Columbia, Missouri

Columbia is a city in Boone County, Missouri, USA. The city has an estimated population of 90,947, as of 2006.

The city was founded in 1819. The surrounding Metropolitan Statistical Area has a population of 151,129, as of 2006. Columbia is located roughly equidistant from St. Louis and Kansas City on Interstate 70. It is the county seat of Boone County, Missouri.

To some it has the reputation of combining the quality and culture of larger metropolitan areas with the warm hospitality of the South. Columbia lies in the heart of the Little Dixie region of Missouri. Columbia is frequently ranked on various "top places" in the United States lists, such at Money Magazine's annual lists. MONEY Magazine: Best Places to Live 2006 - Columbia at #76 MONEY Magazine: Best Places to Live 2006 - Most educated cities - Columbia at #13 ranked by percentage of residents with graduate degrees The city is home to the University of Missouriâ€"Columbia, the flagship campus of the University of Missouri System. The city is also home to Stephens College, a traditionally-female college, and Columbia College, which led in the past to Columbia being known by the nickname "College Town USA".

As a whole the city has a very young and active population. The downtown area is self-proclaimed as "Mid-Missouri's cultural and entertainment center, featuring a diversity of restaurants, bars, live music, and independent films." Downtown is also host to many events including the True/False Film Festival, Art in the Park, The Blind Boone Ragtime and Early Jazz Festival, and the Twilight Festivals in June and September. Recently an association of downtown businessDiscover the District: About Us has initiated a campaign to rename the downtown area to "The District" though this naming has yet to catch on among locals. The population generally supports progressive causes such as the extensive city recycling programs and the decriminalization of marijuana at the municipal level. Politically the city leans to the left, however Boone County did support President George W. Bush in the 2004 election. The mayor of Columbia is Darwin Hindman.

Schools

In The District (Downtown Columbia)

*Booches
*Grill One-5
*Flat Branch Brewery
*The Blue Note
*Cherry Street Artisan
*Shakespeare's Pizza
*Lakota Coffee Co.
*Main Squeeze
*Columbia spur of the trans-state bicycle and pedestrian Katy Trail.

Festivals

*True/False Film Festival
*Twilight Festival
*Hot Summer Nights
*Concert Series with the Missouri Symphony Orchestra
*Art in the Park
*Ninth Street Summerfest
*The Blind Boone Ragetime and Early Jazz Festival
*First Night Columbia
*Living Windows Festival
*Columbia Festival of the Arts
*Boone County Heritage Festival.

Famous People

*Sam Walton (Hickman High School) founder of Walmart
*Jim Lehrer (University of Missouri) PBS news anchor
*Ken Lay (Hickman High School & Mizzou) Enron CEO
*'Blind' Boone Ragtime musician and composer
*Norm Stewart, former Mizzou basketball coach
*Quin Snyder, now former Mizzou basketball coach and former Duke University standout
*Bill Laurie, St. Louis Blues owner and Walmart heir
*Stan Kroenke, Denver Nuggets owner and Walmart heir
*Gary Pinkel, current Mizzou football coach
*Carl Edwards, NASCAR driver
*William Least Heat-Moon, Author of Blue Highways and other novels.
*Darwin Hindman, Mayor
*Norbert Weiner, famous mathematician (born in Columbia)

Sister Cities

Columbia has five sister cities, as designated by [http://www.sister-cities.org/ Sister Cities International, Inc. (SCI)

* K'ut'aisi, Georgia
* MattÅ, Japan
* Sibiu, Romania
* Suncheon, South Korea
* Laoshan, China

Geography

Columbia is located at (38.948351, -92.333779).

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 138.1 kmÂ² (53.3 miÂ²). 137.5 kmÂ² (53.1 miÂ²) of it is land and 0.7 kmÂ² (0.3 miÂ²) of it (0.51%) is water.

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 84,531 people, 33,689 households, and 17,282 families residing in the city. The population density was 615.0/kmÂ² (1,592.8/miÂ²). There were 35,916 housing units at an average density of 261.3/kmÂ² (676.8/miÂ²). The racial makeup of the city was 81.54% White, 10.85% Black or African American, 0.39% Native American, 4.30% Asian, 0.04% Pacific Islander, 0.81% from other races, and 2.07% from two or more races. 2.05% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There were 33,689 households out of which 26.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 38.2% were married couples living together, 10.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 48.7% were non-families. 33.1% of all households were made up of individuals and 6.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.26 and the average family size was 2.92.

In the city the population was spread out with 19.7% under the age of 18, 26.7% from 18 to 24, 28.7% from 25 to 44, 16.2% from 45 to 64, and 8.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 27 years. For every 100 females there were 91.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.1 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $33,729, and the median income for a family was $52,288. Males had a median income of $34,710 versus $26,694 for females. The per capita income for the city was $19,507. About 9.4% of families and 19.2% of the population were below the poverty line, including 14.8% of those under age 18 and 5.2% of those age 65 or over.

Columbia, Missouri: Encyclopedia BETA