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Some Things You Dislike About Columbia


sonofaque86

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All of you have made good points. Krazee, especially. I hope that Innovista can create the business synergy that Cola needs. As for manufacturing, you don't want to have alot of it overseas. You need to have things like car, airplane, computer, or other technology plants. The city needs to produce things. However, the city has to have more than just the university to attract the businesses. The city needs appeal...and I mean appeal from a broad perspective. Cola is not exactly the most popular city in the state, but that is due to Cola maybe lacking in a few things. I'm not going to bash Cola everybody, just list a few things that Cola needs to work on to become a destination city: a better atmosphere, the friendliness of the citizens, the amenities (not cultural, but family-oriented activities), and cleanliness.

The city does have fun things to do such as the State Museum and the zoo. But what else would draw family-oriented business people here? You can't exactly go the museum and zoo multiple times for a totally different experience. Yes, there's USC sports, but college sports has a tendency to ostracize incoming people who have no affiliation with the school.

I've said this before, Cola has seriously under-utilized its water resources. Lake Murray should have several lakeside resorts along with maybe an amusement park. The rivers should have restaurant and retail development around them, like San Antonio's Riverwalk. If Cola had these things, the city would have more momentum to surpass the other Big 2 in population and importance to the state.

Surpass what big 2 in population and importance? Columbia already has the largest population of any city in SC...and the importance thing is debatable.

That is a very good point, and goes right along with my earlier mentioned dislike. :)

Well at least Columbia HAS sports. :)

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BryCola, while Columbia may be the largest of the Big Three municipally (and even then, the lead over Charleston isn't significant at all), Columbia, Charleston, and Greenville are all essentially the same size. I think Charleston_native means a lead in population and importance like Miami has over all the other major cities in Florida.

I'm not going to bash Cola everybody, just list a few things that Cola needs to work on to become a destination city: a better atmosphere, the friendliness of the citizens, the amenities (not cultural, but family-oriented activities), and cleanliness.

CN, are you saying that folks in the "Capital of Southern Hospitality" are unfriendly? Perish the thought! :P

As far as the cleanliness factor, I can somewhat understand where you're coming from. While the city is certainly no Detroit, it's not exactly Norfolk either. However, one good thing about this is that the city is taking steps toward making the city a cleaner place with its streetscaping programs. I think the Two Notch streetscaping has given that area much better appeal, and the section of Main that has been streetscaped looks better as well. Plans have been announced for N. Main, a section of town that could really use it. One of the drawbacks to streetscapings, however, is that the streets look like a war zone in the process. But it will be worth it in the end. I actually like the somewhat gritty feel of the Vista though; after all, it was an industrial warehouse district. It somewhat authenticates the place. Same goes for the mill villages. Clean is good, but not to the point of feeling sterile like some cities have done. But you do want areas to have visual appeal, which is necessary.

The city does have fun things to do such as the State Museum and the zoo. But what else would draw family-oriented business people here? You can't exactly go the museum and zoo multiple times for a totally different experience. Yes, there's USC sports, but college sports has a tendency to ostracize incoming people who have no affiliation with the school.
Do you have some specific things in mind, CN? I think Columbia's nature-based attractions make for one of the city's biggest assets: the Greenway (still being developed), Congaree Nat'l Park, several city parks, Harbison State Forest, Sesquicentennial State Park, etc.

Point taken about USC sports, which is definitely understandable. Oh well, there is the Inferno and the possibility of an arena football team as well. Who knows about baseball? The summer league Blowfish and the USC team will have to do for now.

I've said this before, Cola has seriously under-utilized its water resources. Lake Murray should have several lakeside resorts along with maybe an amusement park. The rivers should have restaurant and retail development around them, like San Antonio's Riverwalk.

Excellent point. The only thing about the downtown riverfront property is that it has been privately held by the Guignard family for so long. Now that the family is working with the city and USC, hopefully we'll see Columbia's strongest downtown asset finally spring to life.

