Augusta, GA vs Columbia, SC (Hephzibah, Hampton: lofts, condos, violent crime)

[g-man430]

Augusta better than Columbia? ROFL. Is that a joke? Let me know when Augusta becomes a real city.

[AugustaREGroup]

Did you have any points to make? Any sources to cite? or did you just want let your almost 3,000 posts about Greenville (not Cola or Aug) serve as your creditability...

[g-man430]

Where are your sources about Augusta having lower crime than Columbia? Columbia has a bigger skyline, bigger population, bigger airport, better stores/restaurants, a major university, a nice zoo, etc. What does Augusta have besides a golf tournament and a burn center?

[lilmusket]

We're really just debating opinions here. No one's opinion has anymore validity than another's. Both cities have their pros and cons...and own personalities. Which place you prefer is just going to come down to personal tastes. Both cities are more similar than different.. with Columbia being a bit bigger.

[motonenterprises]

Columbia hands down. It has more amenities.

[gaflsc]

Must be a slow day on urban planet.....

[g-man430]

Slow day? I thought urbanplanet was slow everyday. That is unless you live in Charlotte.

[Akhenaton06]

Originally Posted by AugustaREGroup

I lived in Augusta for 15+ years and Columbia for 4+ years.. so I would say I have some creditability to talk about this subject.

First off, HANDS DOWN winner is Augusta.

Cons against Columbia

• roads (pot holes everywhere)
• homeless population
• police/crime - you will find college bars filled with cops, while robberies, etc. are happening everywhere
• best thing you can say about Columbia is that it is close to Charleston, Atlanta, etc.
• city ordinances on your house, if you park the wrong way, etc. Basically a government that is consistently counter productive, and works against new business and it's own residents!
• parking tickets.... parking situation in general

Pros for Augusta

• amazing development (infrastructure, downtown revitalization, etc)
• paved roads
• the Masters!
• new mall addition
• the river
• affordable housing with tons of character
• low crime

To be honest I could go on for days about this subject.. the fact of the matter is that poor government, and years of mismanaging the city has made Columbia a sub standard city. Beside the military base and college the city has very little to offer.

While on the other hand, Augusta is a town away with growth everywhere, resilient housing market, and pro-active government!

I will add more to this post later. Anyone reading this post that is trying to decide between Columbia and Augusta.... feel free to message me. My decision would be clear though...

While everyone is certainly entitled to their own opinion, a lot of this just made me laugh.

I'm a native of SC, grew up not too far from Columbia (Columbia is where we went to do our "big city" stuff), and visited Augusta often. The two cities are more alike than different, but on most fronts, Columbia has a leg up on Augusta. We're not talking huge differences here, but they are a bit noticeable.

I find it interesting that you would only list cons for Columbia and pros for Augusta, as if Augusta is perfect and Columbia has nothing good going for it.

I find it hard to imagine that you could live in Columbia for four years and not notice that it, also, has a river (actually it has three). And "very little" to offer besides the military base (Ft. Jackson) and USC? Apparently you didn't take advantage of what Columbia had to offer, like the State Museum, EdVenture Children's Museum (the largest in the Southeast), Riverbanks Zoo, Three Rivers Greenway, Finlay Park, Trustus Theater, Town Theater, Workshop Theater, all of the concerts and plays that come to the Township Auditorium, Koger Center, and Colonial Life Arena, etc.--I could really go on and on.

You do have a point as far as city government goes in Columbia, but you've gotta be KIDDING me about local government. Not too long ago--and this is something I've heard from Augusta natives--local government was nothing short of corrupt, but has since made important strides, which is good. Columbia's local government can act right when they want to. They lured the National Hydrogen Association convention to town last week, and this is a group that usually hosts their convention in MUCH larger cities, and the attendees were impressed with what Columbia and South Carolina is doing as it regards establishing an economic cluster centered around hydrogen fuel cell technology. As a matter of fact, USC is building a research campus downtown centered around alternative fuels, biotechnology, nanotechnology, and environmental engineering.

Augusta is a town with "growth everywhere"? Metro Columbia has been outgrowing metro Augusta for a little while now. From 2000-2008, metro Augusta grew by 34,562 for a growth rate of 6.9%, while during the same period of time, metro Columbia grew by 80,815 for a growth rate of 12.5%. Metro Columbia has added more than twice the people during the same time period. Columbia's metropolitan GDP has grown faster than Augusta's as well, and is larger. Same goes for per capita income and household income.

I think Augusta has utilized their riverfront better than Columbia, I will say that. But Columbia has been making great strides in that area as well, with new legs of the riverwalk opening and plans for a new riverfront park:



Augusta does have some good development going on, but so does Columbia. Two additional blocks of Main Street have recently been streetscaped, an 18-story office tower is currently under construction, two hotel have debuted in the past two years (convention center Hilton and a boutique Sheraton), two hotels are currently under construction, USC's baseball stadium was recently completed near the Congaree River, etc.

It's great that you enjoy Augusta better--I think it has more going on than most realize, frankly--but the least you could do is try to be fair. But it just sounds like you lived in a bubble while you were in Columbia.

[AugustaREGroup]

I welcome your points, and thank you for a appropriate discussion of the topic.

I only mentioned Augusta's pros, and Columbia's cons for the sole reason that there were backings to my point of Augusta > Columbia.

Columbia has the river, zoo, school, military base, and museums. Most of this stuff comes along with being the state capital (a privilege that Augusta will not be receiving in the near future).

