High Crime in Columbia? (Greenville, Irmo: appointed, apartments, for rent)

[The Dissenter]

I've been reading about how high crime in Columbia? City-data's own table put Columbia at a blazing crime rate? Is crime really that bad down there? Also, what areas of Columbia (and surrounding area) should i avoid if i move there?

[waccamatt]

There are certain neighborhoods with high crime rates, but overall I don't feel there are many places that I need to totally avoid. Unfortunately, domestic violence is a major factor in the high crime rates in South Carolina and, of course, this is something you can avoid. Usually the bad neighborhoods are just in pockets and not an expansive area so I can't really say anything like, "avoid the north side", "avoid the south side of town", etc.

[Nausikaa]

Well, it would be like stating: high crime in Atlanta, high crime in Chattanooga, high crime in Raleigh, high crime in Orlando.

All cities have pockets that are less then desirable. That is where the crime is. Columbia is the same way.

I have lived here quite a few years, and have never seen any crime. Just a pleasant place to live. I don't really think about.

As I would do in any city, I don't come out of malls in the dark by myself, I lock my doors when going to ATM. I stay out of bad areas. Good common sense.

This is a pleasant, middle sized, university town in the South. If you go looking for crime, I'm sure you could find it.

[Chi2Midlands]

Originally Posted by Alanboy395

I've been reading about how high crime in Columbia? City-data's own table put Columbia at a blazing crime rate? Is crime really that bad down there? Also, what areas of Columbia (and surrounding area) should i avoid if i move there?

Just a quick question - was the crime rate you found for the City of Columbia or for the Columbia metropolitan area?

I would second Waccamatt's and Nausikaa's statements. Yes, the "official" crime rate appears to be high. A big reason is that many parts of the South, including the Columbia, have high levels of domestic violence. By that I don't just mean husband/wife or boyfriend/girlfriend incidents, but siblings, neighbors, "friends", etc. In the Columbia area I would say this is also a major issue. What that means is, if you have good relations with your family, friends, social circle, neighbors, etc., then you really don't have to worry about the overall crime rate in that sense. That being said, there are a few common sense precautions you can take, like not hanging around alone at a Wal-Mart SuperCenter parking lot at 11pm.

While Waccamatt is right that there are no large swaths of "bad areas" like you might find in Chicago, Detroit, DC, Baltimore, etc., there are definitely a small handful of neighborhoods/areas to avoid if you can, but they are typically small areas (such as the North Main area and some neighborhoods just east of the Five Points college-oriented commercial area). Remember, as a smallish city/metro, you don't have square mile after square mile or zip code after zip code of crime, drugs, gangs, etc. - it is more spread out, so you will quickly learn that it's a bit of a patchwork.

Alanboy, I also remember you from a previous thread talking about Charlotte, etc., and that you live in Northern Virginia (the Alexandria area, according to your profile). Look, I lived in West Springfield for 4 years, so I know pretty much what the quality-of-life and cost-of-living issues are for you and the region you live in now. Trust me on this - in Columbia it is very easy to find a good, safe, comfortable neighborhood, both in the city and in the suburbs, at a very reasonable price (either mortgage or rent). You can buy a nice, well-built home in middle-aged neighborhoods like Forest Acres or Spring Valley or Irmo for 1/3 to 1/2 of what you pay for in Alexandria, Springfield, Falls Church Burke, Arlington, etc. Similarly, you can find homes in good city neighborhoods like Shandon, Rosewood, Earlewood, Keenan Terrace, etc. And you can definitely find a plethora of newer subdivision further out, with excellent schools and still-affordable housing in very safe areas.

