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What Columbia is doing right & what can be improved upon


krazeeboi

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Somewhere in Lexington County, it's rumored.

After having recently returned from DC, I have to stress Columbia's focus on neighborhoods as a good thing. DC is really an awesome city, in that you don't find all of the city's urban activity downtown. As a matter of fact, for nightlife, I'd rather do the Adams Morgan, Dupont Circle, or U Street neighborhoods than downtown. I know cities are really investing in their cores right now, and rightfully so--but the vast majority of the city's residents will be found in the neighborhoods, so they should get a piece of the action. Right now, we can see this happening with Olympia. I really do hope that turns into a nightlife hotspot, eventually connecting to the stadium area, which will be its own center of activity with the condo projects going up in that area.

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This is true. DC is a different animal though. DC's downtown is centered around the big tourist things and large government buildings. That sort of forces the more typical downtown activies out a little bit. That said, the neighborhood entertainment areas are definitely something Columbia should focus on over time.

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This is true. DC is a different animal though. DC's downtown is centered around the big tourist things and large government buildings. That sort of forces the more typical downtown activies out a little bit. That said, the neighborhood entertainment areas are definitely something Columbia should focus on over time.

I love D.C. and it's nightlife. If charleston could have kept the capital D.C. would've been a great city to follow.

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  • 1 month later...

One thing that I mentioned in the first post in this thread that Columbia could (and should) improve upon is regional cooperation, specifically cooperation with Richland County, and recent happenings have demonstrated this.

First, the failure of the city to collaborate with the county concerning an animal shelter. This goes hand-in-hand with consolidating some city and county services, or at least having them under the same roof.

Secondly is the claim byRichland County Council that the city is leaving it out of decisions on serving the homeless. After pledging $100,000 toward the center, county leaders say they

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  • 2 months later...

This op-ed piece in The State says that the bickering between the city and the county could do damage to Innovista's efforts to to lure investors, workers, and companies. I never thought of this as a possible consequence of the lack of regional cooperation, but it's a rather significant one (goes back to my first point about what can be improved upon).

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This op-ed piece in The State says that the bickering between the city and the county could do damage to Innovista's efforts to to lure investors, workers, and companies. I never thought of this as a possible consequence of the lack of regional cooperation, but it's a rather significant one (goes back to my first point about what can be improved upon).

Lack of regional cooperation can do wonders to your region in bad ways with unlimited possiblities. Trust me, I should know because I live in a region that suffers from this very fact. Columbia and Richland County needs to put aside their differences before it begins a spiral of events that will lead to factionalism of the Midlands region.

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  • 1 month later...
This link from The State summarizes some of the comments made about improvements readers and residents would like to see in 2007 (this was in conjunction with the State of the City article). I could pretty much get with all of them except the one about the arts. Personally, I think the arts scene in Columbia is rather strong for a city its size. I seriously doubt that the person(s) that made such a comment actually take(s) the time to experience everything the city has to offer in that regard.
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This link from The State summarizes some of the comments made about improvements readers and residents would like to see in 2007 (this was in conjunction with the State of the City article). I could pretty much get with all of them except the one about the arts. Personally, I think the arts scene in Columbia is rather strong for a city its size. I seriously doubt that the person(s) that made such a comment actually take(s) the time to experience everything the city has to offer in that regard.

The art scence in Columbia is better than any in state. I doubt they knew what they were talking about

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The art scene in Columbia is better than any in state.

Honestly, that's a bit hard to quantify. From my perspective, it appears as though Charleston and Greenville excel when it comes to events (e.g., Artisphere and Spoleto, respectively), while Columbia excels when it comes to venues (e.g., CMOA, Trustus, Town Theatre, Nickelodeon). Of course, Columbia should strive for both, which I think it's doing. I believe Artista Vista will continue to grow, and that the upcoming arts festival will be Columbia's own version of Spoleto.

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OK, here are my thoughts on all of the points above.

The new initiative to combat gangs and youth violence is a much needed step at this point. Hopefully, the effort will take on more of a grassroots style of leadership, getting civic organizations involved, including those located on the college campuses. Mentoring will be a significant component of this, if it is to be successful.

The news surrounding the fuel cell district, which will be the first of its kind in the nation, is great. City leaders should continue to take notes from Toronto's Hydrogen Village, but with a more citywide emphasis. Special efforts should go towards making sure that Main Street gets in on the act.