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Surpass what big 2 in population and importance? Columbia already has the largest population of any city in SC...and the importance thing is debatable...

Well at least Columbia HAS sports. :)

In reference to your last comment, Cola has sports as opposed to what? Chas and G'ville don't have any? :rolleyes: Krazee summed up my point perfectly earlier, especially since the subject of the how large the Big 3 are has been debated to death. Cola may still be the largest municipality in SC, but its lead is much smaller with Chas gaining population. Anyway, the point is that our metro areas are basically similar in size currently.

Krazee: I know it sounds crazy, but from my experiences, "The Capital of Southern Hospitality" has fallen short of its namesake. ;) I expected people to be very friendly here, but I've been here for almost 3 years (my wife has been here almost 1) and we have yet to find good friendships that we had in other cities we lived in. It's been disappointing to say the least.

As far as family-oriented attractions, parks are good, but they need to be more than just greenspaces. Richland County needs to build up its recreation department much like Chas County. Chas County has many different parks spread out through the metro area offering things like camping, boat rentals (including kayaks, canoes, and even paddle boats), climbing walls, bike rentals, and as sonofaque also mentioned, water parks. If Richland offered these amenities or promoted them more if they have them, many people would realize that there is alot to do in the Cola area.

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I really haven't noticed a difference in the "friendliness" factor myself between the different regions of the state. However, the vast majority of the Katrina evacuees who have relocated to Columbia speak very highly of the hospitality and friendliness of the people there.

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Columbia the "Capital of Southern hospitality?" :huh: That's a new one on me. I have found people to be less friendly there than in the Upstate, which is very friendly, but not as friendly as other places I've been to (mostly small towns). :(

My personal experience has been that the Upstate tends to only be friendly to those that fit their "image"; people with differences are shunned.

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I like alot of things about cola. But the number 1 thing that gets me is the geography. Everytime I go there I just get a weird feeling as it's so country. I meen it's a good size city but it just seems spaced out for some reason. My fam lives off two notch and down off leesburg so that might be a reason. Keep in mind I'm used to the piedmont and columbia is on the fall line so.... the sandy soil is kinda of weird to me.

The soil types around Columbia vary widely. The sandy area is only a strip running from the southeat to the northeast. There's also clay and very dark, very fertile soil. After all, it wasn't named Richland (rich land) County for nothing.

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My personal experience has been that the Upstate tends to only be friendly to those that fit their "image"; people with differences are shunned.

I understand that you say this from your own perspective, but in defence of Greenville, you'd be very surprised by how many so-called "different" people live here without being "shunned." Other areas of the Upstate may be less friendly, I can't say. I can't agree with you about Greenville being that way, but you are completely entitled to an opinion. ;)

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Columbia the "Capital of Southern hospitality?" :huh: That's a new one on me. I have found people to be less friendly there than in the Upstate, which is very friendly, but not as friendly as other places I've been to (mostly small towns). :(

It's funny you bring that up, Sky. My wife has a few friends from college who moved to the Greenville area, and she always mentions how friendly the people are up there. I've noticed that as well. She wants me to investigate job opportunities up there when I graduate, but I don't think I could stand to live that far from the beach! ;) I still see G'ville and Chas people as being friendlier, though. The people here do not seem as warm and open as other people in the Upstate and Lowcountry have been. And that's just my opinion, ladies and gentlemen.

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It's funny you bring that up, Sky. My wife has a few friends from college who moved to the Greenville area, and she always mentions how friendly the people are up there. I've noticed that as well. She wants me to investigate job opportunities up there when I graduate, but I don't think I could stand to live that far from the beach! ;) I still see G'ville and Chas people as being friendlier, though. The people here do not seem as warm and open as other people in the Upstate and Lowcountry have been. And that's just my opinion, ladies and gentlemen.

Well, every time I have visited Charleston and spent much time (an evening) in the company of Charlestonians, without fail it has never taken long for them to start bashing Columbia. This has happened without them knowing they had a Columbian among them, and it has happened in response to their finding out I live in Columbia. Polite, my foot. It's silly to talk about what city is friendlier than any other. I have lived in Washington, D.C., and have spent a fair amount of time in Manhattan. People are people everywhere you go. There are friendly ones and there are crab apples.

