what we think of columbia so far... (Lexington, Jackson: house, living)

[jwind]

...after three weeks that is... I'll try and update again sometime later but I thought i'd give my impressions and am curios of others feedback.

We are a couple (30), no kids, one dog and live an active lifstyle. we moved here from Portland, Maine. I grew up outside of Boston and She grew up in CT. we've also lived in Colorado, New Hampshire and Indiana at one point or another...

So in no particular order here are some thoughts and things that have stood out so far...

It hot. duh. was totally expecting that. We're totally fine with that and are looking forward to the mild winters. Portland being on the coast doesn't get nearly the snow other places get in NE but the rain freeze thing can get get in the way of folks like us that like to be outside doing things...

ANd while we're on that, we've found it somewhat difficult to find active outlet for folks our age. PLenty to do for the 20's (USC) and seemingly quite a bit for the older crowd, but finding active folks our age we found to be somewhat of a challenge. We played soccer in Portland in a number of adult leagues. We've found one here (havn't played yet). We ride bikes. THe group (and shop rides) we've been on have been a much older age bracket then we are used to. For kicks we played things like dodgeball ultimate frisbee and triathlons all filled with folks our age... Not so much here - or at least we havn't found it yet. In contrast, we were up in Asheville NC for a couple days and befriended a couple our age in that short time.

The speed limits are faster and people drive slower... Often under the speed limit and for the most part patiently. I know i've made all sorts of out of towner driving moves around here...

Cost of living is cheap. so cheap. Housing cost a fractions here. First time i've lived in a house since i moved out of my folks place.

Columbia us much bigger but far less dens. Portland felt quite a bit more urban with sharp drop offs in terms of population all around. Columbia is massive.

Traffic? What traffic? No congestion anyhow... Can't even believe people complain about it.

Pedestrian Traffic sucks. Outside of the Vista and 5 point walking just isn't a good way to get around. Riding my bike around town is even worse. This is somewhat offset by seemingly patient drives...

Palms are neat, palmetto bugs are not. The bugs down here are amazing. the shear size and abundance of them are impressive...

Way more fast food joints. Food in general has been O.K. so far. we haven't be out a whole lot yet so i'll reserve reservations.

Grocery stores leave a little to be desired. We've found Publix to be the best. Health stores are limited. No big ones like Whole foods or trader joes. Earth fare is alright as is the rosewood market.

Way more Churches - and way bigger. None of my friends are really religious, or at least go to Church. I suspect that is going to change.

Pro sports (and every other sports) are secondary to Gamecock Football. the amount of gamecock paraphernalia around here is amazing.

I can't believe you can put just about anything out and it'll be picked up by city services. we are used to only being able to put out recycling and city (expensive) trash bags.

Here is a strange one. Seems as though all the grocery stores put plastic between each slice of cheese. That has not been typical of other places we've lived.

The whole confederate flag thing is a little strange.

More big cars around here. Our subaru doesn't have nearly as many friends as it once did. I suspect it has something to do with the AWD . Lots more pick ups...

I am called "honey" and "sweetie" a lot more frequently...

Love tea, just don't really like the sweat tea

City is certainly a patchwork. We live in Rosewood. we really haven't seen any REALLY bad neighbor hoods at all - some that are not as nice as other, but for the most part nothing terrible. We've found it somewhat difficult to decipher the safety of areas. My girlfriend doesn't feel safe running by herself, especially at night from our house.

Whole lot less dogs. Our 100lb pouch really seems to turn some heads...

So that's it for now. Interested to se what others think...

[UnderTheLiveOaks]

Thanks for your perspective. As someone from the area who left for a decade and then returned, I can certainly see where you're coming from on many of these points.

As for finding things to do with people your age, I can say that I hadn't ever really thought about that... We're a couple about your age, and I guess most of the people we know and things we do are an outgrowth of one of our jobs or graduate programs, or involve people we've known for years.

And as for the church thing... that is a little different here, but don't think that everyone is religious in the megachurch kind of way. Lots of people aren't religious at all, and other churches (like the tiny one we attend from time to time) are filled with earthy, kind people who like peace and thing gay people are perfectly welcome. So it's not all fire and brimstone.

