Thoughts on Columbus, GA

[ATLman1]

What do you guys think of Columbus, GA. It is a city of 200,000 with 500,000 in the metro area. It is home to a few Fortune 500 companies such as AFLAC, TSYS, and Synovus. There is a definite construction boom going on in the city. Just wanted to get some feedback on this city.

[goodbye]

I've never been to Columbus, GA. Sounds like it is not a small place though.

Could someone post a pic of the skyline, or link to one? Thanks

[ATLman1]

The skyline is spread out too much. There are a few tall buildings in the city such as AFLAC HQ which looks down on downtown Columbus. Also, the Government Center building downtown is also a great addition to the skyline. TSYS had a great opportunity to build a nice highrise, but they chose to build 3 massive 5 story buildings that are attached to each other along the banks of the Chattahoochee River. Synovus just completed a nice 5 or 6 story building along the river too. There should be more highrise buildings for a city of this size. Hopefully some will rise in the coming future!

[PghUSA]

Neat info, never realized AFLAC had their HQ there visited once I loved it! On the global or national scale a metroplex of 500k ain't much but Columbus had that just right feel to it--big enough to meet your needs but still small enough where you didn't feel overwhelmed or an outsider.

[motonenterprises]

I was under the impression that Augusta was the 2nd largest city.

[goodbye]

Thats true. I hadn't remembered that. I've been to Augusta a few times, and it really is a decently sized city, and could really grow much larger if the new interstate highway is built. I think the city population is higher in Columbus though.

[ATLman1]

Both of the cities are very similar. Fort Benning, which is located outside of Columbus, has a new brigade coming that is expected to bring 18,000+ new residents to the Columbus area in 2005. This will definitely make Columbus a larger city if it is not now. Also, Auburn/Opelika area just west of Columbus has seen a population boom which has helped boost the metro population of Columbus.

[goodbye]

Wow, more interesting facts I hadn't known. What do you project will be the momentum of growth within the CBD over the next decade or so? Could you project that in comparison to Augusta? Thanks!

[ATLman1]

It is really hard to tell. Fort Gordon in Augusta has a chance of closing creating a huge economic blow to that area. Fort Benning is growing and has over 1 BILLION in construction that is soon to begin. The Columbus Chamber of Commerce has been working hard to get more companies to locate in Columbus. Techsphere Systems is locating its headquarters in the new Muscogee Technology Park creating over 1,000 new jobs. Also, Heckler and Koch is building a huge plant to build new weapons for the army. Recently, Waggoners Trucking announced it is locating its SE HQ in Columbus. The economic outlook for Columbus for the next few years looks great. Hopefully the city will be able to continue to attract good industry like the few I have mentioned.

[PghUSA]

Military-Industrial complex . . . just as long as they keep the Air Base at PIT

[ATLman1]

What base is in Pittsburgh?

[TravisNC]

Not to be anal, but Synovus and TSYS aren't F500 companies.

As far as Columbus goes. I don't know anything about it. Atlanta seems to almost completely overshadow any other GA city. I guess that happens in a lot of states though. I've seen a few pictures of Savannah, but every other picture of GA that I've seen has been one of Atlanta.

[BrandonTO416]

What do you guys think of Columbus, GA. It is a city of 200,000 with 500,000 in the metro area. It is home to a few Fortune 500 companies such as AFLAC, TSYS, and Synovus. There is a definite construction boom going on in the city. Just wanted to get some feedback on this city.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Adjectives to describe Columbus, GA?

Depressing. Small. Backwards. Slow. Anti-Intelligence.

[bobliocatt]

I had the opportunity to drive through it on my way to Memphis, last September. Its not a very big place and its pretty spread out. Other than one street, which was full of shops, restaurants and bars, the downtown seemed pretty dead and depressed. Other than that, it was a welcoming site to see, since it was the only thing close to a city between Albany and Montgomery.

[ATLman1]

TSYS and Synovus were once voted the best place to work for in America a few years ago. TSYS is also the largest or next to the largest credit card processor in America.

