Learn me- Columbia SC

I love the South, but the Deep Rural South is starting to get to me. The Land of Missed Opportunity.

I have a generous job offer in Columbia, but don't know anything about it. I thought I'd consult The Wise Ones (you).

My wife and I have been considering a relocation for a while. We don't want much snow again, and don't want major metropolitan area (our kids are in ATL, but that's much too big).

Interested in the arts, community spirit and interaction, education, growth and opportunity, historic architecture, and of course the car scene.

What can you tell me?

Columbia isn't too bad. It's a huge city compared to the rest of the state. As far as arts and stuff, I have no clue.

You will end up driving a couple of hours to most autocross events, but Carolina Motorsports Park is only a 40 minute drive.

It seems to be more conservative than say, Atlanta or Charlotte, probably more so than Charleston as well, but much less so than small town Deep South.

A two hour drive can put you at the beach or in the mountains.

I'd give it a thumbs up, but I've never lived there.

Honestly for me, car stuff is a bit lower priority. (Am I allowed to say that here? lol!) I can live with a 40 min drive.

2 hrs to my wife's happy place (the beach) or my happy place (the mountains) is pretty ideal.

My challenge teammate ex wife lives there, and i wasnt impressed with the town. Thats all i got.

I would suggest albemarle NC as well. Hour from charlotte, 2.5 beach, 2.5 mountain country. 2 hours raleigh. Pretty much 1-3 hours from anywhere, but 1-3 hours from EVERYWHERE. town if about 20k, and cheap real estate.

Ill also try to add to this thread tonight while we are working on the challenge car.

Columbia can be hot as Hell in the summer, but no more so than where you live. Traffic can be a bit of a problem at times. A lot of people live out of town and commute in. I guess it depends on where your job is based. I have no idea about the arts, but being a fairly large city I would think it is available. Much of Columbia burned in the Great Unpleasantness, so a lot of old architecture is gone. Still, there is a good bit of later stuff. There are a LOT of SC Gamecocks there. I lived there for 6 months once and couldn't wait to get out (all my in-laws were there). I am more of a mountain man.

Its a E36M3-hole. We call it the anus of South Carolina. It has the worst driving accident record of anywhere in the state; it gets the worst weather (hottest in the summer, iciest in the winter); the local arts scene is non existent compared to Greenville or Charleston; and the center of the state government is there. Don't do it.

Well, I'm definitely no city boy. But I recognize the resources cities have.

I don't mind living within reach of a city, or even commuting in. Traffic doesn't bother me much, because my schedule is always flexible enough to plan around it (except for a place like ATL, where it is completely unpredictable 24/7)

In reply to gimpstang:

Hmmm....

gimpstang wrote: Its a E36M3-hole. We call it the anus of South Carolina. It has the worst driving accident record of anywhere in the state; it gets the worst weather (hottest in the summer, iciest in the winter); the local arts scene is non existent compared to Greenville or Charleston; and the center of the state government is there. Don't do it.

I think I just figured out who you are.

They do have Maurice's BBQ which is excellent!

Of course the Maurice's I went to also had a corner where they sold white supremacist flyers and books.....so there's that too.

In reply to Joe Gearin:

Don't have to sell that E36 M3 where I live- no one can read.

You guys must have visited a different Columbia SC than me...

...or maybe you've never lived in Albany GA.

Ive lived in charleston, greenville, and columbia and by far the worst of the three is Columbia. It lacks the charm of Charleston but has all the traffic. It lacks the growth appeal and cultural options available in Greenville. The only thing that Columbia has that neither Charleston nor Greenville have, is an excellent zoo. Although Greenville's zoo is nice for being so small

spitfirebill wrote:

gimpstang wrote: Its a E36M3-hole. We call it the anus of South Carolina. It has the worst driving accident record of anywhere in the state; it gets the worst weather (hottest in the summer, iciest in the winter); the local arts scene is non existent compared to Greenville or Charleston; and the center of the state government is there. Don't do it.

