Growth potential for Columbus? (Atlanta, Macon: apartments, loft, condos)

[trmaoy]

As I investigate a myriad of job opportunities, I keep "discovering" new cities for possible relocation. My mother's family is actually from Georgia, but outside of Bremen, Carrollton and Atlanta, I know nothing else about it (and even still my knowledge is limited).

It appears the city of Columbus is approx. 200,000 residents. I grew up in a city about that size in a very industrialized part of the mid-west. Thus, to me, I never felt like I was living in a small town. Now, I am used to living/working in a major metro area of almost 5 million but I'm still close to where I grew up.

Is Columbus growing and developing? Is this a city that people are moving to or away from? Are major corporations locating there? Is the population projected to increase? And what are the other major cities/towns that make up the county/metro area?

Also, what kinds of shopping is located there? Are there any upscale stores, or even popular stores like limited, banana republic etc?

I would also like to know how far Columbus is from Macon, Carrollton and Atlanta? Thanks for the help.

[JLA]

Columbus is the home of AFLAC, TSYS, Synovous, Tom's Foods (Lance) and Carmike Cinemas. The population is projected to grow by more than 30,000 withing the next 2 - 3 years. Almost every major department store and clothing store chain have stores withing the city limits or within a 30 mile radius of Columbus. There are two metro areas side by side, Columbus/Phenix City/Fort Benning and Auburn/Opelika with a total population of close to 500,000 people. Two major universities Auburn and Columbus State. Cities located in the area are Columbus; Phenix City, AL; Smith Station, AL Auburn, AL; Opelika, AL and LaGrange. Other smaller towns located in the area are Hamilton; Pine Mountain; West Point; Valley, AL; Ellerslie; Talbotton; Waverly Hall; Cusseta; Buena Vista and Warm Springs and several more. Fort Benning is a large military installation located on the south side of the city. One of the benefits of having a large military installation in the area is the diversity of people. Because of the base and several other international companies Columbus has a young diverse population. KIA is building a auto manufacturing plant here as I write and several other suppliers are locating here also. The total number of jobs created by KIA so far will be about 4,000. AFLAC is adding another 2,000, For Benning will generate more than 5,000 civilian jobs. To my knowledge other companies adding jobs or expanding are Southeastern Canneries, PCI, FedEx, Cessna, TSYS and several others. One other company is locating in Phenix City, AL which will have about 600 people working for them. As you can tell Columbus has a diverse vibrant job market. Atlanta is the only area in GA that is adding more jobs at this time. Columbus has a City/County Consolidated Gov., which function outstandingly. The Downtown area is growing and expanding at a nice pace, there are several projects going on Downtown to include the building of condos and loft apartments. The Downtown area is vibrant and crime is low. Columbus is located about 1.5 hours west of Macon, 1.5 hours southwest of Atlanta and 1.5 hours south of Carrollton. We are only 3 hours from some the beaches in the world. For a city its size, Columbus is blessed with some the best entertainment venues in the South. Columbus is a large city with a small town feel to it, there are very few buildings here taller than 10storries and to me that's a good thing. I hope I have answered all of your questions and that this will give you some insight on the lovely area we call the Chattahoochee Valley.

[trmaoy]

Great info, JLA. Based on your info, it seems the city is developing rather than declining.

You said it has some of the best entertainment venues. What specifically are you referring to? Does Columbus get major concerts or performances with it being so close to atlanta? Also, what are the names of some of the malls there?

[JLA]

It does get some big name performers, but I have to admit most of them are Country & Western or Classical. You are right, with us being so close to Atlanta we only get a few Rap or Rock Concerts. The River Center is outstanding, it has three different concert halls. The Springer Opera House is nice, it is one of the oldest theater houses in GA (John Wilkes Boothe supposedly performed there). The Civic Center also get several concerts per year. The Liberty Theater is nice also, it is one the oldest African American theaters still in operation in GA; Tyler Perry have performed several of his plays there. Peach Tree, The Landings and Columbus Park Crossing are the largest malls. There are several other strip malls in Columbus.

[USA_Mom]

We moved here from a 'burb north of Dallas. We feel it is growing; however, I feel we were spoiled by the DFW area as far as job opportunities, stores and restaurants compared to here. That's not to say in the future it will change, but compared to when I lived outside of Baton Rouge in a town of 3000--it feels like that to my husband, oldest son and myself here. It's a pretty area, but we're moving back. Most if not all the local restaurants (i.e., not a TGI Fridays or chain) seem to be closed so both my husband and self feel MORE rushed here than in the city since we have only Saturday to get a lot of things done. It is also hard to find things. I mean I went to FOUR DIFFERENT STORES (Walmart, Target, Sears and finally Kohls) to find underwear for my 6-year-old son last week. Another time I just needed to get my oldest (age 15) black shoes in January....we had to overnight and order them because there were no shoe stores here that had anything like that in stock (he's not abnormal small or large footed).

