As the City of Columbia continues to grow, there is an increasingly important focus on the need for downtown/urban multi-resident style development. We seek to improve the quality of life for our citizen's by providing affordable housing opportunities for residents and students and concentrating on human scaled and pedestrian friendly smart growth initiatives. By thinking ahead we focus on proactive efforts such as encouraging mixed use developments to create well-developed pedestrian friendly neighborhoods and modern, walkable communities that combine business, residential, and retail/hospitality elements with greenspace and attractive outdoor amenities.