Elements of Urbanism: Columbia, SC
(http://www.metrojacksonville.com/photos/thumbs/lrg-5421-p1070262.JPG)
A look around the downtown of South Carolina's largest city: Columbia.
Full Article
http://www.metrojacksonville.com/content/view/825
I spent lots of time in Columbia working at the Wilbur Smith Tower (first picture taller brown building). I was always pretty impressed with DT Columbia, especially the Conagree District and it does help that there is a major state college located basically in Downtown.
It's difficult to compare Jacksonville to a city like Columbia. I like Columbia alot. I have quite a few family members that went to USC. Columbia is alot like Austin, TX or Columbus, OH. They have certain built in advantages that we will never have.
Columbia is the armpit of SC. The summers there are far worse than Jacksonville. I lived there for 8 years after college. I must admit that 5 points and the Gervais district blow the Jville night scene away.
Not bad, Not bad.... But Im still waiting on an elements of Urbanism piece on Tallahassee
In these city comparisons, I would like to see crime stats - let us see just how much it affects or does not affect community development.
For a city the size of Columbia, the DT is indeed impressive. The main reason Cola has such a distinct and urban skyline is basically because since it is the capital, it is the state's central location for regional bank and finance centers. SCANA is basically the power company for the state. AT&T used to own the Capitol Center, and since they moved, they are located in a large footprint 8-story tower further away from the central business district.
My main problems with Cola are that it is too dependent on its university to sustain nightlife/entertainment, it does not take advantage of its natural resources (proximity to several rivers and a large manmade lake), scenery is fairly bland, and it has more rundown areas than some bigger cities. I see most of the pictures were taken probably during the winter. Most students are gone during that season as well as summer, and activity on the streets is bare minimal during those times. Shopping there is fairly boring, and if you're not a USC fan, you will feel like an outcast in the sports bars and restaurants. Another crazy thing: people there are not as friendly as you would think for a Southern town.
Cola actually has a fairly high crime per capita rate...it recently was measured close to Atlanta's. And as tpot pointed out, it has the distinction of being the armpit because of its oppressive heat...which reminds me: a city of Cola's size severely lacks swimming pools or other swimming locations. I did a comparison of Cola and Jax pools last year, and I found that Jax has far more pools per capita than Cola.
I could go on about why I wasn't really impressed with Cola while living here for 5 years, but that's over now. I start my job in Charlotte next week!
Congrats on the job in Charlotte.
Thanks! Though I wanted Jacksonville as my first choice, Charlotte will definitely be a viable alternative. Don't worry, I'll be trying for Jax again soon! ;D
Charleston Native, now I see where you're hiding! Congrats on your move up this way. I tell you, it couldn't have come at a more uncertain time for this city, but that's another subject. I'm sure you'll be fine. :)
I'm going to try to add a bit more context to what's already been presented here (which is a lot).
Columbia is in a transition right now, or as the mayor would say, a renaissance. Presenting a better image is key right now for city leaders, which is why many streetscaping projects have been completed and are underway.
Here are some shots of the results of the first phase of the Main Street streetscaping. The 2nd phase is underway currently:
(http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y239/krazeeboi/Columbia/Lookingtowardscapitol-1.jpg)
(http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y239/krazeeboi/Columbia/Mainstreetscape2.jpg)
(http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y239/krazeeboi/Columbia/HamptonShoppe.jpg)
(http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3079/2817343276_c6b527988e.jpg)
Besides retail businesses fleeing for the 'burbs, another thing that has hurt Main Street has been the lack of ground-level retail/restaurant space in the vast majority of the towers built along the corridor. The new glass tower under construction will be a welcome departure from that pattern:
(http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y239/krazeeboi/ToweratMainandGervais.jpg)
Also, the part of Main currently being streetscaped has a few empty/underutilized historic storefronts that should see new life once investment follows (which it is sure to do).