As for getting out and meeting people, volunteering with Harvest Hope food bank or Habitat for Humanity could be a good way to get out and meet folks, too.

Club sports exist, as you indicated, and I hope you enjoy your soccer team.

As for bike/run clubs, I know that there are definitely run clubs, because I see them while running solo on Saturday mornings. They seem to be all-age affairs, with lots of young folks. Outdoor activities like that do dip in the summer here because even locals can't hang when it's 100 degrees and 80% humidity. That's starting to pick up again, and will get stronger going into the fall. The BEAUTY is that you can run and bike here year round with no issues. I VASTLY prefer running in Columbia in January to running in Columbia in August. (Or, I might add, even going OUTSIDE in January in my former home, Chicago).

So it sounds like you have had a mixed bag of results, but with time I think you'll find that if you dig a little, Cola has plenty to offer.

[jwind]

I'm sorry you felt insulted by my post. I believe I had both positive and negative things to say which would hold true anywhere. After all, this is a Columbia forum. SO, I do think it's pretty relevant... You needn't look far to find other threads of very similar nature or others looking for others first hand experience with the area. After all, isn't that what this forum is all about? How about you respons in a constructive manner like CarolinaBredChicagoan? Maybe with some actual feedback other than telling my to get of Facebook, which has no relevance at all to this thread... So please, tell me what your issues are with my post, I'm interested. After all, that's why I posted my feeling here.

And by the way in the last few days we've:

Had a chance to experience a home USC football game - fun! As a Boston sports fan, I can can really appreciate the enthusiasm and dedication from the community.

Ate at the Mediterranean Tea Room on Devine, which was excellent...

[Brandon Hoffman]

I care.

[doogle]

Many of the recent threads are from people like me either A) coming to the area soon or B) thinking of coming to the area. So jwind, thanks for your input because I enjoyed reading it...ignore the troll.

[LexingtonDad]

I pretty much agree with your assessment except for:

Way more fast food joints. Food in general has been O.K. so far. we haven't be out a whole lot yet so i'll reserve reservations.

We moved here from the Atlanta area and thought the reverse, maybe its a southern thing with the fast food outlets. My wife and I eat out A LOT and there are some great privately owned restaurants where you can get a really good meal for the same cost as most fast food. You need to be open to experimenting and in some cases a little more patient with waiting for your food.

[worldtraveler22]

ha there ya go jwind brandon hoffman will be your friend. see im good for something

[waccamatt]

Originally Posted by LexingtonDad

I pretty much agree with your assessment except for:

We moved here from the Atlanta area and thought the reverse, maybe its a southern thing with the fast food outlets. My wife and I eat out A LOT and there are some great privately owned restaurants where you can get a really good meal for the same cost as most fast food. You need to be open to experimenting and in some cases a little more patient with waiting for your food.

Yes, fast food seems to be much more popular in the south.

[drjoe66]

We moved here a few months ago. I basically agree with all your observations, they are very well written. And we like Columbia a lot, just to make that clear before I get killed here bt the proud locals for what I will write now.....

When it comes to driving, two concepts are basically unknown here: using those strage flashing lights that are build in all cars by the manufacturer to show other driver that you want to turn and the fact that a traffic light turning green means go. Many people here do not even seem to realize that are sitting in a car while they drive around.....

We like the restaurant scene in Columbia, found some great non-fast food places that are great.

One thing I am trying to understand is why the general public is often so negative here (this is based on many comments I read on The State and other web pages and I have (over)heard in conversations. Whatever the federal goverment does is wrong, whatever the state goverment does is wrong, education is just a waste of money for many people, etc. I have never lived in a state that had a more negative vibe in that respect. I assume this has to do with the fact that SC politicians are the worst and most unqualified I have ever experienced, no matter what party they are from.

[HowardRoarke]

Running clubs:

There are several. One runs the loop at Riverfront Park/Columbia Canal on Wed. nights. 5 miles. They start off at 5:45.

Food:

Hole in the wall places have some good food in that town, plus there's Doc's BBQ
and others which are locally owned, too. There's a German restaurant on Jackson Blvd., you have Yesterday's in 5 Points, plus plenty of others. There's an authentic Irish place behind Dunkin' Donuts on Two Notch called The Puddlin' Duck, which is good.

I can't stand fast food, so I seek out local places.