Here's a recent reply I gave to an inquiry about Columbia South Carolina Real Estate, Community, Culture, and things to do:
(name kept anonymous),
About Charleston South Carolina - you're right, it's very close; about 1.5 hours drive from Columbia down I-26 East. Very artsy type place with lots of history. I've visited it many times. I used to live in Myrtle Beach, SC...now THAT's the golf mecca of the East...but very touristy. They have an annual "Bike Week" or Biker week there...
Columbia has become a very diverse place. There is growth everywhere...in business, leisure, population, the arts, real estate, you name it. It's very exciting (for me) to live in such a growth environment.
If you're a techie type, google earth will help with my little online tour here...do you have google earth? If not, here is a direct link: http://earth.google.com/download-earth.html (this is a link to html, not an exe file, direct from google). It may be a good way for you to investigate any given area. To see where I live, just type in 109 Riverhill Court, Cayce SC...you'll see the river which separates my neighborhood from the City.
Anyway...golf...Columbia has some sprawl going on in the Northeast area too. I believe there are, like 3 golf courses in that area alone. (Spring Valley Area) - again, maybe on google earth...look for "brickyard road" - that's in Spring Valley.
The older, more established (year round of course) golf courses are Linrick aaaannnnd another one...I'm not really a golfer :). Point is, yes, there is golfing...but no where near as much as in Myrtle Beach, SC
To answer your question about sprawl, real estate, downtown...look on google earth for "gervais street". Gervais Street is roughly 4 minutes from my house (because of traffic). As the crow flies, it's about a mile. Gervais is where the "vista" is located. This is where all the restaurants are, country line dance hall, disco dance place (club RA), Longhorns, and the more upscale restaurants like "The Blue Marlin".
In that same general area on "Blossom Street" is the new Colonial Center, a venue for concerts, USC Basketball, Pro Wrestling and the like. Behind it is a new Convention Center...right next to that is the new Hampton Inn on Gervais Street. There is a YMCA there on Sumter street (steamroom, raquetball, basketball, freeweights, etc) across from one of the largest hotels, The Marriott.
South Carolina State Fair is a yearly Fall attraction. They have their own website at http://www.scstatefair.org/ . We just saw the Oak Ridge Boys play there in Loretta Lynn's stead (she twisted her foot or something). Near the State fair (on Bluff Rd at Rosewood Drive) is the SC State Farmer's Market.
Not far to the right of the vista area on Gervais Street is "5 Points"...as Columbia is a bit of a College Town (USC Gamecock Football Tailgating is big here), 5 points is the eclectic College area. But is trying to appeal to the more mature crowd as well in recent years.
Coliseum, Koger Center, Williams Brice Stadium, baseball stadium - The nutcracker plays every year at the Koger Center on Assembly Street...this and the like play all year there. If you like Hockey (beer & fighting hehe), the "Inferno" plays almost year round at the Coliseum on Assembly Street. The University of South Carolina Gamecocks play at the Williams Brice Stadium on George Rogers Blvd at Bluff Rd right next to the SC State Fairgrounds. The Capital City "Bombers" WAS our baseball team which recently got replaced by the "Blowfish" (I have no idea what blowfish has to do with Columbia except for Hootie and the Blowfish).
Malls - on Google Earth, look for "Columbiana Blvd. or Harbison Blvd" in the St. Andrews Area. That's my favorite mall. Hundreds of shops, I'm sure including Parisian, Belk, Sears, Coldwater Creek, BIG food court with Carousel, etc. Kiosks everywhere selling anything from cell phone accessories to neon Virgin Marys hehe. Chick-Fil-A is big here...and if you want a treat while you're there, there's a Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream, Marble Slab, Dairy Queen, and Orange Julius nearby in an ajoining strip mall called "Columbiana Grande" - this is where the big newest movie theater is that I like.
The Riverbanks Zoo is a popular place to spend time. Personally, I think it's just as good as the Bronx Zoo. Very clean, lots of diversions, and of course animals in cages to look at :). Popular events there include "Boo at the Zoo", a trick-or-treat week before Halloween, and "the lights before Christmas".
Kayaking, boating - If you're into such avocations, you can "put in" AT the aforementioned Zoo, and "pull out" either at the Gervais Street Bridge (again, see Google Earth) or on down at the Cayce Boat Landing (maybe 3 miles down the "Cayce Riverwalk"). If you wanted a longer excursion, you could pull out at highway 601 or go all the way to the coast.
Lake Murray is our main lake here in Columbia, South Carolina. Just look west on google earth...it's huge, you can't miss it. We like to go water skiing out there as well as striped bass fishing.
Museum - The Columbia Metropolitan Museum and a new kids place called "EdVenture or Ed Venture" are points of interest, also near the Vista on Gervais Street, just on the city side of the Congaree River. My favorite attraction there, and one I volunteer for every year is the Palmetto Health Sponsored "Festival of Trees". Basically, what people do is donate a designer tree that they put together, honarable guests (well, guests paying $125 per ticket) "bid" on the trees (silent auction), and the $$ goes to Children's Hospital. It's fun because there's heavy hors d'orves, upscale entertainment, high profile appearences (Mayor Bob Coble was there this year), and it's a black tie event...so we all get to act like we're hoyty toyty for the night hehe. On a regular basis, though, the museum is a formidable attraction alone - the most recent exhibit is the Norman Rockwell Exhibit.
Airpport - Our main airport is the Columbia Metropolitan Airport. US Air, Independence Air, Delta, are the main flight services out of there. You still save money if you drive an hour or so North To Charlotte, but there are direct flights to places like Chicago O'hare and other major airports like that. They just renovated our Airport, so it's easy on the eyes as well...and rarely "packed". The Columbia Metropolitan is roughly 4 miles West of my home on Riverhill Ct in Cayce.
Churches - Well, it's the Bible Belt...need I say more hehe?! Seriously...we go to 1st Baptist on Hampton Street Downtown. There's everything from Cathlic of course to Evangelical to Non-Denominational.
If you want to visit in the Spring, my Wife and (at that time in the future) 1 year old girl would be happy to be your contact while you're here. I can show you some houses in the best areas if you'd like, and you can get a look at our home/area in Cayce.
If you do want to talk to an actual Real Estate Agent, I know several. But as you know, you run the risk of having them try to sell you something for the sake of selling you something :). Nevertheless, the best one I know of is Jerry Fowler - www.jerryfowler.com - he's a straight shooter and a good man all around. Coupled with that, my favorite mortgage group is http://www.midlandmortgagecorp.com/, Mr. David Hilburn.
Do Email me if you have any more questions... ashleybrooks@sc.rr.com or keep checking my blog for updates at the Columbia South Carolina Blogspot
Bye for now,
Ashley Brooks
www.ashleybrooks.info
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