I think I just figured out who you are.

uh oh! my cover's blown! scram fellas! :)

Greenville is a far better choice. Columbia is big and traffic is a PITA every time I had to go down there once a month for a meeting. USC fans are rabid as heck too.

SVreX wrote: I have a generous job offer in Columbia, but don't know anything about it. I thought I'd consult The Wise Ones (you).

Based on OP's comment above, it sounds like the question is "will we enjoy Columbia", not "are there cool cities in SC to live in".

I've only spent a little bit of time there, but it struck me as ultra conservative and very "old south". Having encountered many, many Gamecocks fans over the years has not brightened my outlook. That said, if it is anything like Gainesville (a relatively small city heavily influenced by a public university), there might be more arts, culture, etc than would be typical of a same-sized city without the university.

In reply to dyintorace:

Yeah, you nailed it. Everyone seemed to miss the "generous job offer" part, as well as the part where I live in Albany GA.

I'm having a hard time imagining a place more conservative than where I live. Maybe Columbia is "Old South", while Albany is "Yes, Massah".

Yup. Missed both those parts. Id have to say that all the times I have been there, the vibe i got was very similar to Winston Salem.

Can you spend a few weekends there to see if you want to do it?

All I know about Columbia is that my friends, who grew up on Long Island, relocated there for work about 15 years ago. They could have left if they wanted after he started his own business, but they liked it enough to stay and raise a family. Housing was affordable, there were decent restaurants, and it was pretty laid back. I guess you just have to look past the racist flag over at the Capitol Building.

In reply to pinchvalve:

Don't like Palmetto trees, huh?

In reply to SVreX:

They are a little trashy.

Everything stated about Gamecocks fans is true. They are much like the chickens they use as mascots. Lots of bad attitude, generally not pleasant to be around during any sports event.

I spend a fair amount of time working up there. It's not all bad. If I was looking to move, I'd try for the Lexington or Irmo areas and stay out of the city itself.

The zoo is decent. The state museum isn't too bad either.

It will seem fairly liberal compared to South Georgia.

If you want a BBQ joint that isn't run by rednecks, don't waste you time on BBQ. The rednecks are the only ones that know how to cook a hog. That said, Maurice isn't even close to the best in the BBQ business. I'd hit Browns BBQ in Kingstree for that, or the Music Man in Moncks Corner. Maurice drowns his meat in mustard sauce. The flavor should be in the meat and the sauce should be on the side.

I lived in Summerville, SC for five years, worked in the historic district in Charleston, as a relocated Yankee. I never really felt "at home" down there and took an opportunity to move to New England for a couple years. After that I lived in Florida for five years and now Atlanta for seven. In that time I realised that ANY place can be a good place to live, it's all about perspective. Really good folks - check. shiny happy people - check.

So.. Columbia.

I married into a Clemson family but I won't let that cloud my vision...

Good job offer; Good climate (hot but no worse than Albany); Relatively inexpensive housing; Closer to Myrtle Beach; Mid size metro area with a large university. Not far from tourist areas that will always need construction​ expertise.

If the job offer seems like a good fit, why not? Just rent someplace and feel it out.

Little known fact about South Carolina. On May 24th 1788 South Carolina signed a contract with the rest of the country to produced an entire nations worth of humidity.

There is no good reason to not take a "good" job offer in Columbia. Like somebody said, it will be what you make it.

I'm an attorney and traveled to Columbia at least a handful at times for a case and got to know several locals and eat out a fair bit. I'm in Pittsburgh. Columbia struck me as a very small city where everybody knows everybody's business. It definitely had a college town feel and the Gamecocks seemed to be an important part of life. My client commuted from Colombia to the Savannah River Site daily and had no interest in moving closer to work and leaving Columbia. We did eat in a lot of cool small local places. I would think you could get a house in a neighborhood or a house on acreage fairly easily and close enough to the city, candidly a lot like Pittsburgh. I have to think there's a decent enough arts scene giving my client and his wife's interests.