As as mentioned in the overview, Gervais Street is the main drag of the Vista district. However, Lady Street, which runs parallel to Gervais and is located just north of it, is starting to give it a run for its money. Its streetscaping was completed about two years ago, and significant investment has followed, including restaurants and retail. Currently, a hotel, a luxury, LEED-certified loft development, and a parking garage which will have retail fronting the street are all under construction along the street. Some shots:
(http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y239/krazeeboi/Columbia/Ladystreetscape_finished.jpg)
(http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y239/krazeeboi/Columbia/RenaissancePlaza.jpg)
(http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y239/krazeeboi/Columbia/M_AmericanApparel.jpg)
(http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y239/krazeeboi/Columbia/CarolinaAleHouse.jpg)
One thing I've noticed this summer is that after-hours activity seemed to be relatively high in the Vista, and particularly Five Points--which is definitely a good thing. Of course, USC contributes significantly to the city in that regard, but Columbia is beginning to hold its own more in that category during the "off seasons." Here are some Five Points shots (again, a streetscaping was completed a few years ago):
(http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y239/krazeeboi/Columbia/FivePointsstreetscaping2.jpg)
(http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y239/krazeeboi/Columbia/FivePointsstreetscaping.jpg)
(http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y239/krazeeboi/Columbia/FivePointsfountain.jpg)
(http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3129/2816478247_b791f69373.jpg)
The convention center and the Colonial Life Arena, USC's arena, are located on Lincoln Street, which was streetscaped a few years ago:
(http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y239/krazeeboi/Columbia/conv_cntr.jpg)
(http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y239/krazeeboi/Columbia/Colonial_center.jpg)
To learn about the history of the Vista district, which has played a significant part in the transformation of downtown and is quite a success story in itself, check out this YouTube clip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HhyQuBjSWZM Here's something of a bird's eye view of the district, just west of the CBD:
(http://webzoom.freewebs.com/waccamatt/Brandons%20pics%20from%20cap%20ctr/gervais%20from%20cap%20ctr.jpg)
(http://webzoom.freewebs.com/waccamatt/Brandons%20pics%20from%20cap%20ctr/lady%20st%20from%20cap%20ctr.jpg)
(shots courtesy of Brandon Davis)
Assembly Street, as was mentioned in the overview, is a major thoroughfare which essentially splits downtown. It's definitely a psychological as well as a physical barrier:
(http://webzoom.freewebs.com/waccamatt/Brandons%20pics%20from%20cap%20ctr/assembly%20from%20cap%20ctr.jpg)
(Assembly looking south, shot courtesy of Brandon Davis)
(http://webzoom.freewebs.com/waccamatt/Brandons%20pics%20from%20cap%20ctr/looking%20north%20from%20cap%20ctr.jpg)
(Assembly looking north, shot courtesy of Brandon Davis)
Preliminarily, the mayor has called upon city council to OK a task force that will oversee the future $100 million streetscape project, which probably won't begin for at least 10 years. However, this project is the linchpin in creating a cohesive, synergetic downtown and has to get done sooner or later.
Charleston Native talked about the rivers being an underutilized asset in Columbia, which is largely true. However, this is changing. The Three Rivers Greenway, spanning both Richland County (Columbia) and Lexington County (suburbs of Cayce, West Columbia), has so far been a success, mostly on the Lexington County side of the Congaree. However, on the Columbia side, a small riverwalk extension has been completed, a project called CanalFront behind the EdVenture Children's Museum which will create open space along the riverfront is planned, and the Esplanade, part of the CanalSide residential development on the old site of the Columbia Correctional Institute fronting the historic canal, is underway. One big reason why the riverfront has gone largely underulitized is because much of the land along the river is privately held by the Guignard family. However, this family has partnered with USC and the city to see to it that USC's research campus, Innovista, spreads west towards the river and part of this campus will be a large new waterfront park:
(http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y239/krazeeboi/Innovista.jpg)
(http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y239/krazeeboi/Innovista-river.jpg)
(http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y239/krazeeboi/viewfromamphitheater.jpg)
(http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y239/krazeeboi/viewfromtowpath.jpg)
(http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y239/krazeeboi/waterfrontpromenadegervais.jpg)
And here's how CanalFront is envisioned to look:
(http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y239/krazeeboi/canalfront.jpg)
Something that wasn't mentioned in the overview is Columbia's center city park, Finlay Park, one of the nicest for a city Columbia's size:
(http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y239/krazeeboi/Columbia/typical_skyline_shot.jpg)
(http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y239/krazeeboi/Columbia/finlaypark.jpg)
(http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y239/krazeeboi/Columbia/cascades2.jpg)
(http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1348/1468903121_47004eedb5.jpg)
Hope you guys enjoyed the "expanded" overview here. :)
Great update krazeeboi! I love this plan. It has gridded streets, buildings that front the sidewalks and ample public green space that serves as a central focal point. Hopefully everything works out.
