Situated northeast of downtown Columbia, this part of town is one of the fastest growing areas.  Route 277, an expressway with limited access, connects Northeast Columbia & Blythewood with downtown. Northeast residents also have easy access to Fort Jackson  via I-77 “ The Charlotte Corridor”(Charlotte, NC & Charleston, SC) and , I-20 (Florence, Augusta, GA) ).  Two Notch Road (Hwy 1) is the major road along which most of Northeast Columbia's commercial and retail enterprises are found including the Village at Sandhills, a 300-acre mixed use development combining a distinctive streetscape atmosphere with specialty retailers and restaurants. Many large companies including Providence Hospital Northeast, RBMG, BoMag, Patterson Fan, CSC, Amcor, Pure Power, Spirax Sarco Inc. and Blue Cross Blue Shield are located in this area.   Residential development has grown rapidly in Columbia over the past 12 years, and nowhere is this more evident than in the Northeast area of town.  Great Southern Homes has many new home communities in Northeast Columbia which include moderately priced communities for the first time home buyer to exclusive estate syle communities.