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[primadonnalife-blog]

Moving To Columbia South Carolina 

Columbia, SC, is known for being "famously hot," with summer temperatures matching the enormous number of fun things to do in South Carolina's capital city. Whether you're headed to town on business or to drop off your college freshman at the University of South Carolina, here are 10 things to know about the new Southern hot spot so you'll fit right in. Columbia is the first city in the US named for Christopher Columbus. The name Columbia won over the other popular option, Washington.

The Soda City was founded in 1786, but you won’t see many 18th or early-19th century buildings there. That’s because two-thirds of Columbia burned to the ground during the Civil War when Gen. William T. Sherman entered the city in 1865. 

Not only is Columbia the state capital, it is also South Carolina’s largest city. The 2012 census reports 131,686 residents within the city limits and 784,785 residents in the surrounding metro area. Columbia is located 13 miles away from the geographic center of South Carolina and situated on the fall line of the Congaree River. The city’s official nickname is “The Capital of Southern Hospitality.” According to areavibes.com, the cost of living in Columbia is 8.9% lower than the national average, which makes Columbia a very affordable city to live in.

Columbia is home to South Carolina’s largest university – the University of South Carolina. The school is a major player in the Southeastern Conference of NCAA sports with three conference titles. The university is also one of the city’s largest employers along with the South Carolina state government, Palmetto Health, and Blue Cross Blue Shield of SC. Major manufacturing facilities in the area include Michelin, Trane, and Bose Corporation. Columbia’s modern business landscape is quite different from the city’s early economic success and growth, which primarily came from the cotton industry.

Midlands Technical College - Midlands Tech is part of the South Carolina Technical College System It is a two-year, comprehensive, public, community college, offering a wide variety of programs in career education, four-year college-transfer options, and continuing education.

Public education in South Carolina has recently composed a state-wide goal known as the 2010 SC Performance Goal, in which all districts will strive to make South Carolina's students achievements rank in the top half of the US. Various programs like the District Open Enrollment, which affords parents the opportunity to enroll their child in any public school in a district, regardless of assigned attendance zone, the Virtual School Program, which allows more students the opportunity to take AP courses when they may not have otherwise been able to, and the Personal Pathway to Success, which allows and makes a student's education relevant to their aspirations and abilities, have been constructed in an effort to make a better economy and quality of life for everyone in South Carolina.

The Columbia Metropolitan Convention Center, which opened in September 2004 as South Carolina's only downtown convention center, 40 is a 142,500-square-foot (13,240 m2), modern, state-of-the-art facility designed to host a variety of meetings and conventions. The main exhibit hall contains almost 25,000 square feet (2,300 m2) of space; the Columbia Ballroom over 18,000 square feet (1,700 m2); and the five meeting rooms ranging in size from 1500 to 4,000 square feet (400 m2) add another 15,000 square feet (1,400 m2) of space.

Fort Sumter: The fort was annexed into the city in the fall of 1968, with approval from the Pentagon In the early 1940s, shortly after the attacks on Pearl Harbor which began America's involvement in World War II , Lt. Colonel Jimmy Doolittle and his group of now-famous pilots began training for the Doolittle Raid over Tokyo at what is now Columbia Metropolitan Airport 10 They trained in B-25 Mitchell bombers, the same model as the plane that now rests at Columbia's Owens Field in the Curtiss-Wright hangar. 

Points of interest include Fort Sumter National Monument, Fort Moultrie, Fort Johnson, and aircraft carrier USS Yorktown in Charleston Harbor; the Middleton, Magnolia, and Cypress Gardens in Charleston; Cowpens National Battlefield; the Hilton Head resorts; and the Riverbanks Zoo and Botanical Garden in Columbia.

The historic Congaree Vista , a 1,200-acre (5 km2) district running from the central business district toward the Congaree River, features a number of historic buildings that have been rehabilitated since its revitalization begun in the late 1980s.

Not the kind of shagging that Austin Powers was talking about… The 'Carolina Shag' is a partner dance born in South Carolina This mixture of the jitterbug and swing dancing is a lot of fun and not too hard to learn—especially since South Carolinians practically learn it before they learn to walk.

Kiplinger Magazine recently named Columbia one of the “10 Great Cities to Live In.” Columbia has also been named a top mid-sized market in the nation for relocating families. You don’t have to go far to rub shoulders with celebrities, either. Columbia is home to a number of famous artists and athletes, as well as musicians including: Hootie and the Blowfish, Band of Horses, Samuel Beam (better known as Iron & Wine), and Rob Thomas of Matchbox Twenty.

As a result of its central location, comfortable lifestyle and temperate climate, Columbia enjoys a robust economy and was ranked 14th in BusinessWeek Magazine's list of "40 Strongest Metro Areas" in both 2009 and 2010.  Columbia ranks in the top 25th percentile, nationwide, among the 366 metropolitan statistical areas (MSA) designated by the U.S. Census Bureau, and first in economic strength in South Carolina.

Columbia has a diversified economy that includes major employers such as Palmetto Health hospital system;  Blue Cross Blue Shield of SC and its subsidiary, Palmetto GBA; the University of South Carolina;  and the southeastern hub of United Parcel Service.  There are 70 foreign affiliated companies in the region and fourteen Fortune 500 companies here including the corporate headquarters of SCANA.

The City of Columbia has also won an award from The International Downtown Association for its rehabilitation and adaptive reuse of historical buildings in the historic Congaree Vista, a 1,200-acre district running from the central business district toward the Congaree River.  This area, until recently, was a visual blight to the entrance of downtown resulting from business closures or relocations to the suburbs.  But, historic buildings now house art galleries, restaurants, unique shops, museums and professional office space while still retaining the historical perspective.

Columbia South Carolina has always had a lure about it and that lure as only grown in recent years.  Its a great place to raise a family and has seen many family's  relocating their. Make sure you look for good Long Distance Moving Companies to handle your relocation to Columbia South Carolina.