Reviews & Comments
Athens-Clarke County, GA
Re: Good for Students.....no one else -
9/6/2012Athens is a beautiful city and yes crime here is very high and rising. One of the reasons being IS because UGA is the leading employer in this city. IF you are able to find a decent job (without a college degree being required) then your income will be little to nothing seeing that all other employers base their pay scales on what UGA pays (which is not much for the average entry level worker; approximately mid $20,000 range). The town does not put their locals first, there's definitely a lot of catering and bowing down to the students, faculty and alumnis of the University. Housing here is priced around the student population as well. Most apartments that are in nicer areas usually charge per bedroom (even for families). For this to be a small town with a very high poverty level you would think that housing would be more affordable. Right now there's talk that one of the areas, which is government public housing, has been sold to the University to make housing for students. This domain is centrally located within walking distance of the downtown area and is on a major bus line. Residents there are either receiving government assistance or at the bottom of the totem pole of the poverty line, which means they depend on public transportation to get to and from work, gocery stores or school. When did it become okay to displace people who can't afford to better their situation at the moment. Not to mention the racism that's still alive and well especially among the police officers who frequently roam the low income neighborhoods just to harass the residents there, as if the people wouldn't want to live elsewhere. If they could afford to move to better areas I'm sure some of them would. I've had an officer in training ask, while going in a low income area, that "there is alot of drug dealing going on here isn't it?" He said this with such assurance as if he has lived there before knowing that he'd never been there before until that day. All I could do was shake my head to his ignorance and wonder how many more people with that attitude and perception was hired to "protect and serve" these same people.
Why is the drop out rate so high and the quality of eduction so low for Athens to spend $5885 per student? The Unified Govt should be under investigation on a Federal level, there are a lot of shady dealings that go on within that organization. You have people with tenure and experience over looked for promotions so that a person in a higher position can hire their friend by rewriting job desricptions to better their friend's chances. Tax payers money is being spent recklessly on equipment and facilities that should be in top notch condition.If you have money, are affiliated with UGA and not concerned with the people who are original Athenians then this is the town for you.