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Columbia Accolades
One of America's Top-Rated Cities
Columbia was ranked 60 out of 354 metro areas in Places Rated Almanac. Criteria: cost of living, climate, crime, transportation, job outlook, education, the arts, health care and recreation.
Places Rated Almanac, Millennium Edition
Zero Population Growth ranked 239 cities in terms of children's health, safety, and economic well being. Columbia was ranked 93 out of 140 independent cities.
Columbia was selected as one of America's best places to retire. Criteria: Safety, climate, housing, culture and recreation, social compatibility, affordability, medical care, transportation and jobs and/or volunteer opportunities. Where to Retire: America's Best and Most Affordable Places
The Sporting News ranked over 300 U.S. and Canadian metro areas in terms of their sports climate. Columbia ranked 63 out of 322. Criteria included: Stadium quality, accessibility and ambiance, ticker availability, and marquee appeal of athletes.
The Columbia metro area appeared on Forbes/Milken Institute's list of "Best Places for Business and Careers." Ranked 96 out of 200 metro areas. Criteria: salary growth, job growth, number of technology clusters, overall concentration of technology activity relative to national average, and technology output growth. http://www.forbes.com/, Forbes/Milken Institute Best Places
Columbia was named as #8 on Entrepreneur.com's list of Hot Mid-Size Cities for Entrepreneurs.
Ladies Home Journal ranked America's 200 largest cities based on the qualities women surveyed care about most. Columbia ranked 41 out of 200. Criteria: crime, lifestyle, education, jobs, health, child care, politics, and the economy. Ladies Home Journal Online, "The Best Cities for Women "
The Columbia Metro area was selected as one of America's "Best Places to Live and Work" by Expansion Management and rated as a "Five-Star Community." The annual "Quality of Life Quotient" measures nearly 50 indicators and compares them among the 329 metropolitan statistical areas in the United States. Expansion Management
Columbia recently scored a victory over its Southeastern rivals by being named the best mid-sized college town in the country. New Jersey-based ePodunk.com's College Town Index, a community information site, evaluated about 160 college towns based on 14 sets of criteria.
The non-profit group selected Columbia as one of "America's 30 Most Livable Communities", Partners for Livable Communities. Criteria: environmental quality; parkland; ability to train new workers; job market; education; and use of the arts for economic development. Partners for Livable Communities.
The Columbia Metro area was selected as one of "America's 50 Hottest Cities" for business relocations and expansions. The area ranked #21. Criteria 80 of the industry's prominent site selection consultants were asked which cities their clients found the most attractive when it came to selecting an expansion or relocation site in 2004. Expansion Management
Columbia was cited as a top metro area for European expansion. The area ranked #7 out of 50, based on European-based company expansions or relocations within the past two years that created at lease 10 jobs and involved capital investment of at least $1 million. Expansion Management
The Columbia metro area appeared on Industry Week's fourth annual World Class Communities list. It ranked #244 out of 315 metro areas. Criteria: MSA Gross Metropolitan Product (GMP) per manufacturing employee; and MSA percent share of U.S. manufacturing Gross Domestic Product. Industry Week
ING Group ranked the 125 largest metro areas according to the general financial security of residents. The Columbia metro area was ranked #50 out of 125. Criteria: Earnings and Wealth Potential. (household income, education, net assets, cost of living); Safety Net; Personal Threats; and Community Economic Vitality.
