Elements of Urbanism: Columbia, SC

[vicupstate]

A few corrections: The Rail DEPOT mentioned is not the original Rail TERMINAL/Station.  The old rail Terminal building is on Assembly Street by the USC Engineering building.  It is now a restaurant called California Dreamin'.  It is very nice and much more comparable to the Terminal in Jax in size than the Depot building.  Google California Dreamin' and you should be able to find a picture.

The Congaree Vista is not primarily dependent on USC students for patrons.  Five Points is the USC hangout, although post-college folks hang out there too.  Five Points and the Congaree Vista have found a following and purpose.  However the Main Street corridor, the traditional Downtown, is primarily an urban suburban office park.  It has been a slow and difficult process to evolve it into something more.

[krazeeboi]

The Vista is the result of several years of investment into an area of the city that was industrial and neglected for years. This video does an awesome job of documenting the evolution of the premier nightlife and entertainment district of the city:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HhyQuBjSWZM

[mtraininjax]

If Jax had the education platform that Columbia does, we could have a thriving downtown as well. Columbia reminds me a lot of Winston-Salem, where Wake Forest is located. Great, thriving downtown. The south is littered with great downtowns, but you gotta have people constantly coming downtown to make it work. That's why SCAD helps Savannah so much. Forget tourists, if they were not there, who would go to Savannah without SCAD being there.

For all that FCCJ has tried to become, they still are not that part of the downtown economic engine. Too many people attend FCCJ Downtown for night classes and then leave downtown. If only FCCJ would have remained in its downtown core, what could have happened downtown to a vibrant economic area would have been amazing, but as with all the issues of Jax, we are too spread out and have too much real estate to have a good core area.

[heights unknown]

Nice looking small City.  We could learn a lot from Columbia relative to taking run down, abandoned buildings and areas and making them into productive useful entities.  The College is what makes this City (similar to Gainesville).  Without the College, Columbia wouldn't be much at all, but regardless, it (Columbia) capitalizes on the large college population of students which isn't a sin.  We (Jacksonville) need to find out what our niche is, what makes us tick and capitalize on it and find ways to progress and pofit from it.

Heights Unknown

[heights unknown]

P.S. Yep, the Confederate Flag still flies in front of the State Capital!

And what is that supposed to mean?  So what?  The U.S. flag had better still fly there too!

Heights Unknown

[stjr]

P.S. Yep, the Confederate Flag still flies in front of the State Capital!

And what is that supposed to mean?  So what?  The U.S. flag had better still fly there too!

Heights Unknown

The U.S. and South Carolina State flags are on top of the capitol dome and the Confederate flag flying is on a flag pole in the center front of the building near the street.  I noted it because there was a huge national flap about it a few years ago and the current arrangement was, as I recall, a compromise because it is away from the capitol building but still flying on its grounds.

[krazeeboi]

Nice looking small City.  We could learn a lot from Columbia relative to taking run down, abandoned buildings and areas and making them into productive useful entities.  The College is what makes this City (similar to Gainesville).  Without the College, Columbia wouldn't be much at all...

Well it's still the state capital, occupies a central location in the state, is a fall line city (the rivers were important early on in the state's history) and has the Army's largest initial entry training center, Fort Jackson. But there's no denying that USC is a big contributor to the city as well as to the downtown urban fabric. Columbia is finally at a point where it is able to use this huge asset and translate it into responsible downtown development via Innovista, the university's urban research campus under construction.

[stjr]

P.S. Yep, the Confederate Flag still flies in front of the State Capital!

And what is that supposed to mean?  So what?  The U.S. flag had better still fly there too!

Heights Unknown

The U.S. and South Carolina State flags are on top of the capitol dome and the Confederate flag flying is on a flag pole in the center front of the building near the street.  I noted it because there was a huge national flap about it a few years ago and the current arrangement was, as I recall, a compromise because it is away from the capitol building but still flying on its grounds.

I heard on NPR this morning that the Atlantic Coast Confernce just moved it's scheduled three year baseball championships from Myrtle Beach to North Carolina because South Carolina still flies the Confederate flag on the capitol grounds.  Apparently, the NAACP continues to boycott the state until the flag comes down.

[vicupstate]

^^ This is true. The boycott is still in effect although it is not often publicized.  The games will be played in Greensboro and Durham NC for 2011-13 instead of MB. 

[krazeeboi]

Main Street in Columbia is seeing new investment which is helping it to become more of a post-working hours destination. The biggest and most notable development is the opening of Mast General Store this week. The local newspaper has a nice 12-page spread on the changes happening in the Main Street area which can be accessed here. It also includes galleries and maps.