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Stay out of five points late at night after drinking and stumbling noticably drunk back to your car, the Projects or known crime areas, or a mall parking lot on a Saturday night and you should be ok in Columbia right????
I can't imagine retirees going to Five Points. Which brings to mind a couple of things about Columbia that many I think find lacking as regards retirees. Entertainment / restaurant options......both the Five Points and the Vista are geared more toward drinking, bar food type, younger people. Both lack a bit of adult sophistication.
Another option retirees love is golf, and while Columbia has golf courses, there are far fewer per capita than many other areas where retirees congregate.
The Vista is not lacking in adult sophistication. Trustus Theater, the Koger, Colonial Life Arena, City Art, Gallery 80808, restaurants, bars and coffee houses offer plenty. Your obsession with trying to make Columbia seem like a backwater is annoyingly repetitious, and you're wrong.
I would imagine that many retired vets may also favor Columbia because of the VA Hospital? Columbia and Sumter are often considered by some retirees from the Air Force and Army because of this. As you read through some of these threads you will find some folks urging those military retirees and those that are being relocated to choose Columbia over Sumter for a variety of reasons....but I would say that would be comparing apples to oranges in terms of the differences between the two cities
Not "knocking" Columbia per se, simply not in denial about Columbia as a retirement area. As to where a person chooses to live or retire, it is very subjective and based on free choice. It is also possible to own property in various states, cities etc. Many people in FL have second homes in other areas; and posters are not required to provide a resume of why or where they own property in more than one, or even two, states in order to offer advice or opinions on this forum. For example, I would not comment on Cape Coral because I have no experience or interest in that area. Personally I think SW FL is highly overated as well.
Okay..just trying to figure out where to go next. Sorry if I seemed hostile. I have to laugh at the highlighted part, since I just went through that a little while ago on another forum, so I might seem a little moody. All opinions are welcome.
I can't imagine retirees going to Five Points. Which brings to mind a couple of things about Columbia that many I think find lacking as regards retirees. Entertainment / restaurant options......both the Five Points and the Vista are geared more toward drinking, bar food type, younger people. Both lack a bit of adult sophistication.
Another option retirees love is golf, and while Columbia has golf courses, there are far fewer per capita than many other areas where retirees congregate.
I could not disagree more and I am about 10 years from retirement. Just got back from Columbia and once again had a wonderful weekend. My husband and I both think Columbia would be a great town to retire in. College sports are so much fun to watch, I think being at those games is much more exciting than professional games. Columbia has theatre and museums and there are clearly "adult" restaurants in both areas. I know because I take my USC student there because she could never afford them on her own. And not every retiree loves to play golf. At the food festival in the Vista today there were babies in carriages to senior citizens. I think it is a really nice city with a lot to offer I'm not sure why you are always trying to put it down
Thank you, BarbaraNJ. Every time I go to Five Points I see baby boomers (my people) and seniors well represented. Every entertainment district and pocket is the same way.
Forbes: Columbia a top 25 place to retire. They cite low taxes, a low median home price and good weather as pros, but they cite a poor economy and high crime as cons. Interestingly, Columbia didn't make the FBI's just-released 'most dangerous cities' list, and compared to lots of cities its 7.5% unemployment rate doesn't call for calling its economy poor these days.
Forbes: Columbia a top 25 place to retire. They cite low taxes, a low median home price and good weather as pros, but they cite a poor economy and high crime as cons. Interestingly, Columbia didn't make the FBI's just-released 'most dangerous cities' list, and compared to lots of cities its 7.5% unemployment rate doesn't call for calling its economy poor these days.
The statistics used to compile this list are probably at least a couple of months old which is when Columbia's unemployment rate would have been a bit higher. And although I think it's probably trending lower, the crime rate is probably still higher on average.
Forbes: Columbia a top 25 place to retire. They cite low taxes, a low median home price and good weather as pros, but they cite a poor economy and high crime as cons. Interestingly, Columbia didn't make the FBI's just-released 'most dangerous cities' list, and compared to lots of cities its 7.5% unemployment rate doesn't call for calling its economy poor these days.
The economy comment is interesting, Columbia has been doing well for years. Sure, it is not growing at rates like Raleigh or Charlotte but, certainly not what I would consider "poor".
Ok, I looked at the list, almost every city on the list had a bad economy and/or crime as a con. Not sure if they are using relative statistics or just drawing a mythical line. Look at it another way, if leading the state in growth for the century's first decade (Charleston has come on strong lately), maintaining a high percentage of college graduates and posting good year over year private sector employment gains is considered poor, the future looks good. Remember, magazines are written by journalist who have no idea where the business building is located on any college campus.
Also, I figure the article is directed toward people ready to retire and leave huge job meccas and that comparatively speaking a city Columbia's size doesn't fit that bill. And most any city is a high-crime place compared to the typical locale that the typical soon-to-be retiree imagines. Incidentally, a while back a woman posted in another thread that she was concerned about Columbia's crime compared to Knoxville, Tennessee's, and that she was glad her daughter picked Knoxville. Knoxville is on this Forbes list, too, and its con according to them is high crime.
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Which brings to mind a couple of things about Columbia that many I think find lacking as regards retirees. Entertainment / restaurant options......both the Five Points and the Vista are geared more toward drinking, bar food type, younger people. Both lack a bit of adult sophistication. 