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Well, every time I have visited Charleston and spent much time (an evening) in the company of Charlestonians, without fail it has never taken long for them to start bashing Columbia. This has happened without them knowing they had a Columbian among them, and it has happened in response to their finding out I live in Columbia. Polite, my foot. It's silly to talk about what city is friendlier than any other. I have lived in Washington, D.C., and have spent a fair amount of time in Manhattan. People are people everywhere you go. There are friendly ones and there are crab apples.

I'm sorry if the Charlestonians were rude to you. If they were going to state their opinion about Cola, they should have done it in a less degrading way. You're right, some of my friends in Chas also bash Cola when I'm visiting. I think some of their opinions are well-founded, however. Most of those friends used to live in Cola, and they had bad or not-so-special experiences there. Some of them just did not like the different culture in the city. Let's face it, Cola and Chas are different culturally. From what I've seen, people in my hometown have more of a beachcomber attitude; many people are laid back, unhindered from "protocol", and genuine when dealing with their friends. Many residents are warm and polite.

Let's put it this way: I'm a very outgoing person. I consider myself very confident and able to make friendships which can last my lifetime. I've done it in many other cities, and as a result, I have numerous friends from around the country. I've been unable to obtain valuable friendships here AT ALL. It took my wife and I many visits to different churches to finally settle on one. Even at church, we haven't been able to form close, tight relationships which we treasured while living in Chas and Greenwood.

I even have family that live here, and none of them ever bothered inviting me to dinner or reached out to me when I came here as a single person going to PT school! They would merely mention it if I ever saw them in a public place, but never follow up on it.

I hate that Cola has left a "mediocre" taste in my mouth. I wanted to really like it. I do appreciate the city for what it DOES offer, but this is only in comparison to desolate, smaller cities I used to be stationed in (Cheyenne, WY and Lompoc, CA).

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CN, I can somewhat understand the church attitude, but I've also learned to somewhat categorize my experiences in a city. Currently I attend a church in Charlotte. The first few times I starting going, I didn't necessarily feel ostracized, but I didn't exactly feel welcome either. But at the same time, I find Charlotteans to generally be a friendly bunch.

Now as far as your family is concerned, you sure you want to blame that on Columbia? ;)

But overall I agree with Corgi; I don't label entire cities are "friendly" or "rude" (and yes, I've been to NYC), but it's just that all cities have friendly and not-so-friendly people in them. Lord knows my stereotypes were shattered when I visited LA and DC and came across some of THE most friendly people I've ever met before, even friendlier than many in the "genteel South."

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Also, in defense of Columbia, it seems to get beat up on more than just about any other large city in the state, justifiable or not. But I also find that, by and large, the city takes criticism in stride better than just about any other city in SC. The city also seems to be more honest and vocal about its shortcomings. This is evident from the Free Times article I posted earlier, as well as The State performing a survey of residents in the area about what they feel Columbia needs or should have.

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No kidding about LA it was alot "friendlier" than what I thought it would be? And yeah Columbians may have a tinge of cynicism and tend to see life as it is. But just with any city there are good things and bad things the only thing that matters is what one plans to do about it, that's it.

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Most definitely. A friend of mine in LA was moving into a new apartment the week I came to visit him. Two of his neighbors, one from NYC and the other from LA, were very friendly and hospitable; they even cooked for us! Now if THAT isn't friendly, I don't know what is. Ask me has that ever happened once to me in the South. <_<

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Calling Columbia or any other city unfriendly is WAY off base! Columbia is a friendly as can be--super people! Charleston is too, but I witnessed MUCH more of a clique mentality, if you will, while living there.

