Columbia is a planned community in Howard County, Maryland, United States, consisting of 10 self-contained villages. With a population of 104,681 at the 2020 census, it is the second most populous community in Maryland after Baltimore. Columbia, located nearly halfway between Baltimore and Washington, D.C., is part of the Baltimore metropolitan area and is tracked by the United States Census Bureau as a census-designated place. Columbia proper consists only of territory governed by the Columbia Association, but larger areas are included under its name by the Census Bureau and the United States Postal Service. These include several other communities which predate Columbia, including Simpsonville, Atholton, and in the case of the Census, part of Clarksville. Founded in 1967, Columbia began with the idea that a city could enhance its residents' quality of life. Developer James Rouse attempted to create the new community in terms of human values, rather than economics and engineering. Columbia was intended to not only eliminate the inconveniences of then-current subdivision design, but also eliminate racial, religious and class segregation. Rouse additionally stated that Columbia would help avoid the leap-frog and spot-zoning development threatening the county.