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Is Columbia the Next BIG thing


803metlife

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I have been watching Columbia since I was a kid (and I am a "young" 50 something)! I will be optimistic and plan to be around in 25 years. In the meantime, I will enjoy the ride in the years immediately ahead! We are very seriously beginning to research a purchase in urban Columbia!

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For what it's worth, I think cola has a LOT of potential, probably more than any other biggie in SC. I would list the state government, colleges, highways, central location, good size CBD as some assets that are already in place. However, I don't think it will bypass too many of its competitors to become the next big thing. As I read the list of developments on page one, they are impressive. But I would venture to say that SC other biggies (including MB) have just as impressive of a list. As do Chatanooga, Shreveport, Knoxville and probably 20 other cities in the same tier. I think it is a testament that the South is starting to finally shed some its bad reputation and becoming a more popular place to live. It will be very difficult for our tier cities to move into the next, as those (Charlotte, Austin, Richmond etc) will be growing even faster and striving to reach the first tier. Unless one of our cities begin to grow at a rate completely unprecedented for our state, we will remain third tier cities. They will just be bigger more well known versions of themselves. I am a Greenvillian of course, and i naturally have the idea that Gville is growing at this "incredible rate." But anytime I glance at Cola or Chas thread, I see there is just as much going on in thoses areas. I think I could see any of our big three (I think MB is already practically there) becoming a next big thing, or even all three of them. But I doubt that one of them will emerge as beating out the other two by any real margin. Each area has too much going for it, and have enough diffent points of focus so as not to compete with each other too much.

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For what it's worth, I think cola has a LOT of potential, probably more than any other biggie in SC. I would list the state government, colleges, highways, central location, good size CBD as some assets that are already in place. However, I don't think it will bypass too many of its competitors to become the next big thing. As I read the list of developments on page one, they are impressive. But I would venture to say that SC other biggies (including MB) have just as impressive of a list. As do Chatanooga, Shreveport, Knoxville and probably 20 other cities in the same tier. I think it is a testament that the South is starting to finally shed some its bad reputation and becoming a more popular place to live. It will be very difficult for our tier cities to move into the next, as those (Charlotte, Austin, Richmond etc) will be growing even faster and striving to reach the first tier. Unless one of our cities begin to grow at a rate completely unprecedented for our state, we will remain third tier cities. They will just be bigger more well known versions of themselves. I am a Greenvillian of course, and i naturally have the idea that Gville is growing at this "incredible rate." But anytime I glance at Cola or Chas thread, I see there is just as much going on in thoses areas. I think I could see any of our big three (I think MB is already practically there) becoming a next big thing, or even all three of them. But I doubt that one of them will emerge as beating out the other two by any real margin. Each area has too much going for it, and have enough diffent points of focus so as not to compete with each other too much.

These are good thoughts. I think what we are seeing is that "third tier" cities in the Southeastern U.S. are, in general, becoming "the next BIG thing." Movement trends, climate, livability advantages of moderate scale, and other factors are all working in our favor.

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I don't know if Columbia is the next big thing, but the South Carolina Employment Security Commission reported in its April 2006 issue of South Carolina Workforce Trends that from 2004 to 2005 the Columbia MSA had a net gain of 4,600 jobs, the most of any S.C. MSA. I knew we would come out of the slump.

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I don't know if Columbia is the next big thing, but the South Carolina Employment Security Commission reported in its April 2006 issue of South Carolina Workforce Trends that from 2004 to 2005 the Columbia MSA had a net gain of 4,600 jobs, the most of any S.C. MSA. I knew we would come out of the slump.

(from 12/31/04 to 12/31/05)

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  • 6 months later...

In the next 20 years COLUMBIA, SC will become US 4th largest city after NYC, LA and CHGO. Projected growth for Columbia is population of around 6-7 million by the year 2025. The biggest explosion in construction and population growth for Columbia will occur in 2009-2018 and on. Immigration laws will be revised by the next US President and millions of well educated specialists from Asia, Europe and Latin America will move to the United States. Many of them will end up in Columbia, SC. Columbia with it's warm and dry climate and an excellent location is already attracting thousands of newcomers.

