Nestled in the middle of the state of Missouri, Columbia is home to the University of Missouri. This unique city combines the quality and culture of larger metropolitan areas with the warm hospitality of the Midwest.

Columbia is consistently ranked in the top "Best Places to Live in the Nation" by Money Magazine in its annual survey of the 300 largest metropolitan areas. The reasons Columbia scores well include our educational system, economy, healthcare and housing opportunities.

Conveniently located between St. Louis and Kansas City on I-70, Columbia sits in the center of Missouri. We enjoy four distinct seasons, encouraging many community activities associated with different times of the year.

Since Columbia is home to the University of Missouri-Columbia as well as Stephens College and Columbia College, residents enjoy a wide variety of cultural events.

• "Top Best Places to Live" Money Magazine consistently ranks Columbia as a top city in the country based on education, health care and a strong economy.
• "4th Healthiest Place to Live in the Nation", ranked by Kiplinger's Personal Finance Magazine.
• "50 Fabulous Places to Raise Your Family", Columbia is cited as one of the nicest small metro areas in the country in Lee Rosenberg's relocation book.
• "50 Fabulous Places to Retire in America", Columbia is one of the selected cities included in this relocation book, 1996.
• ACCRA Cost of Living Index- Columbia is 5% to 6% below national average.
• 5 Best College Towns for Retirement, Successful Retirement named Columbia.
• Where to Retire, a book by John Howell, selected Columbia as one of the three best places in Missouri.

• Annual Rainfall 39.05 inches/year
• Annual Snowfall 23.50 inches/year
• Warmest month average (July) 77.3
• Coolest month average (January) 29.3
• Number of sunny days: 105
• Number of cloudy days: 169

Columbia has a strong tradition of education and offers one of the finest school systems in the nation. Our educational institutions, both public and private, offer a variety of educational programs just right for your needs. Columbia is very supportive of education of our students as evidenced by several community programs.

Columbia's health care community provides mid-Missouri and the entire state with the highest quality health care. The city's medical population brings positive economic influence, attracts medically related industries and provides residents with progressive medical services comparable to those offered in cities many times its size.

Columbia's multiple health care centers include a major teaching hospital, two large private community hospitals, a veterans hospital, a children's hospital and hospitals engaging in cancer treatment and psychiatric care.

Among the city's medical support facilities are a heart institute and a heart center, an eye institute and a diabetes center. Columbia also has the only Level I trauma center and burn unit outside St. Louis and Kansas City. In addition, Columbia has facilities for bone marrow, heart, and kidney transplants, treatment centers for birth defects and spinal cord injuries. The practicing physicians and dentists in Columbia represent virtually all specialties.

The city's sizable medical network also offers specialized children's services, comprehensive care nursing homes, fully accredited rehabilitation services, a Ronald McDonald House and the services of visiting nurses.

For more information about the medical community and physician referral contact: Boone County Medical Society, 310 Tiger Lane Ste 1, (573) 447-3627.

The Family Health Center at 601 Business Loop 70 West, Ste 215 is a community effort to provide primary and preventive health care services to uninsured and underinsured families and individuals. (573) 449-8524.

The city of Columbia has a Council-Manager form of government. The City Council is composed of the mayor and six ward representatives, an unpaid elected body empowered by the charter to pass ordinances, establish policies, determine zoning, approve subdivisions, amend the city land-use plan, make appointments to boards and commissions and pass final judgement on most issues of city government interest. The council directly supervises the city manager, the city clerk and three municipal judges. The city manager is the chief administrator of Columbia and all municipal judges and all municipal department heads report to the manager directly.

The city is divided into six wards, and each elects one representative to the council every three years on a rotating basis and elections are held each April. The mayor is elected every three years as a council member at large. The mayor presides over meetings and has the sole responsibility for some appointments to boards or commissions. For more information, contact the Daniel Boone Building, 701 E. Broadway, 65201 (573) 874-7111.

Radio Stations

The Eagle	93.9 FM	FM Talk Show Radio
KBIA	91.3 FM	NPR, Classic, New Age
KBXR	102.3 FM	Alternative
KCLR	99.3 FM	Country
KCMQ	96.7 FM	Active Rock
KCOU	88.1 FM	University Music Mix
KFRU	1400 AM	Talk, News, Sports
KJMO	100.1 FM	Classic Hits
KMFC	92.1 FM	Christian Music
KOPN	89.5 FM	NPR, Variety
KOQL	106.1 FM	Top 40
KPLA	101.5 FM	Adult Contemporary
KSSZ	93.9 FM	FM Talk Radio
KTGR	1580 AM	ESPN Radio /MU Sports
KTXY-Y107	106.9 FM	Top 40

Television Stations

Curbside recycling collection is provided every 2 weeks (573) 874-6280 for city residents. If you live outside of the city limits, contact private companies for trash collection and recycling (Civic Recycling 573-474-9526), or use drop-off recycling at the parking lots of several grocery stores.

For household hazardous waste, there is a collection site at 1313 Lakeview that is open from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on the first and third Saturday of each month from April through November.

