Columbia Tutors

About Columbia

Columbia has a very interesting background, which makes it very unique. Unlike most cities around the United States that grew up organically around a railway stop, small port or perhaps a post office location, Columbia was planned and mapped out and built to be exactly the way it is.

The founder of Columbia was a man named James Rouse who hailed from Maryland, and passed away quite recently in 1996. He always had an interest in the housing industry and having gained an all-rounder experience from his time working at the Federal Housing Administration, went on to start his own development company that was primarily focused on the building of shopping centers. Rouse became acutely aware of how neighborhoods were evolving and the issues that more traditional type towns and cities experienced through their lifecycle. He was convinced that the biggest issue was a lack of planning and poor management and perhaps mis-management of community funds. It was at this time that he came up with the concept for Columbia: the perfect residential community surrounding a city center where families can live and work, have access to recreational activities, and have religious fulfillment and thrive.

When Rouse zoned in on his plan to create this new type of ‘model city’ his first hurdle was to find a perfect location for it. Columbia tutors say that he looked at multiple regions including Atlanta, Georgia and Washington D.C before the land which Columbia occupies now was selected. Purchasing the land was another hurdle that required a great deal of investment and also some scheming. According to documentation, Rouse created a series of alternative company names and bought up lots using these different names. They did not want a competitor 'catching on' to the grand plan and buying an optimal plot right in the middle of their ‘model town’. This would have been disastrous as they could have charged a high premium for Rouse and his teams to purchase it back.

According to Columbia tutors even after all of the investment capital was raised and all of the land needed was purchased it still took many years before building Rouse’s planned community could begin. The public unveiling of the new city happened in the late sixties. The concept was pitched to the public as a means to overcome the spot development that was a common factor in regular towns and cities. Moving to Columbia would be like moving into a ‘turn-key’ property on a whole new scale. In the aspect that not just the house was move-in ready, the entire community was built and move in ready, equipped with jobs, churches, schools, parks, shopping and doctors offices all ready to go.