Comparing Columbia vs Laurel: Living in the newer apartments near Columbia mall will probably have a younger crowd than Laurel. They have definitely been trying to build up Laurel more, but I’d say Columbia would be closer to “city living.” I lived in Laurel for 3 years as a mid/upper 20s and thoroughly enjoyed it, but I prefer living in the suburbs and traveling to the city for fun as opposed to living directly in the city. I did commute from Laurel to Hampden 5 days a week pre-covid and hated the commute though lol (35 mins with 0 traffic, but 55-75 mins in rush hour).