Columbia, SC (Charleston, Greenville, Summerville: real estate, rent, house prices)

[needachange]

Tell me about Columbia, SC.

What is there to do?

How is the school system?

How is the house prices?

Thank you.

[salatheel]

Columbia is ready to boom. Lots of good restaurants. Tons of shopping. Excellent location. Gets VERY hot in the summer!

[salatheel]

Oh, housing prices are low and there are many good schools.

[anonymous]

I'd agree with salatheel. Overall, Columbia is growing at a medium pace, but the downtown changed a LOT in the 5 years that I lived there (I moved away in July). There are a wide range of bars and restaurants, and they're all located in two areas - 'Five Points' (next to USC, more college-age) and 'the Vista' (newer & nicer).

Downtown also has the University of SC, the "business" area and state capitol, and some quite nice neighborhoods like Heathwood and Shandon. But while you're in the city, you're either in the 'right' neighborhood or you're definitely in the 'wrong' neighborhood.

Everything outside of downtown is sprawl. Places like Irmo, Lexington, Northeast Columbia, Wildewood, West Columbia, Cayce, and others are your typical american sprawl. Some are nicer (Wildewood), some suck (W. Columbia, Cayce), and everything in between.

You can get a nice house for not much money. Lake Murray is nearing it's development capacity, but you can get a house on the lake for surprisingly cheap.

[salatheel]

Columbia was one of the first places I gave thought to but brushed off because of the lack of interest from others. The location is what drew me to it. It is so central. I got to Charleston in 1 hour 15 mins. To Charlotte in 1 hour. Myrtle Beach in 2 hours. Yet it is far enough inland to not worry about hurricanes as much. I loved Wilmington but the traffic on rte.17 is killer. Raleigh was ok but kinda boring. Myrtle Beach fun but not really where I want to raise kids. Charleston is great but too expensive and my wife just didn't feel at home in Summerville.(I did). Greenville is just too far away from the beach. We did like the Charlotte area a lot. We just liked the tropicalness of Colombia and the fact that it is an hour closer to our favorite places. Also traffic didn't seem bad at all and the downtown was nice and revitalized. Also cost wise compared to Raleigh,Wilmington,Charleston,and Myrtle Beach it seems to be about 20-30% less expensive! Overall it suited us the best.

[Norman Zhou]

Can you advise me the current owner of the house at 1102 E Godbold Street, Marion, SC?

[Armisted]

I lived in Columbia for about 4 years, and ever since I left about 4 years ago I have been trying to get back. In fact, my wife and I are tentatively planning on moving there this spring. Columbia is hospitable, relaxed, and just plain easy. I live in Atlanta now (where I'm from) and I sit in dead lock traffic, and almost everyone I know has some sort of commute. When I lived in Columbia I actually got by for a while with out a car, and commuted everywhere with my bike being that everything is so close.
I worked in 5 points, and enjoyed all the events that would go on there. Many of which were geared towards a wide audience (families, college students, artists, etc.) Essentially, Columbia is a college town, but being that it is also the state capital you'll find quite a diverse population. However, it definitely has remained southern, and I think you even get a taste of the SC low country as well. Everytime I go back I'm quite amazed at the rennovation, and renaissance that is occuring in 5 points, the USC campus, and the surrounding neighborhoods.
As far as real estate, I would suggest that it is like much of the south in that prices are reasonable and considerably low when compared to the rest of the country. For what you would pay in rent you could almost definitely buy a house and pay nearly the same for a mortgage. I moved around some when I was in Columbia, but always stayed in the 29205 zip code, as I think it is ideal in that it is very close to everything. Shandon seems to be the most desired neighborhood, and many of the home prices will reflect that fact, but you can still find reasonably priced houses in areas like Rosewood, and Melrose heights. Forest Acres may be something else to consider, though it is close to downtown, it is a bit more suburban.

[Brandon Hoffman]

Originally Posted by needachange

Tell me about Columbia, SC.

What is there to do?

How is the school system?

How is the house prices?

Thank you.

Zoos, museum, theatre, lake, semipro and college sports, etc.

Solid, but some districts are more desirable than others.

Excellent