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Message: [QUOTE="SCGamecock, post: 2560014, member: 6132"] Glad you had a great time! Did a lot of UConn fans make the trip? Columbia always surprises people when they visit for the first time. They talk about great college towns in the South and you always hear about Athens, Oxford, Knoxville, Chapel Hill etc.. but never hear Columbia. To be honest, that’s fair because “Cola” (as we call it) isn’t really a town but it also isn’t a very big city. IMO, it’s the perfect size for a large university.. small enough to feel comfortable but big enough to not get bored. For someone college aged, 18-25 or so, there’s always something to do at a very cheap price... not many major universities in southern towns/small cities are flanked by two nightlife districts on opposite sides (The Vista & 5 points). But if you just HAVE to get away to a bigger city, Charlotte is an hour and a half north and Atlanta is 3.5 hours west. Cola also has a major military base and is the state capital.. so all of that gives it a weird mix of people that’s different from Greenville’s small town charm and Charleston’s touristy cosmopolitan flair. It’s interesting what you said about the arena too. It’s well over ten years old but still looks pretty new. When the university first decided to build it there A LOT of people hated the location because at that time the area was pretty much a vast wasteland of commuter student parking lots (plus The Vista was a shell of what it is today).. but now, in hindsight, it was probably the smartest thing the university has EVER done. The area around it is booming and the arena has really anchored The Vista, which gets better every year with more nice hotels, restaurants and bars. Plus the university is growing in that direction with our old basketball arena (the huge square building, you can’t miss it) set to become a new Student Union in a few years and more dorms soon to be built over there. I should’ve pursued a career in college admissions recruiting! :) [/QUOTE]

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