Canebrake custom-made for families

That's how residents describe Canebrake, a veteran subdivision surrounded by young upstarts, which lies between Greenville's home for sale on the Eastside and Greer Sc homes for sale.

Cynthia Blaich and her family moved to Canebrake 15 years ago from Charlotte. They looked for Greenville SC real estate and Greer Sc homes forl sale and a neighborhood that had swing-sets, clubhouses and children playing in the streets. They found Canebrake.

"We wanted a family-oriented neighborhood," she said.

Families define the neighborhood, residents say. Most choose their homes because all are within walking distance of Buena Vista Elementary School, consistently rated one of Greenville's best.

When students finish the fifth grade there, they go on to Riverside Middle and Riverside High School, both considered the best in the county, according to state school report cards.

"We chose Canebrake because of the schools," said Sarojini Rege, a 17-year resident. Arun and Sarojini Rege own the Indian Grocer on Laurens Road.

There's no single word to describe Canebrake.

The homes range from brick ranches to two-stories. Mature trees shade the streets and the clubhouse.

And with homes starting around $110,000, a house is within the range of most people. The houses are between 25 and 40 years old, so many residents invest a little blood, sweat and tears, they say, to give them ownership in their homes and an investment in their community.

During the summer, the community rallies around the pool and the neighborhood's SAIL swim team, a venue where Blaich said she met many of her friends. Blaich's daughter served as the coach of the team in 2003.

The young families, and couples without children like David and Shawn Hughs, keep pumping energy into the development. But it's not all about young kids and families. The Hughses said they love the subdivision because many of their neighbors have lived there for years.

"It's nice to have established neighbors," David Hughs said.

Part of the energy residents say runs through the community comes from its diversity. In addition to the young couples and empty-nesters, there are people from Europe and Asia, African Americans and native Greenvillians. It's not a cookie-cutter development: That applies to the homes, the mailboxes and the people, said Kelly Thermos, who moved to Canebrake in 1992.

"I grew up in a small town in Ohio, and this neighborhood is the closest thing I've found to that atmosphere," she said. "We didn't think we'd be here this long."

Sunny Brackin sells homes in Canebrake for Coldwell Banker/Caine Real Estate. She said many of her clients are young families.

"I like to see children walking to school," she said. "It feels like an old-time neighborhood."

Residents' block parties and children playing in the streets are common sights here. And unlike other neighborhoods in today's hectic culture, residents take time out for one another too, Thermos said.

"People come out of their houses when children play," Rege said. "The people really like each other."

Thermos remembers one night when her daughter spent the night at a friend's house. At 11:30 p.m., the phone rang. A neighbor was asking if Thermos knew her daughter was playing outside at that hour.

"You can sleep better at night if you know that if your daughter is outside at 11:30 at night, she'll get told on," she said.

Shawn Hughs said because everyone watches out for each other, it makes the entire area safer. She said she feels perfectly safe when she's home alone.

There are no major roads that cut through the neighborhood, so if someone is driving through Canebrake, "it's because they belong here," Thermos said.

Things in Canebrake are always changing, but always remaining the same, Blaich said. She remembers walking through cow pastures with her husband when they first moved in.

"We still go down and feed the ducks, and we don't have little children anymore," Blaich said.

Those pastures are other subdivisions now, but when Canebrake's trees are in full leaf, it can still feel like it's in the middle of nowhere, Hughs said. The nearest commercial development is more than a mile away.

Blaich said her husband now works in Columbia and while they've thought about moving over the years, they can't bear to leave Canebrake, even now.

"He was adamant about not leaving," she said.