Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
As a Main St resident, I think it's interesting some of the debates we had before the HUB opened, worrying about whether main st would turn into five points. To be honest , in terms of foot traffic, I notice little difference at all in main st pre August 2014 and post august 2014. In fact I wish I saw the students more, not less. I wonder if this will change at all when the new restaurant opens up on the ground floor of the HUB.
I doubt the restaurant will make much difference. Retailers generally look at the number of residents in an area, which is quantifiable, so the Hub's presence is an arrow in the quiver to lure additional business to the CBD.
I don't know, but the activity I saw (and filmed with my iPhone) on Main at noon on Easter was amazing when I think about how it was on any weekend day not long ago, when it was me, an occasional jogger and loiterers. And the Vista was even busier.
True, I guess I'm just talking about visuals. The visuals to me aren't much different but then again my senses may be off base. One place in particular where I thought I might see more students was the rooftop bar. But I just don't get the sense that they go there much. It's also possible that the fact that I'm walking home a lot of times from the vista at midnight-1ish down main st skews my thoughts. Because it's most certainly dead at that time, once past bourbon. It's wonderful and extremely lively on Saturday mornings for soda city. Very lucky to have that as my front door.
Visited Columbia for the third time in the last four months this week end. My son will be a freshman at USC and we were attending 'admitted students' events. There was a similar event two week s ago. First time I visited on the week end where I felt the city was desolate. There were swarms of freshmen and their parents -- and loads of shuttles around the Horseshoe --being shuttled to the residences to take a tour. Our first two visits on the week end we were surprised at the barren, desolated, streets. I know my son will be fine with life on campus but can't say I'm ready to embrace Columbia yet.
Visited Columbia for the third time in the last four months this week end. My son will be a freshman at USC and we were attending 'admitted students' events. There was a similar event two week s ago. First time I visited on the week end where I felt the city was desolate. There were swarms of freshmen and their parents -- and loads of shuttles around the Horseshoe --being shuttled to the residences to take a tour. Our first two visits on the week end we were surprised at the barren, desolated, streets. I know my son will be fine with life on campus but can't say I'm ready to embrace Columbia yet.
I'm not sure what you're trying to convey by saying the city was desolate yet there were swarms of freshman and their parents? If you were on campus during a weekend, students are not out and about as much of course due to the fact that classes are mainly Monday through Friday. You'll see a few people on the Horseshoe relaxing, playing Frisbee, etc... But it won't be like during a school week. When during the weekend did you visit Columbia? I'm sure Saturdays you can see a lot more hustle and bustle but you're just not going to see the type of activity in or around campus on the weekend than what you see during the week- which is near chaos of cars and humanity.
Visited Columbia for the third time in the last four months this week end. My son will be a freshman at USC and we were attending 'admitted students' events. There was a similar event two week s ago. First time I visited on the week end where I felt the city was desolate. There were swarms of freshmen and their parents -- and loads of shuttles around the Horseshoe --being shuttled to the residences to take a tour. Our first two visits on the week end we were surprised at the barren, desolated, streets. I know my son will be fine with life on campus but can't say I'm ready to embrace Columbia yet.
Go to Five Points or the Vista on any weekend evening and you'll see plenty of activity. Directly on campus is probably pretty quiet on weekends since most students aren't hanging out on campus on the weekend.
My post was poorly written. I was trying to do two things, more like three things at once. What I meant to say was the first two times we visited the streets downtown were barren, even driving around campus there was nothing, even walking through the Horseshoe, etc. It was very quiet.
Last week end - with the freshman and family visiting it was filled with people, activity. It is an odd phenom. I've been to campuses in major cities and on a Saturday afternoon the campus is filled with activity and of course the downtown of the major city was bustling.
I enjoyed being on campus and it was a completely different experience being in Columbia. The Masters, the activities at the university made it feel like it had some life.
While I have your attention...the first thing everyone says to my son is to 'stay away from Five Points'. I understand that's the first place students want to go. What's up with that?
The person who said that about Five Points is about two years behind. Two years ago a gang member outside a bar that has since been shut down shot and paralyzed a USC student accidentally when aiming at a rival gang member. The news out of Five Points has been pretty quiet since then, and we got a new police chief since that incident.
You couldn't possibly have been on Main Street on Saturday morning or in the Vista on Saturday evening to use the word "desolate" to describe Columbia. And I still don't follow some of what you said.
"Last week end - with the freshman and family visiting it was filled with people, activity. It is an odd phenom. I've been to campuses in major cities and on a Saturday afternoon the campus is filled with activity and of course the downtown of the major city was bustling.
"I enjoyed being on campus and it was a completely different experience being in Columbia. The Masters, the activities at the university made it feel like it had some life."
Unless an event is being held on the Horseshoe or students are moving in, it's not the place to go to see a lot of activity. The Horseshoe, since becoming known as the campus's historic core, is now also known as a place for relatively quiet reflection. Columbia's Main Street on Saturday morning with the year-round Soda City Farmer's Market buzzes with activity. The streets of the Vista, or Five Points, and increasingly the central business district, aren't desolate on weekends. Compared to cities that have put all of their focus on a confined downtown area as opposed to having different in-town districts (the Vista, Main Street, Five Points, Devine Street, Rosewood, Harbison and the Village at Sandhill), maybe what you witnessed was more of a dispersed pattern of people going about their business, but even then if you hit the right streets it's hard to imagine how you came up with the word "desolate."
Last edited by Charlestondata; 04-13-2015 at 06:27 AM..
Oh maybe it wasn't Main Street. I really don't know the city but it was around the campus.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
