Athens-Clarke County, GA Reviews

Climate - 6/12/2008
Athens has wonderful year-round Read More

Great for students....not so much for anyone else - 4/10/2008
We've lived in Athens for about two years now, and while the city has its charms (some good restaurants, a couple of nice old neighborhoods), I'm really tired of it. Everything is aimed towards college students - 90% of the food outlets serve pizza, wings, subs, or some combination of the three. It's not outrageously expensive, but the fact that about %70 of the students at UGA are rich kids from the suburbs of Atlanta who got the Hope Scholarlship and whose parents bought them an SUV for graduation means that the housing is often a lot pricier than you would expect in a college town. There are lots of gated student communities, which is bizarre. The worst thing about Athens is that there are two big employers here - the Athens Regional Hospital and UGA. UGA employs about half the city, if not more, but criminally underpays its workers. This means that Athens is poor. Like really poor - I read somewhere that it is one of the poorest counties in America. The place is just Read More

Interacial Couple - 3/22/2008
We are an interacial couple with young kids looking at the Athens area. Athens itself seems to be very open-minded, but we would like to live in a rural area around Athens. We are spiritual but not church-goers and very liberal. Are we/our children likely to be comfortable in the surrounding country area? If not is the level of discomfort more likely to be along the lines of stares, name-calling, or possible violence? We are looking for a country area with natural beauty, a low cost-of-living, and where it's ok to be a person of Read More

Quality of life - 10/29/2007
Good quality of life with plentiful access to music, a vibrant downtown, and exciting college Read More

We Really Liked Athens - 9/22/2007
Recently our family went down to visit Athens, Asheville, Charleston, and Savannah. It was a bit of a whirlwind, but we came away most impressed with Athens as a great balance regarding places to live. The University is lovely, centrally located, the downtown area is charming and active, and the surrounding area has many nice neighborhoods, all within spitting distance of the city's center. We've been to many college cities, such as Madison, Lexington, Burlington, Northampton-Amherst, etc. and Athens is definitely among the best. As others have mentioned, the closeness of Atlanta, the mountains and the easy possibility of spending weekends in Charleston or Savannah or anywhere inbetween on the coast makes Athens very well situated. Housing costs are relatively low, but schools seem to be an issue within Athens. Oconee obviously has the better school systems, but we're not sure we would want to be in a development outside the city. Anyway, we plan to visit again in the next few months Read More

Athens-a great place to live - 9/1/2007
Athens-a great palce to live. Being a college "town" (home of UGA),makes for a diverse mixture of people,cultures, and personalities. UGA offers educational and cultural events for the entire area and ages. The Classic Center also has a variety of entertainment for all ages and taste. And, of course, there is that sense of community here with alot of "Southern" hospility. We are also near Atlanta,a few hours from the beach or Read More

The Epitomy of a College Town - 7/7/2007
I have visited many college towns, esp in the SE, including Auburn,AL; Knoxville, TN; Columbia, SC; Tuscaloosa, AL; Gainesville, FL; Baton Rouge, LA; Oxford, MS; Laramie,WY; and Columbus, OH. Along with Columbus, OH, Athens is by far the neatest college town I have ever been to.

If has the traffic of an Auburn or Oxford, but the culture and nightlife of a Baton Rouge or Columbus. While the atmosphere is mainly suitable for those in college, several acts or arts-related events come through the Classic Center that would appeal to the mid-age range group. The town is also very beautiful with Memorial Park (hiking trails and other things) in the middle. If you do not like College Football, you will hate this town on Saturdays in the fall, due to its high volume of partying and traffic.

But, overall, a great 100,000-125,000 city with a lot of culture for a city of this Read More

I was impressed with Athens... - 5/31/2007
No city is perfect, and I don't see perfection in Athens, but I am looking to move out of Florida, the Tampa area, (anyone wanna trade?...a townhouse in Brandon for about $150K+-)and I checked out Athens last fall 2006 and was impressed. Athens and surrounding areas reminded me a little of Northern Virginia,(the countryside mostly) where I would love to move back to, but the cost of housing is way out of sight for me. So, with the small/medium size of Athens (less crazy super congested traffic) affordable housing, and a decent amount of cultural and educational advantages mostly due to UGA, AND easy day-trip driving to Atlanta, Athens or another northwestern Georgia town with many advantages is what I'm after. Now, if I can just get a job up that Read More

To Laurel- - 5/17/2007
My husband & I both lean left and we love Athens. I think you would be right at home. The city center is very culturally diverse. It is like a mini big city. At the city festivals you will see tatoos, body piercings, gay couples, straight couples, college students, families, all walks of life intermingling. I think because of the heavy influence of the arts and the university here you have a remarkably well educated and diverse population. I think based on our time here you would feel right at Read More

reply to zak- - 5/17/2007
We moved from Texas to Athens area 6 years ago and have loved it. My husband teaches at UGA but we have two small children 3 & 10mos and have found it to be a wonderful place for families. Beautiful walkable downtown, wide variety of cultural events and wonderful people. There is always something going on for families to enjoy. We are only moving back to Texas to be closer to family. Interested in a great house in a family friendly neighborhod?? Ours is for Read More