Yes, gangs have a presence in Columbia, but when you consider the cost of living and the ability to find a safe neighborhood with a reasonable commute, this region provides tremendous value. The thing that bothered me the most in Northern Virginia is that even if you lived near a semi-high-crime area, like around Springfield Mall, you're still paying somewhere around $350,000-$400,000 for a smallish 1960s 3 bedroom ranch that may or may not be in the best condition. A big reason we moved to the Carolinas is that we were tired of the hectic NoVa pace, the price of housing, traffic, etc. - but I think it was even more annoying that we had to put up with things like gang graffiti (or worse - machete attacks at the local mall, which you probably know about) not too far from what was considered good neighborhoods. I simply didn't see the value of paying mid-6-figures for a half-way decent house in that environment. The value wasn't there for us (although I will say that I still very much admire Fairfax County public schools). I would also say that the Richland County Sheriff Department is very serious about law-and-order issues. As an example, Columbia Place Mall in near-northeast Columbia is a middle-aged mall with similar socioeconomic demographics in the surrounding neighborhoods as Springfield Mall. However, the developer has maintained a clean, fresh appearance with refurbishments (unlike rundown Springfield before it was sold to a better owner recently), and the sheriff's office actually has a small station in the mall. It's not necessarily the "first choice" mall of the region, but I would still favorably contrast it to the absolute zoo that Springfield Mall has become.

SO, yeah, we could have moved out to Loudoun or Prince William County, but a single family home is still $500,000 out there and commuting would be a killer. These sort of extreme tradeoffs don't happen as much here. I live on what is essentially the exurban fringe of the Columbia metro, and my wife can get to her job in downtown in 35 minutes in traffic (about 18 miles). By contrast, we lived in West Springfield, nearly the exact same distance to downtown DC, and it often took my wife nearly an hour to get to her downtown job, even using the HOV-3 "slug lines" on I-395.

Back to the crime topic - so what follows from the high incidence of domestic violence is that I would say there is relatively less "random" violence. That's kind of reflected in the Columbia Place Mall vs. Springfield Mall comparison. While Columbia Place is not my first choice for shopping, if I had to go there (e.g., it has the only Macy's in town), I would not feel particularly unsafe there. At Springfield Mall I would feel unsafe (we would usually only go to the Target there, and even then we would sometimes go to the Burke one instead). It was also dirtier and trashier.

Sorry for the long post, but I thought I would try to convince you as a former Northern Virginia resident myself about what I see as the reality-on-the-ground vs. what you may be perceiving from numbers on a screen. So the short answer is - it is easy to find safe neighborhoods and be safe if you use a few common sense precautions. On top of that we have a wonderful quality of life at a great value when you consider the cost of living. Hope this helps.

[The Dissenter]

Chi2Midlands, thank you.

I'm glad you are happy with Columbia. I agree with you with Springfield Mall (two murders have happened in the general in about a year's time.) It is refreshing that Columbia is not Southeast DC in the 90's or inner-beltway PG now. On the social issues, i'll likely be moving down by myself (no family) and also i try to avoid conflict, if i'm out after 11pm any day it's purely an accident/emergency, so i guess i should not have much to worry about.

Just an general update, I've pretty much eliminated Charlotte and replaced it with the Piedmont Triad (High Point/Winston-Salem) in NC, due to cost-of-living issues. So it's nice that Columbia is still a strong option for me.

[Chi2Midlands]

Originally Posted by Alanboy395

Chi2Midlands, thank you.

I'm glad you are happy with Columbia. I agree with you with Springfield Mall (two murders have happened in the general in about a year's time.) It is refreshing that Columbia is not Southeast DC in the 90's or inner-beltway PG now. On the social issues, i'll likely be moving down by myself (no family) and also i try to avoid conflict, if i'm out after 11pm any day it's purely an accident/emergency, so i guess i should not have much to worry about.

Just an general update, I've pretty much eliminated Charlotte and replaced it with the Piedmont Triad (High Point/Winston-Salem) in NC, due to cost-of-living issues. So it's nice that Columbia is still a strong option for me.

No problem.