IIRC there is a Limited in the mall, Abercrombie and Fitch; but, I don't remember seeing Banana Republic. Oh yeah Dillard's too. It's peachtree mall and I think that's the website name so you can check.

[trmaoy]

Originally Posted by JLA

It does get some big name performers, but I have to admit most of them are Country & Western or Classical. You are right, with us being so close to Atlanta we only get a few Rap or Rock Concerts. The River Center is outstanding, it has three different concert halls. The Springer Opera House is nice, it is one of the oldest theater houses in GA (John Wilkes Boothe supposedly performed there). The Civic Center also get several concerts per year. The Liberty Theater is nice also, it is one the oldest African American theaters still in operation in GA; Tyler Perry have performed several of his plays there. Peach Tree, The Landings and Columbus Park Crossing are the largest malls. There are several other strip malls in Columbus.

Thanks! I am a big fan of Tyler Perry too!

I will check out info on the malls. Also, I saw one of your other posts about there being a large professional black community there. Do you know what the city's racial/ethnic percentage breakdown is? I can probably look that up online too. Also, are the neighborhoods integrated?

[USA_Mom]

We've live in 2 neighborhoods since moving here (unfortunately the first house they rented to us had shall we say health issues?). Anyway both were/are relatively nice and racially diverse.

[trmaoy]

Originally Posted by USA_Mom

We moved here from a 'burb north of Dallas. We feel it is growing; however, I feel we were spoiled by the DFW area as far as job opportunities, stores and restaurants compared to here. That's not to say in the future it will change, but compared to when I lived outside of Baton Rouge in a town of 3000--it feels like that to my husband, oldest son and myself here. It's a pretty area, but we're moving back. Most if not all the local restaurants (i.e., not a TGI Fridays or chain) seem to be closed so both my husband and self feel MORE rushed here than in the city since we have only Saturday to get a lot of things done. It is also hard to find things. I mean I went to FOUR DIFFERENT STORES (Walmart, Target, Sears and finally Kohls) to find underwear for my 6-year-old son last week. Another time I just needed to get my oldest (age 15) black shoes in January....we had to overnight and order them because there were no shoe stores here that had anything like that in stock (he's not abnormal small or large footed).

IIRC there is a Limited in the mall, Abercrombie and Fitch; but, I don't remember seeing Banana Republic. Oh yeah Dillard's too. It's peachtree mall and I think that's the website name so you can check.

Thank you USA MOM. I can understand how you feel, and on the one hand, I kind of like the idea of a small town feel, but I also know that I need more urban city amenities. It's just what I'm used to. Here, I have almost every store and restaurant imaginable, except my favorite, Cheesecake Factory!

Anyway, my main concern is not feeling like I'm out in the middle of nowhere.
I know it's not a major metro area, but if there are enough people and things going on it would be okay. The city I grew up in is down to like 150,000 and it still seems like a big enough city to me but it's not growing.

[JLA]

USA_Mom, which restaurants were closed and by what time? If I were to compare Columbus to another city it would not be DFW or Atlanta. I would compare ATL to DFW, that would be a better comparison. I would compare Columbus to Shreveport, LA; Jackson, MS; Augusta, GA or even Huntsville, AL, but not DFW. I do agree with you, the area is growing and it all depends on what you are looking for. This is a middle size city and if you are looking for a city that is growing, but is maintaining its identity, then Columbus is the place. Most people who move to city this size are trying to escape the rat race of places like ATL or DFW. We travel a lot and have visited some very large malls, but we have always been able to find what we need right here in Columbus.

[USA_Mom]

They were some BBQ places, as well as Japanese and Chinese. I don't remember the names right now, offhand one is at Macon near the Denny's?

I think that was the problem, we were CONSTANTLY told that it was "like Dallas" and it's not at all. We just learned a lesson, realtors and corporations like where my husband was hired are there to GET you to do something for THEM, i.e., telling us what we wanted to hear versus the truth. For example we were told we could "easily" construct a 3000 square foot home on 2 acres in Columbus for in or around $200K; regardless of what I found on realtor.com. Um not quite.

But lesson learned. It is a pretty area and I am sure there are a lot of people (200K at least ) who love it here. I don't love it and life's too short to live where you don't feel welcomed (NOT by you JLA you have always been kind on the board) or feel at home at all. I mean usually when we have moved it takes a few months to feel at home, which I get; but, not so much here.