Many of our readers will remember that day in September 1992 when Columbia was named by Money magazine as the second-best place to live in America. Mary Anne McCollum was Mayor of Columbia at the time. Our fair city was enjoying a period of prosperity thanks to recent economic development efforts, a growing university and a new focus on quality-of-life initiatives. Civic pride was at an all-time high.
To fully understand the gravitas of this honor, Columbia outranked some of the nation’s world-class cities on the magazine’s top 10 list including Austin, Minneapolis, San Francisco, Honolulu, Gainesville and Madison. In spite of the stiff competition, Columbia stood head and shoulders above the crowd. Fast forward to 2024 and you quickly realize that things have changed. Unfortunately, given our current state of affairs, no matter how much we all love our city, she’s no longer a contender for this list.
Beyond just pointing out the obvious, I’d rather embrace an optimistic outlook for our city’s future. We can make Columbia a world-class city again, but we’re going to have to make some changes that might ruffle some feathers and slay some sacred cows. Here are five things we ought to consider:
Beautification: I know it’s been said a million times before but we must do something about the overall appearance of our city. More than 50,000 vehicles pass through Columbia on I-70 on a daily basis. The truth is that our city is hideously ugly from the vantage point of the interstate. Should a weary traveler exit at Providence Road or Rangeline to fuel up or grab a bite to eat, they would immediately get to see a vast array of dilapidated buildings, worn-out gas stations and the remnants of homeless encampments scattered along the shoulders of our highways. We’ve talked for 30 years about adding nicely landscaped welcome signs as you enter our city but nothing has materialized. Speaking of blight, our esteemed mayor’s NO MOW zones (aka pollinator habitats) along Columbia’s busiest roadways only add to the problem.
Panhandlers: Driving through Columbia, you get the feeling that the people who live here are incapable of taking care of the least among us. What we see at most major and secondary intersections is a sad commentary on a system of failed social services. The average citizen’s well-intentioned attempts to help these folks is exasperating the problem. These panhandlers return every day because the “goodhearted” among us throw untold sums of cash at them. Columbia needs to create an ordinance that prohibits panhandling. Instead of considering this act of vagrancy as “free speech,” we should instead consider it a public safety concern.
Watchdogs: The painfully slow death of the Columbia Daily Tribune and the drastic reduction in news reporting in most local media outlets have given public officials an opportunity to “pull the wool over the eyes” of their constituents. When this happens, there is no accountability from the people we elect to protect our best interests. Longtime residents will remember Paul Albert and Henry Lane who were, undoubtedly, an annoyance to elected officials, however, they played a vital role in our community’s civic procedure. These men paid attention to where public dollars were going and they were bold enough to make some noise about it. We need these same kind of watchdogs today to keep our leaders in line.
Leadership: Speaking of leaders, Columbia is in desperate need of a group of individuals willing to stand up and create a bold vision for Columbia’s future. This is not a job for the faint of heart. There is a pack of naysayers in this community who are determined to kill any reasonably good idea that comes along. The Columbia City Council’s preoccupation with climate action and social equity prevents our city from appropriately planning for the future. As a result, we find ourselves constantly running behind on important infrastructure projects and public safety. We need leaders who can focus on what citizens want Columbia to look like twenty years from now. We are cheating future generations of citizens with our lack of vision, planning and forward thinking. In the final analysis, most of these things could be fixed with a change in leadership. In recent years, we’ve spent tens of millions of dollars in pandemic relief funds in addition to the proceeds from at least four increases in sales taxes, (children’s services, 911, Wayfair, marijuana) all implemented since our community was last ranked among the top 10 places to live. What do we have to show as a result of all this spending? That’s right. Not much. Unfortunately, we’re headed in the wrong direction and we’ll stay on that trajectory until somebody decides to stand up and lead. The future of this once great city depends on it.