The marketing plan during the primaries is very forward-thinking. This is a rare opportunity Columbia has, and it's good that it's being capitalized upon by showing the direction the region is heading in.

I think the business retention plan should be a business recruitment and retention program. Luring hi-tech businesses in conjunction with Innovista and the fuel cell initiative is great, but that needs to be more encompassing.

The retail plan for Main sounds encouraging; it should be incorporated into a larger revitalization plan. Let's hope the streetscaping and other public investment is enough to prime the pump for private investment to follow.

The creation of the municipal improvement district sounds like it should have begun 10 years ago. I think Columbia could actually learn from Chicago here in terms of beautification efforts; despite the obvious difference in size, the basic concept is applicable to just about any city.

Efforts to build more affordable housing should not be limited to downtown proper, but should include the intown neighborhoods.

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I was at the State of the City Address hahah and i have pictures to porve it. While everyone has address the major plans of coble it seems me and my reporter where the only ones that also heard he said Columbia will take intrest in the REdevelopment of Palmetto Center, like coble said when Scana said they were moving they condsider intergrating it into a mix use building to help with the city''s housing boom. I think since wachovia is expaning and moving its offices out of 1441 Main they should buy space in palmetto.

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I haven't posted on here in ages, but I will list my positives and negatives for the city.

The Good. . .

1. Attracting middle to upper class residents

2. The Vista

3. The Colonial Center/Convention Center

4. Downtown WIFI zones

5. efforts to keep the streets clean

6. Preservation of historic buildings.

Needs improvement

1. Quit listening to USC ALL the time. The city needs to secure some land south of Gervais before it's completely gone. The university is great but we have an up and coming city here as well and it doesn't always have to give way to the university every time. Especially since the University is only fully operational about 8 months out of the year. Columbia is bigger than a "college town"

2. City streetlights. They are almost non-existent at times. Sumter Street between Assembly and Sumter has had a single one for almost a year

3. No homeless solution

4. Lost two professional sports teams in 5 years.

5. A stoplight system that only works if you never get off of Bull, Elmwood or Assembly Streets. Even at 2am you will sit forever to cross a main street.

6. Way too many projects going on at one time. (The city apparently has no idea how to manage projects) Just hearing that another phase of the Main Street project will be taking place scares me.

7. Police-Too many people tell me the cops aren't doing their job and after a recent report by WLTX it seems that especially poorer areas are being neglected. Drive down Oak Street where my sister lives late at night north of MLK park and see how many people try to flag you down to buy crack.

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To be fair, the light patterns downtown are 1000 times better than they used to be. You can now drive all the way down any street and actually hit all green lights. It used to be that you would go about 2 blocks then have to stop, no matter which direction you were travelling.

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JFER1980, I agree with the first point under improvements. It's good that at least Holder Properties is developing some of that land.

As for #2, I think the street lights on Main need to be brighter.

After reading about past efforts to help the homeless, I don't know what to make of the situation the city is now in. Coble (and the region as a whole) has REALLY dropped the ball with regards to this issue.

I don't necessarily think that there are too many projects going on at one time, but I would like to see the city have some type of prioritization scheme in place for planned projects. We hear a lot about certain projects getting approved, but there seems to be no idea of how they fall with regard to the other projects planned or underway.

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  • 2 weeks later...

This is definitely an example of what the city is doing right: it wants to ensure that there is enough affordable housing downtown. Last year, city council appointed a task force of developers, lawyers, neighborhood leaders and others to study the issue of affordable housing. Here are the task force's recommendations:

• Give incentives to developers who agree to build a certain number of affordable housing units in their new developments. These developers would receive a rebate on water and sewer tap fees and building permit fees. The developer also would be allowed to build more units on a smaller piece of land or build less parking than the city currently requires.

• Continue the city's popular home-loan program, which allows city home buyers with $2,000 down to get a full percentage point of their interest rate.

• Find ways to build quality multifamily rental units, possibly by the creation of a local housing trust fund - a mix of local and federal dollars that would help those who otherwise couldn't afford to purchase or rent a home.

City council plans to discuss the recommendations further at its next meeting in two weeks and to look for ways to implement them.

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I'm glad to see this kind of thing happening in Columbia. Housing is one of those issues that can be hard to talk about, but it literally effects everyone. I'm glad to see tha Columbia is looking at this type of thing. Its important for people to be able to seeliving in the City as an advantage and not a disadvantage.

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