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About the Area
The area around Peach Grove Villas consists mostly of other residential communities. Most notable are Woodcreek Farms, Green Hill Parish and WildeWood. These communities are mostly new brick homes with some homes having stone and hardy-plank (especially in Green Hill Parish). Woodcreek Farms and WildeWood are anchored by private sister golf courses. The course at Woodcreek Farms was designed by Tom Fazio. Residents of Peach Grove Villas can enjoy memberships at the two private golf courses which charge very reasonable dues and initiation fees. Woodcreek Farms and Green Hill Parish are both new construction communities.
The burgeoning section of Northeast Columbia around the site is anchored by the new Village at Sandhill. Located just 1.5 miles from Peach Grove Villas, The Village at Sandhill provides a dynamic outdoor mall shopping experience complete with weekly concerts, events and festivals. The Sandhill Farmers Market is across the street. The rest of the surrounding area boasts shopping, restaurants and other retail in all directions including WalMart, Target, Publix, Kroger, Bi Lo, Lowes, Bed Bath and Beyond and Circuit City, all within 5 miles of the community. Many restaurants are also within this radius including traditional restaurants like the Olive Garden, Carrabba’s and Red Lobster as well as smaller local restaurants like Travinia, San Jose and Lizard’s Thicket. The menus range from Italian to Greek to Mexican to Japanese to Chinese.
About 5 miles away is Sesquicentennial State Park, a park of over 1400 acres built by the Civil Conservation Corps in the 1930s. Providence Hospital is also along Two Notch Road, providing quality medical care. The area is also about 15 minutes from downtown and about the same distance from the local VA hospital.
In addition to the award winning golf courses at Woodcreek Farms and WildeWood the immediate area has two other courses: Woodlands Country Club and Spring Valley Country Club. Coosa Golf School a lighted teaching facility, range and Par 3 Course is about 5 miles away. Just over 5 miles away are Windermere Golf Club, Columbia Country Club and The Golf Club of South Carolina at Crickentree (Columbia’s Best Golf Value).
Columbia, SC
Columbia, the state capital of South Carolina, is home to over 750,000 people in the greater metropolitan area (spread over portions of five counties). Columbia is the largest city in South Carolina. The city is home to University of South Carolina and many small to mid-sized colleges, universities and satellite campuses. Columbia is also home to Fort Jackson and Shaw Air Force Base. The mayor of Columbia is Bob Coble.
Columbia’s strategic location along three major interstates makes it an easy drive from many of the area’s finest resort and beach spots. Columbia is roughly 2-2.5 hours from Myrtle Beach, Hilton Head, Charleston, Wilmington and Savannah. Columbia is also under 2 hours from many other popular business and cultural destinations including Charlotte, Augusta, Florence and the Greenville/Spartanburg area. Columbia is about 3 hours from Atlanta, the South’s largest city.
Columbia boasts many museums and cultural attractions including: The Riverbanks Zoo, The Columbia Museum of Art, The SC State Museum, EdVenture (the South’s largest children’s museum) and several other museums and historical attractions. Columbia is also home to the SC Philharmonic Orchestra, Columbia City Ballet, Columbia Classical Ballet, Columbia Marionette Theatre, Kroger Center for the Arts, Newberry Opera House, The SC Shakespeare Company, Town Theatre, Trustus Theatre, Workshop Theatre and many other small theatre and performing arts companies (Complete List).
Other recreational activities include enjoying the many rivers and lakes (Congaree River, Bush River, Saluda River, Broad River and Lakes Murray and Wateree). Many parks dot Columbia’s landscape including Finlay Park, Riverbanks Park, Memorial Park, Sesquicentennial State Park and Congaree National Park. Columbia is also the center of the Palmetto Trail a hiking and biking trail that leads from Greenville to Charleston. Many other smaller parks and attractions dot the landscape (Complete List).
In addition to the football, baseball and basketball entertainment provided by the USC Gamecocks, Columbia is also home to several other sports teams. The ECHL Columbia Inferno plays hockey as a minor league affiliate of the Toronto Maple Leafs. The Columbia Blowfish play baseball as part of the Coastal Plain League and the Columbia Stingers are part of the National Indoor Football League (NIFL). The Columbia Olde Grey is part of USA Rugby and was the host of the 2006 Men’s and Women’s playoffs.
Other attractions in and around the Columbia, SC area include The South Carolina State Fair, The Columbia Greek Festival, The Columbia Festival of the Arts, Artista Vista, Riverfest Celebration and many other festivals and attractions (Complete List).
Accolades Given to the City of Columbia or its Institutions:
- One of 30 communities named "America's Most Livable Communities." by the Washington-based non-profit Partners for Livable Communities (2007).
- Where to Retire magazine listed Columbia as one of its 25 best choices for retirement (February 2007).
- RetireHomeSmart.com lists Columbia as America's second best retirement city (2007).
- Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching has designated USC a research institution of "very high research activity".
- USC is ranked No. 1 in the nation for its undergraduate international business program in the most recent U.S. News & World Report College and Graduate School Guides.
- USC is ranked No. 2 for its graduate international business program in the most recent U.S. News & World Report college and graduate school guides.
- Columbia is home to a “Blue Ribbon School” only 300/133,000 schools nationally receive this award.
- 3rd Best Real Estate Market in the South by Southern Business and Development Magazine.
- Providence Heart Institute (Providence Hospital) has been selected as the premier cardiac center in South Carolina.
- "Best Places for Business and Careers" list, Columbia ranked 35th overall among the 200 large metropolitan areas ranked (Forbes, 2007).
- Bizjournals ranked Columbia 25th of 105 medium-sized labor markets for young adult job seekers.
- Bizjournals ranked Columbia 15th of 77 metropolitan areas in its "Jewels of the Sunbelt" ranking, which ranks cities according to "blend of comfortable lifestyle and warm weather".
- Inc.com's 2007 Boomtown rankings, which is based on job-growth data as supplied by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, listed Columbia 24th among 99 midsized metropolitan areas nationwide.
- Entrepreneur.com, Inc. listed Columbia eighth of 63 midsize metropolitan areas nationwide in its Entrepreneur and NPRC's 2006 Hot Cities for Entrepreneurs rankings.
- CareerBuilder.com named Columbia as one of the nation's best cities for jobs based on job openings per resident.
- Expansion Management, a high profile company dedicated to helping companies evaluate future locations, listed Columbia as:
- one of America's 50 hottest cities for corporate expansion and relocation for its 2007 list
- a top 20 midsized metro area for business recruitment and attraction
- one of America's top business opportunity metros out of 70 metropolitan areas nationwide
- a "Five-Star Knowledge Worker Metro," which reflects the area's highly educated population
- a "Five-Star Business Opportunity Metro" which is a “Best of the Best” ranking of metro areas that have achieved solid ratings across the board in the company's numerous studies during the past 12 months
- POLICOM, a company that specializes in studying the dynamics of local economies, placed the Columbia metropolitan region in the top 25th percentile among the 361 U.S. Census Bureau designated metropolitan statistical areas nationwide (and first among metropolitan areas in the state) in its 2006 economic strength rankings.
- Riverbanks Zoo has been named one of America's top 10 zoos.
- Riverbanks Zoo is the #1 travel attraction in the Southeast (FL – for some reason -- is a separate region).
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