Columbia's statistics are deceiving (West Columbia, Cayce: homeowners association, neighborhood, income)

[RybarSC]

One of my pet peeves is whenever I hear someone say that the population of Columbia is 125,000. It's true that this is the "official" population inside city limits, but the Columbia MSA is downright bizzare with how it is layed out, and the "city limits" really have no meaning at all.

Whenever someone from out-of-state asks me how big Columbia is, I tell them around 700,000 people. And, truly, that is a much more accurate number than 125k. The 125k is not counting Forest Acres, Arcadia Lakes, West Columbia, Cayce, Blythewood, Irmo or Lexington. I can maybe see Lexington or Blythewood being it's own town, but there is absolutely no reason for any of the other towns to even exist. In my opinion, they should all be part of the City of Columbia. For example, I work in Forest Acres and live the Old Woodlands neighborhood. Statistically speaking, I neither live nor work in the city of Columbia, so I don't "count" at all when it comes to Columbia's median income, per capita income, population, etc.

Of course, none of these towns will ever allow itself to become part of Columbia, but my point in this post is to say that, realistically, there is no distance at all between the towns, except for invisible "city limits." As a resident of Columbia, you will travel through all of these "towns" throughout the week, whether to work, eat or shop, and they will be just as much "Columbia" to you as the actual "city." They are all part of Columbia. You will be living in a city of roughly 700,000 people. From a realistic perspective, the number 125k is completely irrelevant.

Just wanted to point this out to anyone looking at Columbia. Unfortunately, a lot of the most affluent parts of Columbia are not in city limits (especially Forest Acres) which really brings down Columbia's relative median income, compared to other cities that don't have ridiculous towns located WITHIN another city!

[waccamatt]

^That is correct; Columbia's metro population is almost 750,000 and the urban area population is around 500,000. Because of restrictive SC annexation laws our cities can't annex like cities in NC can.

[Woodlands]

Eventually Forest Acres and Arcadia Lakes will be engulfed by Columbia... though not annexed...which may suite them both just fine. They have a very stable tax bases and if the old Richland Mall (in FA) is ever redeveloped they certainly will fare better than most cities of similiar size in SC.. But I agree that all these hamlets and fiefdoms detract statistically from the whole..Arcadia Lakes seems like a very sophisticated homeowners association as opposed to an actual town. I am surprised that the developers of Harbison never incorporated back when it was developed? The idea of having planned community with a mix of retail, recreation, and residential would seem to justify incorporation back then (late 70s?) to control and fund improvements in the development....back when planned communities in this area were not common. Are not the convenants and assessments in Harbison somewhat sophisticated and expensive compared to your average HOA that simply collect dues for signs and a flower bed...considering that Harbison has trails, rec centers etc??