Quote:
Originally Posted by OmShahi
Anyone have any advice? Anything I should watch out for in South Carolina?
|
Speed traps.
But seriously, if you're planning on sticking to the I-95 corridor, there's not going to be much to see AT ALL. I-95 through the Carolinas has got to be the boringest stretch of I-95 there is, LOL.
Anyway, as far as the subject here is concerned, I am definitely more familiar with Columbia and have not yet had a chance to visit Baton Rouge. So I'll do the best I can here to be objective with the categories.
Architecture: I would probably give the edge to
Baton Rouge due to the French influences in the area, not to mention the art deco LA Capitol and the Shaw Center. But one can take a gander at photo threads for Baton Rouge and
Columbia to come to their own conclusion in this regard.
Development: Not sure. I know Baton Rouge has added some buildings downtown (government buildings I think). Columbia recently added an office tower to its skyline and two others a few years before that. There's also development activity in other parts of downtown and Five Points, the urban district where the USC students tend to hang out, although some of it has been downscaled/altered/scrapped since the economy went sour. I'm sure the same can be said in Baton Rouge.
Economy: Baton Rouge. It added much more private sector jobs from 2000-2010 than Columbia (which also had a net increase of jobs) did, thanks in no small part of the petrochemical industry that has a large presence in the area. However, both are
categorized as being among the nation's strongest metro areas in terms of recovery from the recession by the Brookings Institute.
Education: I think it's close to being a tie here. Baton Rouge has LSU and Columbia has USC, both having large enrollments of over 20K and having rankings not too far apart in the lastest national rankings. Baton Rouge also has Southern University that has a decent-sized student body, and while Columbia doesn't have a secondary institution that large, there are a few others that it does have (two HBCU's, one women's college).
Entertainment: Don't know for sure, but I'd imagine they aren't too dissimilar here. Columbia gets it share of big-name acts and I'm sure Baton Rouge does too. Both have a decent amount of museums and their signature annual events. I do know that Columbia has one of the most visited zoos in the Southeast, which is a big draw for the city.
Family life: Not really sure how this could be determined.
Healthcare: Don't know enough to say.
Location: I'll go with Columbia on this one, although Baton Rouge's location isn't too shabby at all. It's located on the mighty Mississippi, which is a plus, and is a stone's throw from one of the nation's most unique and interesting cities, New Orleans. Houston would be the closest really big city. But I like Columbia's location better; it's not on a river nearly as large as the Mississippi, but it is located at the confluence of two rivers that merge to form a third, is close to Charlotte, Charleston, Myrtle Beach, and the Appalachian foothills/mountains. It's also a little closer to Atlanta than Baton Rouge is to Houston, and is located roughly halfway between Miami and NYC.
Shopping: Baton Rouge has a bit more of the upper mid-level brands that have not yet made it to the Columbia market.
Transportation: Tie. Both just have the standard bus systems.
Weather: From looking at climate statistics, it gets hotter in the summer in Columbia (which is no surprise to me at all), but it's more humid throughout the year in Baton Rouge, which I expected. So take your pick I suppose.
I suppose one could also consider downtown vibrancy, parks/recreation, etc. as categories also.
And for good measure, here are two larger, more encompassing shots of each city's skyline:
Baton Rouge
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...ugeSkyline.JPG
Columbia
http://www.pbase.com/lsyd/image/122136013/original.jpg
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
.
