Possibly Moving to Columbia, SC (Clemson, Irmo: crime, how much, home)

[brian28601]

Hi!

I am thinking of moving to your city in order to work as a mental health counselor (marriage and family therapist). I did, however, want residents' impressions on employment, housing, education, attractions, and crime, as I find some demographics on the web outdated. Any viewpoints, advice, ideas, and suggestions are welcome.
My family consists of me, my wife, and two children, ages 6 and 8. Thank you.

[CarolinaSouth803]

I'm pretty sure that the demographic's are a little bit outdated, but it's a good barameter to go by. I don't think you will find a problem in that field...I'm sure jobs at the SC Department of Mental Health on Bull St. and Farrow Rd. have positions. Midlands center, Morris Village, Brian Center, and various Department of Corrections in the area may have a position available too. If not you have Palmetto Richland and Baptist, Providence and Lexington Medical as the local hospitals in the area.

Housing is fairly affordable....with the Northeast [Clemson Rd/Lugoff]and Northwest [Irmo/Lake Murray]area's of Columbia growing the most. The Southeast side of town has some very affordable housing prices also. Contrary to popular belief about SC, the major metro area's have excellent school and library systems. In columbia, just about every school has been rennovated or rebuilt from the ground up. The public library system is highly rated amongst the best in the nation. Considering the children you have....Columbia is home to Riverbanks Zoo, Edventure Childrens Muesums and other things.....the 3 rivers greenway is a wonder place to relax and the State, Art and other muesums are good to go to. Lake Murray [Dreher Island] or Saluda Shoals is a good getaway. Indie movies at the Nickelodean are nice and you can catch the ballet or symphony at the Koger Center. The Trustus Theather has events as well and USC gamecocks have their share of events also. The local hockey team...the Columbia Inferno can spell a good time too. There's ice skating, reg skating, bowling and even a skate park here too......
Crime......welll i can't lie and say it doesn't exisit....because it does....but it's more or less in certain areas...Mugging happen as do other crimes so the best thing i can tell you is to ask Richland County Sherriff Department for a crime stat report.

I love Columbia and i miss it a lot. I can't say it's the prettiest, most historical [thanks Gen. Sherman], most diverse, etc city in the nation, but it's growning, progressing and it took me moving away to realize how much i was in love with that city.....I wish you luck in your search......

[JERSEYIAN]

Moving to Columbia this month. I used to live there a few yrs ago. I think you really have to visit a few times before you can say you really like it.