I am lucky enough to now have the nicest, most wonderful group of co-workers that I have EVER had in my professional career here in Columbia. The gang I worked with in Charleston seemed more concerned with status than forming true friendships. It was so childish, and left me cold. I hate to say it, but Charleston does have this reputation (for being snobby), and I was particularly dismayed to find it was somewhat true. Don't get me wrong, once I found a clique or two of my own, I was fine. But I just resented having to resort to such pettiness!

Some people just DO NOT give a place a chance. If you feel you are getting the cold shoulder someplace, its usually your imagination, but perhaps its not the town for you. However, I won't hold a grudge against a CITY for what was my own perceived (most of the time) or real hurt feelings or episodes of feeling left out. Don't be so sensitive, people--suck it up!

In the meantime, let's be nice, and stop this endless "my city is better than yours" stuff--they ALL have their pros and cons. I love all our wonderful Big 3 cities, warts and all!

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Calling Columbia or any other city unfriendly is WAY off base! Columbia is a friendly as can be--super people! Charleston is too, but I witnessed MUCH more of a clique mentality, if you will, while living there.

I am lucky enough to now have the nicest, most wonderful group of co-workers that I have EVER had in my professional career here in Columbia. The gang I worked with in Charleston seemed more concerned with status than forming true friendships. It was so childish, and left me cold. I hate to say it, but Charleston does have this reputation (for being snobby), and I was particularly dismayed to find it was somewhat true. Don't get me wrong, once I found a clique or two of my own, I was fine. But I just resented having to resort to such pettiness!

Some people just DO NOT give a place a chance. If you feel you are getting the cold shoulder someplace, its usually your imagination, but perhaps its not the town for you. However, I won't hold a grudge against a CITY for what was my own perceived (most of the time) or real hurt feelings or episodes of feeling left out. Don't be so sensitive, people--suck it up!

In the meantime, let's be nice, and stop this endless "my city is better than yours" stuff--they ALL have their pros and cons. I love all our wonderful Big 3 cities, warts and all!

Everyone keeps saying, "stop the slug-fest between the big 3," but then proceeds to throw the next punch at the other two. It's rather funny, but it comes down to personal preference and not which city actually is the most friendly. If you are a longtime Columbia resident, you'll defend Columbia regardless of the debate. The same goes for the other cities, so that in the end, no one on this board can really change another person's mind about anything. Each person has their own experiences and forms opinions based on those experiences. ^_^

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I'm sorry if the Charlestonians were rude to you. If they were going to state their opinion about Cola, they should have done it in a less degrading way. You're right, some of my friends in Chas also bash Cola when I'm visiting. I think some of their opinions are well-founded, however. Most of those friends used to live in Cola, and they had bad or not-so-special experiences there. Some of them just did not like the different culture in the city. Let's face it, Cola and Chas are different culturally. From what I've seen, people in my hometown have more of a beachcomber attitude; many people are laid back, unhindered from "protocol", and genuine when dealing with their friends. Many residents are warm and polite.

Let's put it this way: I'm a very outgoing person. I consider myself very confident and able to make friendships which can last my lifetime. I've done it in many other cities, and as a result, I have numerous friends from around the country. I've been unable to obtain valuable friendships here AT ALL. It took my wife and I many visits to different churches to finally settle on one. Even at church, we haven't been able to form close, tight relationships which we treasured while living in Chas and Greenwood.

I even have family that live here, and none of them ever bothered inviting me to dinner or reached out to me when I came here as a single person going to PT school! They would merely mention it if I ever saw them in a public place, but never follow up on it.

I hate that Cola has left a "mediocre" taste in my mouth. I wanted to really like it. I do appreciate the city for what it DOES offer, but this is only in comparison to desolate, smaller cities I used to be stationed in (Cheyenne, WY and Lompoc, CA).

If your opinions of Columbia, and Charleston, come out in everyday conversation around Columbia the way they do in the Columbia thread, maybe that's why you've had problems making friends in here. I have found that Columbia's local news media, both TV and print, have no problems paying compliments to SC's other cities and their happenings. I read the Post and Courier daily, and I never, I repeat never see anything complimentary about Columbia or its happenings in that medium. Never.

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