[PghUSA]

What base is in Pittsburgh?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

http://www.scramble.nl/usaf.htm

The base is at Pittsburgh International Airport (which is HUGE, and has enough property to add 4 more runways if necessary). It used to be a fullfledged Air Force Base for the old Cold War Interceptors up until the mid 1990s. It is still a pretty big base but its now AF Reserve and ANG (the largest in the Pa. system). It isn't any old Reserve/ANG base however, the 911th AirWing and the 171st Air Refueling Wing are always called to the front in air support/supply capacities. I am sure PIT isn't anywhere as big as some of the "military cities" in the south but out by the airport there are a good bit of Airforce wives and "military brats" comedian Andy Dick was one and spent a lot of his childhood in Pittsburgh with an AirForce dad (that could explain a lot lol).

The units at PIT for the AirForce (the largest AF Base in the state)are:

171st Air Refueling wing including the 146th & 147th Air Squadrons, the 911th Air Wing including the 758th Squadron.

[PghUSA]

Back on topic . . . Columbus is small but I think its still a great city for it's size, all the "too small, too quiet" stuff, hey its works for me, Columbus is the perfect size not Atlanta or NYC big but still large enough to have the neccesities of urban life. Columbus is a great place in my book

[Spartan]

Columbus is actually the 3rd largest in GA.... Augusta has about 10k more people than Columbus.

[goodbye]

I wondered about that. Thanks for the info.

[ATLman1]

Augusta, GA might be a little bigger in city population, but I know it doesn't have any Fortune 500 companies like Columbus.

[appatone]

This is all news to me. I've never even heard of Columbus, Ga. Outside of Atlanta metro I'm only familiar with a few GA cities. Augusta, Savannah, Athens, and Macon. It's funny I would know these and not Columbus.

[Spartan]

It is considering that Columbus is as big as and bigger than most of those cities you mentioned. I guess that just shows how dominant Atlanta is.

[ATLman1]

Columbus is twice the size of Macon. That city is only known since it is on I-75. Athens because of UGA. I can't believe people have not heard of it. Columbus has one of the biggest, if not the biggest, army installation (Fort Benning) in the world. The base is growing like crazy and is bringing 18,000+ new soldiers and family members to the area in 2005. This will push Columbus's population way over Augusta's because both cities are very comparable in size. The only reason people have heard of Augusta is because of the Masters. Macon and Savannah are losing population. It is just hard to imagine people haven't heard of Columbus because of Fort Benning, major companies like AFLAC, Synovus, TSYS, Carmike Cinemas, Char-broil, etc.

[bobliocatt]

In actuality, Augusta is a lot bigger than Columbus. Furthermore, metro Columbus is smaller and is being outgrown by all three of the other cities. The only reason the city of Columbus isn't losing population is because its consolidated with the county.

2000 Census metro population:

Augusta-Aiken 477,441 (+15%)

Macon 322,549 (+10.9%)

Savannah 293,000 (+13.5%)

Columbus 274,624 (+5.3%)

[Spartan]

Columbus is twice the size of Macon. That city is only known since it is on I-75. Athens because of UGA. I can't believe people have not heard of it. Columbus has one of the biggest, if not the biggest, army installation (Fort Benning) in the world. The base is growing like crazy and is bringing 18,000+ new soldiers and family members to the area in 2005. This will push Columbus's population way over Augusta's because both cities are very comparable in size. The only reason people have heard of Augusta is because of the Masters. Macon and Savannah are losing population. It is just hard to imagine people haven't heard of Columbus because of Fort Benning, major companies like AFLAC, Synovus, TSYS, Carmike Cinemas, Char-broil, etc.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I didn't know that Carmike was based there. Alot of people don't know about Fort Benning, just as alot of people probably don't know about Ft. Gordon in Augusta, Ft Stewart in Savannah or Ft Jackson in Columbia, SC. These places all rely on the military to some degree.