Your impressions of Columbia (high crime, hotel, neighborhood)

[mmposting]

yes, I know many of these things have been addressed in different threads, which I am reading, but for my particular situation:

My wife and I want to get out of New Mexico. We don't like it here due to the following:

- lack of social atmosphere or ease of making friends
- small towns and cities with little in the way of activities or nightlife
- high crime, lots of street gangs even in small towns (this is nothing new for NM)
- nobody on the streets, wide open spread out town planning
- dry and dusty environment

What I would want in a place to live would be, basically the opposite of the above list, except not too much humidity.

I work in the IT field. Shall I apply for jobs in Columbia?

[Captain Worley]

Why not? Come for the interview, take a few days off if you get a good vibe, and see how you like it.

[Buckeye in SC]

Originally Posted by mmposting

yes, I know many of these things have been addressed in different threads, which I am reading, but for my particular situation:

My wife and I want to get out of New Mexico. We don't like it here due to the following:

- lack of social atmosphere or ease of making friends
- small towns and cities with little in the way of activities or nightlife
- high crime, lots of street gangs even in small towns (this is nothing new for NM)
- nobody on the streets, wide open spread out town planning
- dry and dusty environment

What I would want in a place to live would be, basically the opposite of the above list, except not too much humidity.

I work in the IT field. Shall I apply for jobs in Columbia?

As for the humidity, we do get some very humid days in the summer months w/temperatures in the 90s, so keep that in mind if it is a big issue to you moving here. Columbia is a mid-size city, I've never been to Albuquerque, but at least from a population standpoint, the two metro areas are comparable (SC has strict annexation laws which has held back it's cities from a lot of population growth w/in corporate limits), one difference is Columbia is the state capital. So maybe that will give you an idea on the size of the city being in New Mexico.

There are some areas of higher crime to avoid, but for the most part, I feel pretty safe in most places around the city.

There are plenty of people outdoors as for the most part (w/the exception of the past week) there really isn't a 'winter' to speak of, it's been in the 30s and 40s the past few days, but this weekend we are supposed to be back into the 60s. Downtown, the 5 Points area, and around USC campus you'll usually find lots of people outside on the sidewalks. You will find plenty of nightlife opportunities in these areas as well as some other scattered throughout the metro.

The area has been in a drought the past few years, but I think the average annual rainfall is around 45", so it's not like desert conditions or anything.

I know there are some IT jobs whether it be through state jobs or BCBS as well as others, but not being in that profession, can't speak to the ease of finding a job or what not. Maybe somebody else can help you w/that.

Good luck to you in your choice.

[mmposting]

Buckeye -

great description, thanks. i like what i hear, so far

[jlboney]

We do have some humidity here, and on some days it's pretty rough. We do have everything else you are looking for in a city in my opinion, why not visit and see what you think of the place.

[melskybell]

Well, I've "run the gamut" of west vs. east and humidity vs. dry. I lived in AZ and loved it. I live in TX and hate it (dust AND wind). I lived in Tampa and loved it. Summer afternoon thunderstorms came through and cooled it off every afternoon (at least to me).

High heat with high humidity ie; Houston is darn near unbearable (and many over 100+ degree days). Dallas/Ft. Worth isn't far behind in high heat and medium humidity.

I think Columbia would be quite tolerable for the few months it appears to be hot and humid.

Mel

[waccamatt]

I've been to Houston during the summer and the heat/humidity combo was much worse than anything I've experienced in Columbia.

[Chi2Midlands]

Originally Posted by waccamatt

I've been to Houston during the summer and the heat/humidity combo was much worse than anything I've experienced in Columbia.

I'll second that - I've been to Houston in early July twice and it's an Amazon tropical rainforest compared to Columbia. Two things that really made me notice it:

(1) Because of air-conditioners running full blast inside my hotel, and the high heat/humidity outside, condensation was positivily DRIPPING on the inside of the windows. I've never seen this in Columbia.

(2) Houston's Intercontinental Airport, while a pretty pleasant facility for a fairly large hub airport, had a sort of "musty basement" smell to it. I'm sure it's partially because they have heavy use of concrete in their terminal architecture (as opposed to steel & glass), which makes the basement-look really stand out. But I've only sensed that kind of a smell in an airport in Miami and Orlando.

Houston definitely has a "flat, green, and swampy" feel to it, whereas the Midlands is not particularly green, especially in the Sandhills areas on the northeast side of town, and outside of Lower Richland County near the Congaree, there really isn't a swampy feel to the area. Palm trees have to be imported here from the Lowcountry - in Houston they're right at home.

I will say that Columbia's summer heat reaches the truly "unbearable" stage only for a few weeks in late July/early August. We've had family down here in early July, and while it was hot, it was still bearable for young kids to play outside a little in the afternoon.

[gladt]

Buckeye in SC;Columbia is a mid-size city, I've never been to Albuquerque, but at least from a population standpoint, the two metro areas are comparable (SC has strict annexation laws which has held back it's cities from a lot of population growth w/in corporate limits), one difference is Columbia is the state capital. So maybe that will give you an idea on the size of the city being in New Mexico.


Albuquerque and Columbia may have similar sized metro's, but the city of Abq is a lot bigger in size, look and feel. Columbia is very nice but it is a lot smaller.

[waccamatt]

Originally Posted by gladt

Buckeye in SC;Columbia is a mid-size city, I've never been to Albuquerque, but at least from a population standpoint, the two metro areas are comparable (SC has strict annexation laws which has held back it's cities from a lot of population growth w/in corporate limits), one difference is Columbia is the state capital. So maybe that will give you an idea on the size of the city being in New Mexico.


Albuquerque and Columbia may have similar sized metro's, but the city of Abq is a lot bigger in size, look and feel. Columbia is very nice but it is a lot smaller.

You really can't compare city size with cities in South Carolina to cities in other states because we have very restrictive annexation laws. If you looked at the urban area population it would be in the neighborhood of 500,000.