i've lived in columbia for almost 7 years. i've lived in bigger cities (indy) and smaller ones (fayetteville, NC). columbia's not bad at all. the people are friendly, the weather is great if you like hot weather, i think there's a lot to do. with national parks, 3 rivers and lots of outdoor space, it's really great if you like the outdoors. shopping is not bad. college towns always have a nice vibe -- when the students are in town. by the end of may, downtown does get a little ghost-town-y. but there's plenty of young professionals here and plenty of single people or young married couples. and tons of great restaurants. there's very little traffic in columbia, IMHO. people who think we have bad traffic have never been to big cities. and of course, one of the best things about columbia -- it is SUPER cheap! woo hoo! the population has increased a lot in the few years i've been here, so we are getting a lot of variety as far as neighborhoods, new stores and new people are concerned. so far, so good.
now, i'm not going to lie, after 6 years i feel like i've "been there, done that". i feel like i've done everything there is to do here. the population is really only about 50k. so not exactly a metropolis. which is why i'm moving soon. but would i be upset to come back to columbia? not at all. i'm just young and ready for a new adventure. no biggie. i'm not even selling my house -- just in case!
most of the people here are native SCs. EVERYONE is obsessed with SEC/ACC football. everyone goes to church and if you don't, plenty of peeps will ask you to join theirs. everyone is VERY friendly and they love to feed you.
overall, i give columbia an A-.
if you want to know where to live, let me know. i can tell you everything you need to know.
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