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These are good thoughts. I think what we are seeing is that "third tier" cities in the Southeastern U.S. are, in general, becoming "the next BIG thing." Movement trends, climate, livability advantages of moderate scale, and other factors are all working in our favor.
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In the next 20 years COLUMBIA, SC will become US 4th largest city after NYC, LA and CHGO. Projected growth for Columbia is population of around 6-7 million by the year 2025. The biggest explosion in construction and population growth for Columbia will occur in 2009-2018 and on. Immigration laws will be revised by the next US President and millions of well educated specialists from Asia, Europe and Latin America will move to the United States. Many of them will end up in Columbia, SC. Columbia with it's warm and dry climate and an excellent location is already attracting thousands of newcomers.
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Good points, davidals. Concerning SC selling itself short, in the arena of education, great strides are being made by our top two universities to raise their profiles. Clemson is working vigorously toward becoming a top public university in the nation (I think it just cracked the top 20 in the latest U.S. News & World Report rankings?), and USC is becoming more of a force to be reckoned with as far as research is concerned, having just set a new record for the amount of grant funding received. And of course, there's Clemson's ICAR campus in Greenville and USC's Innovista in downtown Columbia. MUSC is also making progress and expanding. While Charleston pretty much has the concept of selling itself on lock, Columbia and Greenville are also trying to "make some more noise." It seems that Greenville is undergoing a tourism makeover of sorts, tying in many of the county's attractions into a comprehensive tourist experience. Columbia landed the National Hydrogen Association convention for 2009, something that usually goes to much bigger cities, and the increasing hotel inventory pretty much mandates that the city start going after more gatherings. So slowly, but surely, I see things coming together in the areas you speak of.

Skyliner, I agree. The city of New York itself is twice the size of this state in population. To have something bigger than NYC would extend significantly into neighboring states, probably even swallowing the border cities (Augusta, Charlotte, Savannah).

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I just wanted to see if anyone would think I was serious. NYC has become a safe and clean city, though. Cayce could be Queens, West Columbia could be Brooklyn (since it used to be called Brookland), Forest Acres could be the Bronx and Dreher Island State Park could be Staten Island. Columbia, of course, will be Manhattan.

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While I love large cities, I choose not to live in one. I like living somewhere I can live close to work and not have to deal with alot of traffic or hassle, but have plenty to do at night and on weekends. New York City is a short, inexpensive nonstop flight away and I visit whenever I wish. I like Columbia as a growing mid-sized city, but I don't need it to be the size of NYC or even Atlanta to be happy.

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Good points, davidals. Concerning SC selling itself short, in the arena of education, great strides are being made by our top two universities to raise their profiles. Clemson is working vigorously toward becoming a top public university in the nation (I think it just cracked the top 20 in the latest U.S. News & World Report rankings?), and USC is becoming more of a force to be reckoned with as far as research is concerned, having just set a new record for the amount of grant funding received. And of course, there's Clemson's ICAR campus in Greenville and USC's Innovista in downtown Columbia. MUSC is also making progress and expanding. While Charleston pretty much has the concept of selling itself on lock, Columbia and Greenville are also trying to "make some more noise." It seems that Greenville is undergoing a tourism makeover of sorts, tying in many of the county's attractions into a comprehensive tourist experience. Columbia landed the National Hydrogen Association convention for 2009, something that usually goes to much bigger cities, and the increasing hotel inventory pretty much mandates that the city start going after more gatherings. So slowly, but surely, I see things coming together in the areas you speak of.
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There are cities in SC that can definitely turn themselves into (at least regional) economic or cultural powerhouses without turning 1000 sq miles into cul-de-sacs - how can Charleston, Columbia or Greenville emulate the success of NoVA, while avoiding having a NoVA transportation catastrophe like 95 south in Woodbridge at 5PM (for example)?
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