Columbia Apts.

procella_lamia

My husband and I will be moving to Columbia so I can attend graduate school.  Does anyone have apartment recommendations or ones to avoid?  Also ideas on what's to do or the best hot spots to eat are also appreciated. Thanks in advance!

kimnelson09

DH and I lived in Columbia for close to 3 years.  Since you'll be at the University, I would recommend the Broad River area or the Vista.  Five Points is closest, but a lot of undergrads live there and it can be loud and college-y (drunk students walking all over our parking lot, vomit on the sidewalk, you get the picture).  We made the mistake of living there when we first moved and the weekends were miserable. 

After our lease was up, we moved to the Broad River area and got a lot more bang for our buck.  It's your typical suburban apartment setting, but having a pool, more space, being able to get a dog, etc. were really nice.  We were only 1 exit up from downtown, so the commute wasn't bad, either.

The Vista is one of Columbia's hotspots.  Lots of bars and restaurants.  It's pricey, but very yuppie chic.  Parking can be a bit of a hassle, though, but that's true for most of downtown Columbia.  Any other questions, feel free to PM me.

sillyJane

Congrats on becoming a Gamecock! A good place to find out about off campus housing is to contact the Off Campus Housing office through the Student Life office. I believe they're in the Russell House. USC also provides on campus housing for grad students and families (together), so if living on campus interests you, you might want to look at the Housing department. I went to grad school at USC also, and had friends who lived on campus and had a decent experience. Another area a lot of grad students live in is the Rosewood and Shandon area- there are a lot of duplex's in those area. You would want to avoid the "old shandon" area and parts of rosewood. Definitly don't get a place sight unseen, and you can find out a lot about the neighborhood by doing a virtual walk of the neighborhood through google maps street view function (I used this when I was last looking even though I'd in Cola (columbia's abbreviation) for a couple of years). Neighborhood's can change quickly from street to street in columbia.

procella_lamia

Thanks for the advice you guys.  I appreciate it.

newestedwards

My husband and I lived in Hampton Greene for a year and liked it fine. It was gated so I felt safe and it was mainly young professionals and military personnel. Good luck finding a place!