I think Columbia, and Howard County in general, is a wonderful place to live all things considered. I'd say it is a definite Democratic or progressive leaning area, and has been trending more so the past couple of elections. However, it also wasn't long ago (through 2018) that Howard County had an elected Republican County Executive, so there is definitely a decent population of moderates and conservatives in the area, though probably less prominent in Columbia itself.

There is economic diversity with lower and working class neighborhoods not too far from middle and upper middle class areas. Overall it is very racially diverse, with a key factor for me being that there is some diversity in the backgrounds of the people that actually hold political power as opposed to just the basic residential demographics. There is a sizable black middle/upper middle class population in the area as well as significant East and South Asian communities which are becoming more politically engaged.

Like many suburban areas, housing and schools/redistricting are the areas where you are likely to see the most political or ideological discord. There are multiple local non-profits that do advocacy and community service, as well as several and local instances/clubs tied to the Democratic and Republican Party that you can check out.