I am glad you are enjoying it, but Columbia, SC has an extremely high murder rate, even for the US which in general has terribly high murder rates.

Unfortunately, we do. For various historical and demographic reasons, my exposure to this risk is extremely low. But yes, it is a massive problem.

Is it doing better than 5-6 years ago?

I lived there for a few years, and while the river walks were very pleasant, I don’t have much to say about it particularly otherwise.

The job market was pretty bad, basically limiting you to State gov or one of the handful of insurance companies around and state government work is rough (easily the most fulfilling job I’ve had, but the salary was just way too low.

Seems hard to justify with GA and NC markets nearby unless you’re staying solely for CoL or existing ties.

Better, yes. The market has grown a ton, and was ranked #1 in the country recently. Our tax base is weak, which makes it hard to compete with GVL and CHS, plus we have worse weather.

But the Bull Street district is in a totally different place from when you were here, which creates a feeling of “coming liveliness.”

Also Scout Motors is dropping a multi billion dollar plant in Columbia which will help job market

Definitely not Greenville, but we are getting there.