Greenville named to top 10 US cities’ lists for beauty, affordability, food

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Media outlets are running out of adjectives to describe the appeal of Greenville.

“Beautiful” and “affordable” are what Travel + Leisure settled on for its latest listing.

Greenville was named No. 3 in its “10 Most Beautiful and Affordable Places to Live in the U.S.” ranking, placing behind Hickory, N.C., and Grand Rapids, Mich.

Travel + Leisure basked its ranking from compiling data from U.S. News & World Report’s 2022 to 2023 rankings, including the most affordable places to live in the U.S. and the best places to live in the U.S.

As for Greenville, Travel + Leisure wrote that the city is “renowned for its lively downtown with exciting restaurants, unique boutiques, and picturesque views of Falls Park on the Reedy. With its newly revived downtown area, Greenville has seen a growth in its allure to prospective residents.”

It also noted Greenville’s affordability, with the median home price falling below the national average.

Greenville is also gaining momentum on the national food scene. To that end, Travel + Leisure, in a ranking published eight days’ prior to its most beautiful and affordable list, ranked Greenville No. 10 in its “Best Food Cities in the U.S.” list.

The Upstate city appears alongside heavyweights like New York City, New Orleans, Chicago and San Francisco. The magazine states that Greenville “has reinvented itself from a quiet cotton mill town to a vibrant city chock-full of unique culinary offerings rivaling larger nearby locales like Charlotte and Asheville.”

It singled out culinary standouts like Camp, Scoundrel, Topsoil (led by James Cook, a 2020 James Beard Award semifinalist) and Comal 864, which is owned by 2023 James Beard Award semifinalist Dayna Lee Marquez.