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Actually, Columbia looking at Greenville is a very smart idea in my opinion due to the cities being close together, having similar demographics, and being located in the same state. No point in them looking at a much larger metro area like Atlanta which they won't be for at least another 30 years. Knoxville would be another great city for Columbia to look at also.
Has nothing to do with Charlotte. You want Columbia to be bigger and better than Greenville because you like that city more. There is nothing wrong with that either. It is part of the competition cycle I have been talking about on here that we as a society live in. Replace Obama and Romney with Greenville and Columbia. They are the exact same thing but with different subjects being used.
Of course there is. It wouldn't be competition without this. It is just like what you see with USC going up against Clemson.
You claimed jealousy, I simply said why I am not jealous. Columbia and Greenville are close in size and geographically. However, I think Columbia could learn more from Raleigh and Richmond. It is interesting that you and Gville have assumed Greenville does everything right and that folks should look to it as the shining example on the hill. Why do you think Columbia has done things so badly?
I don't see cities competing like politicians or teams. Charlotte and Raleigh may compete for jobs but have realized that their oncerns are similar. They are acting together in terms if moving legislation forward for transit funding etc....and, you don't see elected officials trying to diminish one by saying it is a one city state. For some reason, there is a difference in how Greenville approaches Columbia as shown by the beer guy and countless posts by Greenville folks. There was a Greenville resident who hijacked a newspaper article about the art scene in Columbia and said it was nouing compared to Greenville. You don't see that in NC.
Which, I've already addressed. Clemson has huge ties to the economies of Greenville and Charleston and wants their investments there to pay off. Why advertise Columbia, when your biggest initiatives and ventures are somewhere else? That seems pretty straight forward. It's not a dislike of Columbia, but a strategic business move to emphasize where their money is. It doesn't make sense to say: "Columbia has this, this, and this going on, but please show interest over here INSTEAD." Walmart isn't going to advertise for Target.
Clemson's board typically meets in Columbia. If it hated the city and region so much, I'd think they would chose to do so elsewhere. Furthermore, I'd say that a majority of Clemson's board member live in the Columbia area. They know it exists.
Corporate advertising is a little irrelevant in this context. It benefits Clemson and Carolina to have a thriving state from which to select students. I know Clemson has big investments in Greenville and Charleston, however in talking to a state audience, it is telling to dismiss the state largest city. Besides, the investment are in specific fields which is not related to Carolina, there is more to it than that. If I am specific to point out two cities as the most important in the state, that is very intentional and calculated. I don't buy that it is just because of investments. And, it is naive.
You claimed jealousy, I simply said why I am not jealous. Columbia and Greenville are close in size and geographically. However, I think Columbia could learn more from Raleigh and Richmond. It is interesting that you and Gville have assumed Greenville does everything right and that folks should look to it as the shining example on the hill. Why do you think Columbia has done things so badly?
I don't see cities competing like politicians or teams. Charlotte and Raleigh may compete for jobs but have realized that their oncerns are similar. They are acting together in terms if moving legislation forward for transit funding etc....and, you don't see elected officials trying to diminish one by saying it is a one city state. For some reason, there is a difference in how Greenville approaches Columbia as shown by the beer guy and countless posts by Greenville folks. There was a Greenville resident who hijacked a newspaper article about the art scene in Columbia and said it was nouing compared to Greenville. You don't see that in NC.
Oh, there are lots of things Greenville has done wrong that I am not happy with. Everything from approving Magnolia Park in its current state to allowing gated apartment complexes to keeping the powerlines where they are on Church Street. I don't feel Columbia has done anything worse than Greenville also. I never said they did. They're making great strides as a city. I just think they should look at cities their size and Greenville happens to be one of those. I would also look at Knoxville, Charleston, Greensboro and even some larger but not too much larger cities such as Birmingham if I were Columbia.
Charlotte and Raleigh is an interesting story. Both counties they are in have around the same population but Charlotte feels much larger which is probably why you don't see as much competition among the two. Charlotte has the NBA, NFL, hub airport, bigger skyline, amusement park, etc which Raleigh doesn't. This lack of competition though is starting to change. Examples would be with airport ownership and streetcar funding.
