Columbia Mayor Steve Benjamin gave his State of the City Address Wednesday night, and gave us some intriguing and inspiring statistics for the future of the city USC is so integrally a part of.
Also highlighted were plans to further integrate the USC Columbia campus more tightly with mass transportation, as well as reduced crime rates in the city. And yet, while we surely applaud the mayor for his success is aiming Columbia in the right direction, we can’t help but feel none of it will truly make Columbia a shining beacon of what a Southern city should be.
The real issue is that the city of Columbia lacks a true identity. Beyond the image of being home to USC and the state capital, college students simply don’t see Columbia as a place they’d like to end up. That’s something no statistic or data point can show you — it’s an intangible quality a city earns.
It’s great that there are 9,000 jobs currently vacant, but a job isn’t enough to keep talent in Columbia. For every job here in Columbia, it’s hard not to think that Atlanta and Charlotte don’t have a job or two each to match it.
Columbia needs character, and it needs it more than another statistic or improvement in crime. Don’t get us wrong; those are certainly issues to continue to improve on. But, “Famously Hot” isn’t going to bring talent to the city we cherish in and around our great university.