville transformed from a old south textile center with numerous mill villages and little technology or industry, to a center of a growing automotive and high tech business. This brought a diversity that this area needed, so being from NY (or France or Germany) is no longer unusual. Whereas other Southern towns may be a little more, shall we say, stuck in old habits.