At the current time... Augusta paves roads like it's their job.. Infrastructure helped make this country what it is today. Columbia seems to think that building new baseball stadiums, basketball stadiums, etc. is more important than having a paved road. What is the deal with rejecting stimulus money? Is Stanford looking out of Columbia, or his own political agenda? I will not speak of Augusta's past, but as far as looking ahead... I would put my money on Augusta than Columbia's piles of debt any day.

The school pumps Columbia's economy on a daily basis... and what does the city/school decide to do.. raise tuition, have across the board job freezes (teachers), and focus on giving parking tickets.

My post citing my sources was deleted, but it is clear that crime (per pop.) is much lower in Augusta than Columbia... I can not look up the sources again just to have them deleted.

And anything I say negative about Columbia can not be the state's fault, because Greenville and Charleston are doing just fine.

I will not argue Columbia is a bigger city... but when I see the smaller city of Augusta building a new highway system, revitalizing downtown, free wifi, etc., etc. it is clear to see who is growing faster relatively to the other.

My views are not alone.. I have several friends in Columbia that feel the same way. And the growing divide between the rich and poor is scary.

When it comes down to it... I am real estate investor. I look for places with the greatest upside potential. And as far as "putting my money where my mouth is" I would invest in Augusta's real estate over Columbia's any day of the week.

Seems interesting that since I joined this thread a Greenville resident, and someone that goes to Columbia to "see the good stuff" have been the ones to rebuttal my arguments. Granted this is the Augusta section... but I would love to hear the opinion from a Columbia resident of some of the stuff that I have discussed.

To your added points

The Sheraton Hotel is currently For Sale and the owner is not making. He is a millionaire that took a chance and it did not pan out. Maybe they should have though about parking and having it open when they said it was going to be open?

The new baseball stadium... what was wrong with Sarge Fry? The new one boasts no seating for students (grassy knoll - Where have I seen that before), no parking, and it is almost another city (Cayce).

I wished I lived in a bubble... maybe then I would not have such a bad taste of Columbia in my mouth. I just had 900 dollars of damage to my car this week from a nail in the road, cracked window from the rocks they use to cover pot holes, and a scraped wheel from who knows where.

[Akhenaton06]

Originally Posted by AugustaREGroup

At the current time... Augusta paves roads like it's their job.. Infrastructure helped make this country what it is today. Columbia seems to think that building new baseball stadiums, basketball stadiums, etc. is more important than having a paved road. What is the deal with rejecting stimulus money? Is Stanford looking out of Columbia, or his own political agenda? I will not speak of Augusta's past, but as far as looking ahead... I would put my money on Augusta than Columbia's piles of debt any day.

When was the last time you were in Columbia? Several streets, in downtown in particular, have recently been streetscaped or paved. I have no clue why you're talking about Sanford rejecting some of the stimulus funds, because the portion he's rejecting has absolutely NOTHING to do with resurfacing roads. South Carolina is still getting those funds: SCDOT - Inside SCDOT - American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) You can even view a county-by-county map that shows exactly what roads in Richland County are scheduled for resurfacing.

The school pumps Columbia's economy on a daily basis... and what does the city/school decide to do.. raise tuition, have across the board job freezes (teachers), and focus on giving parking tickets.

Are you talking about primary/secondary schools or higher education?

And anything I say negative about Columbia can not be the state's fault, because Greenville and Charleston are doing just fine.

What do you know about Greenville and Charleston? Very little, I'd say. The stats for each of those in several areas are very similar to Columbia's.

I will not argue Columbia is a bigger city... but when I see the smaller city of Augusta building a new highway system, revitalizing downtown, free wifi, etc., etc. it is clear to see who is growing faster relatively to the other.

Columbia doesn't need new highways because they did it right back in the 70's. All new highways do is encourage more sprawl, and with that comes more traffic and more unsustainable building practices. And it isn't like Augusta is experiencing a whole lot of growth anyway, so why all the emphasis on building roads? If anything, people are moving out of Richmond County out into Columbia County.

My views are not alone.. I have several friends in Columbia that feel the same way. And the growing divide between the rich and poor is scary.

Well, Columbia has a larger per capita income and larger household income, so I'm not sure how this is factoring into anything.

When it comes down to it... I am real estate investor. I look for places with the greatest upside potential. And as far as "putting my money where my mouth is" I would invest in Augusta's real estate over Columbia's any day of the week.

I'm not sure why, since Columbia is adding more people on a regular basis than Augusta.

The Sheraton Hotel is currently For Sale and the owner is not making. He is a millionaire that took a chance and it did not pan out. Maybe they should have though about parking and having it open when they said it was going to be open?

Where's your source on this? I've heard no such thing. And there's plenty of parking available downtown with more parking decks planned. People just need to stop being so lazy and learn that you can't park directly in front of your destination all the time in an urban environment.

The new baseball stadium... what was wrong with Sarge Fry? The new one boasts no seating for students (grassy knoll - Where have I seen that before), no parking, and it is almost another city (Cayce).

Sarge Frye is old, and the new ballpark is right by the river; you can't beat that location. And what's wrong with students purchasing a ticket and sitting in the stands with everyone else? Parking is very much available, and how is it "almost in another city"? The ballpark borders an intown neighborhood, Olympia, which is adjacent to downtown. Your claims here are getting pretty ridiculous. Show me how USC's ballpark is substandard when compared to any other newly built university ballparks, and then I might take your claims seriously.