I think most of what is being discussed in this thread is behind the curve. Columbia is doing what needs to be done to become a great city in the true sense.
Corporate advertising is a little irrelevant in this context. It benefits Clemson and Carolina to have a thriving state from which to select students. I know Clemson has big investments in Greenville and Charleston, however in talking to a state audience, it is telling to dismiss the state largest city. Besides, the investment are in specific fields which is not related to Carolina, there is more to it than that. If I am specific to point out two cities as the most important in the state, that is very intentional and calculated. I don't buy that it is just because of investments. And, it is naive.
Well, considering that you have ZERO quotes from any of the officials that you're bad mouthing, I think it's hard to discuss their intent without content. About half of Clemson's trustees come from the Columbia area. They aren't out to destroy their home and livelihood.
Personally, I think you're giving way to much credit to someone who owns a beer store, and putting way too much stock into a story done by a terrible local news rag, that honestly probably had more than a dozen typos in the article (unless it was a long article, then there would be more).
What I would like to see is for the city to become more inserted into corporations. The city has one of the nation's best business schools and should work to attract professional jobs. Many large financial institutions are moving functions away from the northeast due to cost, I would like to see Columbia attract some of these positions. The new pharm plant us a great start in the R&D field, Carolina's Innovista district should gain traction and use this as leverage to attract similar companies. In short, I think the city should take steps to grow deeper into R&D, IT, finance, insurance and on the outer boundaries, manufacturing. Once this base is established, and the city is off to a good start with SCBT becoming a larger bank, Aflac, the pharm plant and some other IT companies, marketing the cities natural amenities and quality of life would be a good place to start.
I agree with this, and in this regard, I think Columbia should take a page out of NC's playbook. Look how MetLife is moving 2,600 jobs there, split between Charlotte and the Triangle, with the Triangle getting the IT jobs. One of Columbia's strengths is insurance IT and I'd like to see the city/state do more to exploit that niche. Manufacturing and distribution facilities are okay and have their place, but it will be more knowledge-based jobs that will help Columbia reach its next level.
Maybe not but there are people that do. This is especially true with politics. Just look at Romney vs. Obama. There will always be competition no matter the subject at hand. That is just the way it works in a society like ours. We can be like inception and dream that competition won't exist anymore among Columbia and Greenville but the fact is it will always be there whether we like it or not.
That's a very, very good analogy and shows the stark difference between Greenville and Columbia. Richland County gave Obama about 2/3 of the vote and Greenville County gave Romney about 2/3 of the vote - that is a huge demographic difference between the two cities. In fact, even if you added the vote totals from all 6 counties in the Columbia MSA, Obama won the popular vote.
Well, considering that you have ZERO quotes from any of the officials that you're bad mouthing, I think it's hard to discuss their intent without content. About half of Clemson's trustees come from the Columbia area. They aren't out to destroy their home and livelihood.
Personally, I think you're giving way to much credit to someone who owns a beer store, and putting way too much stock into a story done by a terrible local news rag, that honestly probably had more than a dozen typos in the article (unless it was a long article, then there would be more).
This is not a court room, if you don't believe me fine, you would only rationalize the quotes anyway.
Columbia needs to just keep doing what it's doing and do even more. It's making its move. Under30CEO ought to know. They're young and bright and they say Columbia is one of the best cities in the nation to start a business. I know the city has strived to make it so, and it is paying off.
Columbia needs to just keep doing what it's doing and do even more. It's making its move. Under30CEO ought to know. They're young and bright and they say Columbia is one of the best cities in the nation to start a business. I know the city has strived to make it so, and it is paying off.
So maybe the Chamber's marketing packets and advertising is working after all!
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I don't feel Columbia has done anything worse than Greenville also. I never said they did. They're making great strides as a city. I just think they should look at cities their size and Greenville happens to be one of those. I would also look at Knoxville, Charleston, Greensboro and even some larger but not too much larger cities such as Birmingham if I were Columbia.