(http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y239/krazeeboi/Innovista.jpg)
Yes, it's a rather ambitious plan that does a lot of things right and there's a significant amount of cooperation present among all involved parties, which is a good thing. Of course, it's a long range plan, but very much worth it. Extending the downtown grid is crucial in making this a truly urban research park, which will be the largest in the nation upon full buildout.
Quote from: Charleston native on September 26, 2008, 02:13:19 PM
Thanks! Though I wanted Jacksonville as my first choice, Charlotte will definitely be a viable alternative. Don't worry, I'll be trying for Jax again soon! ;D
Congrats on the job!!
I'll be interested to hear what you think of it. It will also be good to hear 'on the ground' reports of how Charlotte copes to the Wachovia transition.
I love the landscaping very clean and green. :)
I recently visited Columbia and was pleasantly surprised by their downtown area and surrounding development. It's amazing, compared to Jax, how many of their historic buildings, most industrial in nature, have been converted to restaurants and stores. They appear to have either very good incentives or strict regulations insuring such renovations. It gives Columbia character and a substantive and timeless presence not found in Jacksonville anymore and just adds to my regrets what Jax has missed out on.
The downtown definitely appears to be up and coming with the aforementioned high rise under construction. I also noted that a parking garage had a full width of 100% rented street frontage stores, not the cold, vacant, concrete vent holes of Jax's garages.
Not highlighted in the article are a few areas I visited. One is Lincoln Street which apparently housed the original train depot (not much compared to our Jax Terminal) and rail docks for the city. The depot and assorted buildings have been converted into a bustling entertainment district with multiple restaurants and bars. They even have a horse drawn carriage tour available.
Another area is their Riverfront Park. This area took a greenway formed from old time and still used power line towers and their underlying right of way that lines the river on one side and combined them with an 1800's era preserved water works facility/pump house, early hydroelectric spillway, and a man-made canal that parallels the river on an embankment to make a unique and interesting park and jogging/bike path that lines the river for miles. An early era or reproduction pedestrian bridge crosses over at the downtown park entrance. All very imaginative and neat reuse and redevelopment of historic industrial structures. On my Sunday afternoon visit, it was being well used by the locals.
By the way, USC was in its summer mode and I still found the night life to be bustling in the Lincoln/Gervais/Park street area which also features a new Hilton with a Ruth's Chris Steak House. Jax could also learn a lot about the value of a college campus in proximity to downtown by visiting Columbia, the University of Pennsylvania/Drexel University complexes in Philadelphia, Georgetown/American U. in Washington, Columbia or NYU in New York, UAB in Birmingham, etc. Such campuses can provide the necessary critical mass for a lot of downtown development.
Interesting tidbit: USC's Koger Performing Arts Center was made possible by Ira Koger, a Jacksonville office park developer who developed the nation's first modern office park on Beach Boulevard (originally called the Koger Center, now called Midtown).
P.S. Yep, the Confederate Flag still flies in front of the State Capital!
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.
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
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.
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
Quote from: stjr on June 12, 2009, 03:30:47 AM
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
Quote from: heights unknown on July 05, 2009, 05:34:42 PM
Quote from: stjr on June 12, 2009, 03:30:47 AM
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.
Quote from: heights unknown on July 05, 2009, 05:31:35 PM
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.
Quote from: stjr on July 06, 2009, 01:09:25 AM
Quote from: heights unknown on July 05, 2009, 05:34:42 PM
Quote from: stjr on June 12, 2009, 03:30:47 AM
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.
^^ 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.
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 (http://www.thestate.com/2011/05/22/1828360/main-on-the-cusp-of-a-new-life.html#disqus_thread). It also includes galleries and maps.