Columbia boom town, according to STL today: (St. Louis, Sedalia: appointed, real estate)

[MUTGR]

Quiet college town? More like boomtown

I know it appeared to be growing rapidly, especially southward out providence, when I was there in the late 80s to 91.

[aragx6]

I hope it continues to grow more dense at its core. There was definitely a fair amount of overbuilding and sprawl in the last decade that I don't think does much for the town. But with some new building downtown I have hope that we'll see downtown proper grow as well!

[cyrano]

It's only growing rapidly by comparison with, well, St. Louis...and Jeff, probably, and Sedalia. What's happening here is reflective of what's happening in College Station, Norman, Iowa City, and (dare I say it) Lawrence. What's funny to me is how slowly it happened by comparison with some of those other smallish towns that happen to host land-grant (and land grant-like) universities. Given that labor and manufacturing are no longer the dominant engines of the American economy, this is an entirely expected development. Seeing it up close, I think it took longer for the engine to start here because the entrenched old families didn't (no, strike that, won't) support any development that isn't real estate oriented, because that's the only game they know. In a sense, Columbia's growing despite this self-appointed elite, who live to do backroom deals to get taxpayers to pay for them. I know it's like that everywhere, but it really stands out here.

And, of course, Columbia succeeds despite the best efforts of the Legislature, who do their best to kneecap MU at every opportunity in favor of the myriad of directional state universities in this state, and out of a general mistrust of academia and intellectualism-- and, of course, diversity.

Because, my friends, Columbia is hands-down the most diverse place in Missouri-- certainly per capita. MU may not be anywhere close to an elite state university, but it's still a Tier 1 research university, which means we have lots of Europeans, Chinese, and Indians here. I wonder if there would even be enough students to keep the grad and research programs in engineering and the sciences open without them.

[RichMonk]

Columbia always seemed to be growing by leaps and bounds while I was there, 2003 to 2007. However, a good chunk of that growth didn't make sense to me. Huge apartment complexes miles from campus with crappy construction and big city rents.

I would have liked to see more dense housing go up in Downtown/The District. I think there would be a decent population of students (undergrad and grad) that would pay a premium to live walking distance to campus and rolling distance from the bars. Last I saw, I did see a new mult-unit building go up by the cold stone. Though, it seemed like it is built to be hidden from view. I would love to see some of those storefronts converted to multi-story mixed used buildings.

[cyrano]

Originally Posted by RichMonk

I would have liked to see more dense housing go up in Downtown/The District. I think there would be a decent population of students (undergrad and grad) that would pay a premium to live walking distance to campus and rolling distance from the bars. Last I saw, I did see a new mult-unit building go up by the cold stone. Though, it seemed like it is built to be hidden from view. I would love to see some of those storefronts converted to multi-story mixed used buildings.

There are some loft conversions, including a pretty major one north of Broadway (near Ernie's-- there's a Wilson's Fitness in the rear), and new construction for upscale apartments on the south side of Broadway (the one near ColdStone? this one's pretty obvious, either on 10th or Hitt). The rents have to be high to make sense, given that the owner's giving up commercial space for residential, but it's happening, and we have kids with rich parents willing to pay that rent.

[1greatcity]

A few years ago, Columbia proper zoomed past the 100k mark. That's not a small town anymore-- it's the fifth largest city in Missouri, and it's growing faster than the four largest cities.

[Peperosso]

Columbia like every other city in the U.S. has its pro’s and con’s some people will agree with my comments and of course some will disagree.

I’ve lived in Columbia for almost 12 years it’s a great place for a college student or for someone right out of college to start out in life, I would not recommend the city to relocate to for any other reason. Yes, the city has had some major population changes in the last 4 to 5 years, a lot of people have relocated from the St. Louis area and have brought crime and other large city plagues with them, the city still has a small city feeling to it and the mentality that comes with it, there used to be a big difference in the population during the summer months when the college students left the area but every year that goes by it gets less noticeable, there have been large population increases but very little to none city structure changes to adjust for the size increase but there’s plenty of parking garages downtown for parking with more to come and if you don’t want to drive in the city of Columbia it is a pro bicycle city.

Most of the major employers here still have what I call the “Bubba” effect, it’s not what you know but whom you know that gets you the decent position or the promotion, for most professions there are plenty of part time jobs with no benefits, good full time employment with benefits are hard to find, but if you are seeking employment in the medical community Columbia is the place for you.

If you have lived in Columbia and moved in the last few years it has changed and the Columbia you knew is past history if you moved back it still looks the same but doesn’t have the same feel it use to have several years ago, overall it’s a still a decent place to live and it’s also probably still the most liberal place to live in the State of Missouri but if you expect decent wages, good city services, low cost of living, high standards of living or a great place to raise a family I would recommend look elsewhere.

Before you relocate anywhere do the research, visit multiple times prior to your move. Everyone has their own opinions, just because it’s right for one person doesn’t mean it will be the right place for you.

Oh, and go Tigers. LoL