Columbia County Exodus? (Columbus, Martinez, Evans: relocate, housing, low crime)

[GretchBriBri]

I called to talk to a realtor today regarding a home I saw on-line located in Columbia Co. Instead I was able to speak to the receptionist and she told me that many people are trying to get out of this county- something to do with growing pains.

If anyone has any specific info. I would be very intersted as this is one area that we have narrowed down as a posssible place to relocate our young family in the near future ( good schools, low crime, less likely to have storms, nice weather, etc..).

Thank you for any help you can provide!!

[21mm397]

Hi GretchBriBri,
We moved to Columbia county three years ago from Arizona. As far as I know, Columbia County is growing in population, not shrinking. There is a lot of growth, the 'growing pains' you heard about, new businesses, housing, and schools. Traffic is busy at certain times of the day, but not horrible. The schools here are very good. Some of the long-time residents don't care for all of the new growth and you will hear some complaints about over-development, and traffic, but Columbia County is mostly a nice quiet place to live.
Hope this helps.

[GretchBriBri]

Yes that does help. So you would recommend the area as a nice place to raise a family? I'm curious, how did you end up moving there?

[barii]

I still think columbia county is the fastest growing county. Outside of atlanta in georgia. There are some people moving from columbia to further outer counties. Such as lincoln, mcduffie, burke, and mccormick. But columbia county has still been gaining thousands of people strong every year. The growing pains are too much growth at once. Augusta spilled over to columbia county very fast. The schools are becoming overcrowded and traffic is a problem in Evans and Martinez. It is suburban happiness though. There are five areas in the county. Appling, Evans, Martinez, Grovetown, and Harlem. The city of Grovetown is opening a new highschool in 2009. The county has about 112,000 people.

[wordzy1]

Hey, my spouse has a company pursuing him from Columbus. We'd be coming from Phoenix. I'm interested to hear from you how Georgia stacks with Arizona and what changes we're likely to face... Cultural, economic, social, etc. Schools and a safe, quiet way of life is what we're after.

[Saintmarks]

Originally Posted by wordzy1

Hey, my spouse has a company pursuing him from Columbus. We'd be coming from Phoenix. I'm interested to hear from you how Georgia stacks with Arizona and what changes we're likely to face... Cultural, economic, social, etc. Schools and a safe, quiet way of life is what we're after.

You might want to start a new thread. Columbia County and Columbus, GA are on opposite sides of the state. Columbia County is suburban Augusta on the SC border, so you are probably missing good input on the Columbus area.

[DisgustaTruth]

I wouldn't say there is an exodus in Columbia County... but growth has definately slowed.. to around 5%... which is not bad.. but isn't the double digit growth the county has received in the past.
I think the county has grown about as much as it can for a suburb of a medium sized metro area.

[barii]

I definitely don't think columbia county is done with its explosive growth. They're still building alot in evans and martinez. Which are the counties two biggest cities. Harlem and grovetown are still rural in most areas throughout their city.