Does Columbia have an identity?

[Desert Power]

I think Columbia certainly has an identity, I just don't really think it is the identity that most of the residents want to identify with.

Things like the City Ballet, the art museum, and the Nick give the city an artsy feel with high quality that is unusual in this region of the country. Unfortunately this is a small part of the population that engages in these activities.

[CorgiMatt]

Really just having the identity as a state capital goes a long way toward conveying an image of being more socially progressive than the average city.

[krazeeboi]

Really just having the identity as a state capital goes a long way toward conveying an image of being more socially progressive than the average city.

[CorgiMatt]

Just the word on the street in all of my 50 years has been that state capitals tend to be more socially progressive.

[goodbye]

I think Columbia certainly has an identity, I just don't really think it is the identity that most of the residents want to identify with.

Things like the City Ballet, the art museum, and the Nick give the city an artsy feel with high quality that is unusual in this region of the country. Unfortunately this is a small part of the population that engages in these activities.

[krazeeboi]

Just the word on the street in all of my 50 years has been that state capitals tend to be more socially progressive.

[krazeeboi]

I hate to be the one to break it to you, but in my opinion both Asheville and Charleston blow Columbia out of the water in regards to the high quality "artsy" factor. Perhaps it is simply the size of their arts communities, but they certainly seem to have much more going on in that particular realm. I am not attempting to diminish Columbia's growing arts community, just sharing what I consider to be a reality in this region of the country. The great thing is that none of these cities, including Greenville, Augusta, and Savannah, has monopolized the industry to a point where the arts cannot thrive in all of them. It seems that this is exactly what is happening to a very successful degree.

[monsoon]

Is Columbia more socially progressive than the other major cities in SC? I would say yes, but it doesn't have anything to do with the fact that it is the state capital. I think it has more to do with the fact that USC is located right in the city and the fact the Army trains a huge number of recruits there at Ft. Jackson. Both have the effect of bringing lots of fairly young people and their families from all over the country right into the city.

Charleston in comparison does have some of these same characteristics and it is a well known tourist destination, but despite this, the place is very socially conservative. The artsy nature that once briefly existed there has been replaced by corporate America. Charleston sold out its soul to money interests over the last decade or so. It's a shame to see it gone.

I always considered the upstate to be the most conservative area of SC. This is borne out by the politics and other institutions in the area. Clemson U. might be considered an exception to this, but it is not really a school that is focused on such issues. I think this mostly has to do with the type of societies that developed there immediately after the Civil War related to the textile industry.

[CorgiMatt]

Columbia is known all over the world in the dance community. And staged theatre here is edgy and full of talent. The visual arts are on a roll in their growth here. Visual art here isn't as immediately visible as in tourist-driven cities, but it's here. Columbia is full of serendipity.

Speaking of tourism, the increase in Columbia's hotel occupancy rate so far this has been bigger than any other market's in the state according to Temple Ligon in today's The Columbia Star. Maybe it's the growing visual art scene that has people flocking in. Good thing they're building so many new hotels.

[waccamatt]

I don't think Columbia's role as a state capital drives its progressiveness, but the number of college students (and thus professors, etc.) has a huge influence. There are over 50,000 college students in the Columbia area. Columbia's arts community is strong, as well, with the only art house movie theater - Nickelodeon - in the state and the only professional theater - Trustus - in South Carolina. Don't forget we additionally have the oldest community theater in the country (Town), 2 ballets, the symphony, Art Museum, State Museum, Children's Museum and Zoo.

[CorgiMatt]

Well, my partner who majored in political science just said he thinks that, usually, being a state capital tends to make a city more progressive (Maybe the word is liberal.) than the average city. Madison, Wisconsin comes to mind, for instance. I think the more educated a populace is the more likely it is to be liberal/socially progressive, and state capitals usually have a higher percentage of college graduates than the average city.

[krazeeboi]

Charleston in comparison does have some of these same characteristics and it is a well known tourist destination, but despite this, the place is very socially conservative. The artsy nature that once briefly existed there has been replaced by corporate America. Charleston sold out its soul to money interests over the last decade or so. It's a shame to see it gone.

[krazeeboi]

Well, my partner who majored in political science just said he thinks that, usually, being a state capital tends to make a city more progressive (Maybe the word is liberal.) than the average city. Madison, Wisconsin comes to mind, for instance. I think the more educated a populace is the more likely it is to be liberal/socially progressive, and state capitals usually have a higher percentage of college graduates than the average city.

[Spartan]

I think we need to clarify two things here.

1) What is the definition of "progressive" in this case? Are we talking strictly from a social standpoint?

2) Universities do have a tendency to skew things towards the left. But do y'all think that in medium to large cities like Columbia, Raleigh, Austin, Madison, etc it is truly the universities that are the cause, or is it just the tendency for urban places to identify more with liberals?

Columbia may indeed be a left leaning place (which is a very relative phrase in SC), but I would hardly call it "socially progressive."

[krazeeboi]

I think that universities assist in the leftward trending inherent in many urban areas. But simply being an urban place is not really a guarantee that that particular area will lean to the left. I can think of a few urban areas that are more conservative in nature, such as Greenville, Jacksonville, San Diego, Fort Worth, etc. Taking this year's election into account, no county in Oklahoma turned blue, including the home counties of OKC and Tulsa, two significantly-sized cities.

[digital_sandlapper]

I think we need to clarify two things here.

1) What is the definition of "progressive" in this case? Are we talking strictly from a social standpoint?

2) Universities do have a tendency to skew things towards the left. But do y'all think that in medium to large cities like Columbia, Raleigh, Austin, Madison, etc it is truly the universities that are the cause, or is it just the tendency for urban places to identify more with liberals?

Columbia may indeed be a left leaning place (which is a very relative phrase in SC), but I would hardly call it "socially progressive."

[CorgiMatt]

Last night I asked a bartender who is an engineer by day where she is from. She said Greenville originally, but that she had lived in Atlanta for 25 years. I asked how long she has been in Columbia and she said two years. I asked her how she likes it and she said she loves it. She said, "It's the sweetest big city I've ever lived in." How's that for an identity?

I told her I've been thinking recently that Columbia has a somewhat majestic look with the capitol, the wide tree-lined avenues draped across gently rolling hills, and the columns on so many of its buildings, and that it is a charming city, and that I've been calling it the majestic charmer. She agreed.

[CorgiMatt]

"Columbia is such a great city, a capital city, with a great university...": Mayor Joe Riley, Charleston, September 16, 2009, The State. "Attracting somebody for either of those positions (city manager and chief financial officer) will not be hard." This was Mayor Riley's opinion Tuesday, after saying that getting a great city manager and a great CFO would ordinarily be a big challenge for anyone running for mayor.