Moving to Columbia for school (West Columbia, Cayce: real estate, rental, houses)

[jhnybgood47]

My wife and I are moving to Columbia in a couple months. We have been going on rental sites and found several houses we like but don't know where the bad areas of Columbia are.

I've heard West Columbia is OK as well as the Cayce area. Is there any other nice areas?

[UnderTheLiveOaks]

There are plenty of nice areas in Columbia proper as well. Shandon, Wales Gardens, Melrose Heights, Heathwood, parts of Rosewood, etc. The tricky part is that the neighborhood can change quickly, so it's hard to say, for example "all of Shandon is great." There are parts of Shandon (or areas that landlords and real estate agents like to CALL Shandon) that are less desirable. Same is true for most neighborhoods.

The folks on this board can be helpful. Without giving addresses, you can always ask things like "how's the section of Rosewood along Maple between Prentice and Superior?" Or "how's the 1200 block of Woodrow?"

And Forest Acres is nice too. Technically a suburb but basically in town.

[SCxpBrussel]

Generally, the closer you are to the river in Cayce or West Columbia, the better. Close to everything and much cheaper than in Columbia proper. Definitely check out Elmwood Park and Earlewood in addition to the more high profile neighborhoods of Shandon, Wales Garden, University Hill, and Wales Garden. Forest Acres is nice, too.