Augusta GA vs Columbia SC (Atlanta, Macon: employment, university, restaurants)

[The Magician]

Originally Posted by Mutiny77

Columbia. The retail gap has even narrowed since this thread was started and they are places are pretty much on par now in that area or Columbia might even have a slight advantage.

Funny how Augusta still has somethings Columbia doesn't and vice versa.

[DSMRE]

I believe overall there is more in Columbia.

[The Magician]

Originally Posted by DSMRE

I believe overall there is more in Columbia.

In regards to what?

[Mutiny77]

Originally Posted by The Magician

Funny how Augusta still has somethings Columbia doesn't and vice versa.

I'm pretty sure Columbia has more things that Augusta doesn't than vice versa. Columbia has come a long way in the past five years or so.

[DSMRE]

Originally Posted by The Magician

In regards to what?

Just more overall. It's larger so that makes sense. Things like a nice zoo, museums, better night life, larger arena, Amtrak service, etc. Not necessarily talking about this chain and that chain. Just stuff in general.

[AUGnative]

The metro area of Columbia has about 200,000 more people than metro Augusta.. that's like adding another Richmond County to Augusta's MSA... So it is only natural that it has more in just about every category. Add to that it being the state capital capital, the home of USC and the crossroads of 3 interstate highways

[Mutiny77]

Originally Posted by AUGnative

The metro area of Columbia has about 200,000 more people than metro Augusta.. that's like adding another Richmond County to Augusta's MSA... So it is only natural that it has more in just about every category. Add to that it being the state capital capital, the home of USC and the crossroads of 3 interstate highways

Having more interstates is a big one. Augusta would benefit immensely from a north/south interstate. If US-25 were an interstate from Flat Rock, NC on through Greenville and Greenwood, down to Statesboro and picked up at US-80 into Savannah, that would be such a huge benefit. Plus it would directly connect two big tourist cities in the Southeast: Asheville and Savannah.

[amlovingit]

Originally Posted by AUGnative

The metro area of Columbia has about 200,000 more people than metro Augusta.. that's like adding another Richmond County to Augusta's MSA... So it is only natural that it has more in just about every category. Add to that it being the state capital capital, the home of USC and the crossroads of 3 interstate highways

It’s amazing what you can find on google.

[amlovingit]

Yes Columbia has more peoples than Augusta outside of that. Augusta and Columbia is more even then one is different. The distance between the two cities hurt theirs growth because they are so close together from Augusta to Columbia it 45-55 minute drive. You can argue they can actually combine them together to make one big MSA. Which has been debated on here before. Both cities is doing good things mainly because both cities is so far behind others peers cities. I think Columbia should’ve been farther ahead of Augusta because they are the capital of its state. I hope Augusta and Columbia continue to get different everything than each other it only helps situation not hurts it

[Mutiny77]

Originally Posted by amlovingit

Yes Columbia has more peoples than Augusta outside of that. Augusta and Columbia is more even then one is different. The distance between the two cities hurt theirs growth because they are so close together from Augusta to Columbia it 45-55 minute drive. You can argue they can actually combine them together to make one big MSA. Which has been debated on here before.

The distance between the two cities has nothing to do with their growth rates. And they can't be combined to make one MSA because there's not nearly enough cross-commuting between the two metros.

Both cities is doing good things mainly because both cities is so far behind others peers cities. I think Columbia should’ve been farther ahead of Augusta because they are the capital of its state. I hope Augusta and Columbia continue to get different everything than each other it only helps situation not hurts it

Columbia is hardly "so far behind other peer cities." You may be speaking for Augusta there, but not Columbia. I hope you aren't putting a lot of stock into chains/retail.

And people put way too much stock into being a state capital. Certainly it has its benefits but there are other plenty of other factors that play a role in a city's growth and importance. Montgomery and Tallahassee are smaller than Augusta, for starters. Annapolis, Frankfurt, Trenton, Jefferson City, Springfield, etc. are all rather small state capitals of populous/important states. Given the fact that the state of SC has no real major cities and actually has less people than Atlanta's MSA, Columbia is about as far ahead of Augusta as it should be.