I will say that the "worse" areas of Columbia, because this region is less dense and more spread out than DC, basically do feel like tinier, more isolated versions of inner-beltway PG. As I said, it's more of a patchwork here - we are talking pockets measured in acres or maybe a couple of square miles, not entire swaths of counties.

And, as much as I admire the progressive development that North Carolina has made, I must say that Charlotte is rapidly becoming another Northern Virginia. The nicer parts of Charlotte are nice, but so often it's just another Tysons Corner or Ballston. I personally think the Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill is better, due to the presence of universities and more a authentic urban history and environment in Durham, but the newer, more suburban areas are not much different. Traffic, school crowding, congestion, crime, etc., are, I perceive, creeping up. Their saving grace is that they are still far cheaper than NoVa, and closer to Columbia in cost-of-living than NoVa. But particularly in the case of Charlotte, as much as good, solid economic growth has happened there, there is a certain soullessness to the that region (as I mentioned, it's like Tysons with NC plates instead of VA ones). The short answer as I see it: as NoVa becomes more like New Jersey, Charlotte and Raleigh are becoming more like NoVa.

That's not to say Charlotte/Raleigh are undesirable, but those looking to "escape" certain negative aspects of larger cities like DC may get disappointed before too long.

To that extent, I do think you would like the Greensboro-High Point areas more pleasant - they are smaller, more historic, and more comparable to the smaller SC metros like Columbia and Greenville in size and feel than Charlotte or Raleigh. I think they offer a better balance of growth and stability.

[The Dissenter]

Originally Posted by Chi2Midlands

No problem.

I will say that the "worse" areas of Columbia, because this region is less dense and more spread out than DC, basically do feel like tinier, more isolated versions of inner-beltway PG. As I said, it's more of a patchwork here - we are talking pockets measured in acres or maybe a couple of square miles, not entire swaths of counties.

And, as much as I admire the progressive development that North Carolina has made, I must say that Charlotte is rapidly becoming another Northern Virginia. The nicer parts of Charlotte are nice, but so often it's just another Tysons Corner or Ballston. I personally think the Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill is better, due to the presence of universities and more a authentic urban history and environment in Durham, but the newer, more suburban areas are not much different. Traffic, school crowding, congestion, crime, etc., are, I perceive, creeping up. Their saving grace is that they are still far cheaper than NoVa, and closer to Columbia in cost-of-living than NoVa. But particularly in the case of Charlotte, as much as good, solid economic growth has happened there, there is a certain soullessness to the that region (as I mentioned, it's like Tysons with NC plates instead of VA ones). The short answer as I see it: as NoVa becomes more like New Jersey, Charlotte and Raleigh are becoming more like NoVa.

That's not to say Charlotte/Raleigh are undesirable, but those looking to "escape" certain negative aspects of larger cities like DC may get disappointed before too long.

To that extent, I do think you would like the Greensboro-High Point areas more pleasant - they are smaller, more historic, and more comparable to the smaller SC metros like Columbia and Greenville in size and feel than Charlotte or Raleigh. I think they offer a better balance of growth and stability.

thanks again. just wondering what does a decent studio/1bed apt go for down there? i would love to stay under $600.

[waccamatt]

Originally Posted by Alanboy395

thanks again. just wondering what does a decent studio/1bed apt go for down there? i would love to stay under $600.

You'll have a large variety of options in every area of the metro in that price range.

[tantrik03]

Originally Posted by Alanboy395

thanks again. just wondering what does a decent studio/1bed apt go for down there? i would love to stay under $600.

Hi Alanboy
Check out the Biltmore Apartments in Forest Acres.......It's a safe, friendly community with a good mix of students, professionals and senior citizens.

Find Columbia apartments and homes for rent in South Carolina at The Biltmore. (http://www.thebiltmoreapartments.com/s/homepage - broken link)

I currently reside here and pay $735 per month for a fairly large 1 bdr apt (heat included)!!

Hope this helps.......

[elizabethcameron]

For Crime data, SLED and the counties websites have those data available.