Greenville: she's changing. I can't say I remember the "good ol' days, back when downtown was still a bunch a farmland, Sonny", but I do remember some things about this city. I do, however, remember long trips to and from my mom's job at Calvary Homes, and how, at about that time, the sun would start to set and the sky seemed to be one giant orange, sans-peel, but only for about five or ten minutes, and then the blue-gray of dusk would overtake and things would proceed into night.

 

Things have changed since I was six years old, but I'm not sure if it's the atmosphere or myself. Scratch that--it's Greenville, not just my view of her. She used to be this small, hometown-ish feeling community, but as I've matured, so has she. She nurtured me through my childhood, as warm and caring as a mother should be; she saw me through early adolescence, when everything seemed a mystery and life itself completely unworthy of living with advice and a slightly-more-aloof community to guide me; and now that I'm fast approaching legal age, she's become G-Vegas: Party Central. If I want booze, I needn't look far in Greenville; she's my just-turned-legal friend who still buys a good old bottle of Southern Comfort for her friends. I'm not too sure how I feel about these changes, but it doesn't matter: my feelings won't change anything. I'd have to say I'm excited, though. Greenville is currently projected as being ranked in the top 10 cities in America for growth rate (population and employment) over the next twenty years. She's a vibrant cultural power in this part of our state, matched only by Raleigh itself only partially because of ECU bringing in hundreds of new people every semester. People from cultures and experiences and ways of life that we just didn't know before are quickly flocking to our hometown. Some people might say it's killing her, but I'm not one of them. I look forward to seeing the new changes; I personally think the debate over the Courthouse statue was healthy for Greenville, it forced our good-old-boy politicians to look within themselves and, at the same time, look beyond, outside their way of thinking.  Greenville is changing; from the kind and nurturing parent we all used to know not that long ago to a new city that in ten years we may not even recognize. The only choice is to wait and see how she'll turn out.

 

Malcolm Heath