• A-1 Auto Recyclers
  3821 E. Broadway; 442-4343
  Recycles: aluminum, steel, copper, tires

• Central Metals Recycling
  1000 Panell, 443-4226
  Recycles: aluminum, steel, tin

• Hendren's Salvage and Metal
  705 Proctor Drive, 442-1565

• Civic Recycling
  3300 Brown Station Road, 474-9526
  Recycles: paper, glass, aluminum, bi-metal cans, non-ferrous material

Columbia features big city culture with small town friendliness and is an ideal community for retirement. Retirees are especially attracted to the youthful spirit of the community, clean environment, health care availability, educational and recreational opportunities. Seventeen percent of Columbia's population is composed of individuals over 50 years of age.

Columbia's strong growing economy is based on education, health care, and insurance industries which offers advantages to retirees by providing a high level of prosperity and stability in the community. Columbia is a great spot to start a small business. Community advantages include: low taxes and cost of living-- Columbia is well below the national average; high quality of health care-- provided by nine hospitals and boasts of more doctors per capita except for Rochester, Minnesota. Columbia is located in the center of the state and has easy access to either St. Louis or Kansas City; each 2 hours drive or Lake of the Ozarks recreational area is just an hour away. Columbia's location is an advantage with an airport and public transportation available. Along with being an easy city to drive in, the community is very accessible. Other advantages that attract retirees are the continuing education opportunities; a variety of housing; social, cultural, recreational and volunteer opportunities; a fairly moderate year-round climate; and a safe low crime area.

Columbia is nationally ranked as an excellent place for retirees to live due to our high quality of life. Columbia was selected for "50 Fabulous Places to Retire in America," Lee and Saralee Rosenberg's relcation book by Ken Stern, 2nd edition, 1996. The book "Where To Retire" by John Howells selects Columbia as one of three Missouri cities named as the best and most affordable place for retirement. "5 Best College Towns for Retirement" in Successful Retirement magazine September/October 1994 lists Columbia as one of five top college towns for retirement.

The American Chamber of Commerce Research Association compares the cost of living in 300 cities across the country on a quarterly basis. It compares items such as groceries, housing, utilities, transportation, health care and miscellaneous expenses. 100 is average. Columbia is consistently 6-8% below the national average.

More and more seniors are taking advantage of continuing education programs for life-long learning. The University of Missouri-Columbia and Stephens and Columbia Colleges offer a variety of courses. The Columbia Career Center and the City Parks & Recreation Department offer a variety of classes for adults including personal enrichment, computers, arts, and much more.

There are many senior-related services in the community as well as many volunteer opportunities to utilize and share your expertise. Contact the Columbia Chamber of Commerce for the Columbia and Boone County Organizations Directory, a listing of over 100 organizations with volunteer opportunities.

Transportation services available in Columbia:

• Airport
  Columbia Regional Airport (573) 874-7508, has a 65,000 foot runway, 7 airfreight carriers, and local commuter service with several flights daily to St. Louis.

• Amtrack
  Amtrack services (573) 636-8414 located in Jefferson City

• Shuttle Service
  Hourly shuttles to/from St. Louis and Kansas City airports

• Taxi Service
  Taxi services are available in Columbia

• Public Transportation
  The City of Columbia provides fully accessible mass transit services, referred to as Columbia Area Transit System (CATS), to the major sections of our community. For more information about CATS call (573) 874-7282

• Long-Distance Bus Service
  Long distance bus transportation is provided by our local Greyhound bus station (573) 449-2416

• Driving
  Driving is easy and quick in our area with well planned thoroughfares in and around the city. Commuters may experience a 10 to 15 minute trip to work with few, if any, major traffic jams that cause delays

Cable Service

	Baymont Columbia 2500 I 70 Drive S W
	Best Value Inn - Columbia 1718 N Providence
	Best Western Columbia Inn 3100 Interstate 70 Drive Southeast
	Candlewood Suites Columbia 3100 Wingate Court
	Days Inn Conference Center - Columbia 1900 Interstate Hwy 70 Drive SW
	Drury Inn Columbia 1000 Knipp Street
	Econo Lodge Columbia 900 I-70 Dr. S.W.
	Fairfield Inn By Marriott Columbia 2904 Clark Lane
	Hampton Inn Columbia 3410 Clark Lane
	Hawthorn Suites Ltd Columbia 805 Keene Street
	Holiday Inn Express Columbia 801 Keene St.
	Holiday Inn Select Columbia-Executive Center 2200 I-70 Dr. SW
	Howard Johnson Express Inn & Suites 3402 I-70 Drive SE
	La Quinta Inn And Suites Columbia 901 Conley Road
	Quality Inn Columbia 1612 N. Providence Road
	Ramada Inn 1100 Vandiver Drive
	Red Roof Inn Columbia 201 East Texas Avenue
	Regency Downtown Premier Hotel 1111 E Broadway
	Super 8 Motel Columbia 3216 Clark Lane
	Travelodge Columbia 900 Vandiver Drive
	Wingate Inn - Columbia 3100 Wingate Court