“Easy walking distance to the trails, close by to restaurants,” said Jeffrey Wheeler, of the Wheeler & Wheeler Group of Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage, which is the company marketing the houses. “The arts, museums, antiquing. It’s just an unbelievable urban location.”

Former S.C. Secretary of Commerce Joe Taylor, a co-developer of St Anns Alley with Mark James and Tyler Baldwin, credited lower taxes, a more stream-lined permitting process and looser regulations than neighboring Columbia for the city’s progress.
“West Columbia is pistol hot,” he said.

West Columbia Mayor Tem Miles said he expects growth in the city center to continue.
“People want to live in the district,” he said. “We want to try to find a way to spread that energy up Meeting and Center streets into the heart of West Columbia (and) we’re going to continue that up into Triangle City.”