Thinking about moving to Athens, good idea or no?

[jdj]

I haven't been there in about 5 years, is it just a college town with a lot of preppy bulldog fans, or does it still have an alternative culture?

I know all the great 80's bands came out of there so there must be something to it, but I don't want to be surrounded by young republicans. I'm into a rural enviroment so I don't care about the nightlife, but I need a linguistics school and UGA is the closest one around (to me). If you know anything about Athens please post. Thanks.

[Not Me]

1. It is an oasis

in the middle of redneck country.
Far enough away from ATL that it doesn't have the traffic and congestion, but close enough to get to the city in an hour.

And yes, the alternative culture is still very present.

(Slightly too much football culture for me in the Fall though.

[jdj]

2. Thanks.

I used to live 9 miles from Clemson, same thing about football culture, but Lake Hartwell was great, and Isaqueena trail, and Clemson has the SC botanical gardens which are unbelievably beautiful and free admission. (But needless to say there's not a whole lot of alternative culture in Clemson, certainly not rooted any where but from campus liberals).

I still smile when I think about the Indigo Girls concert video filmed in Athens. What a time that was, and REM and the B52's, etc., hard to believe that all happened during Reagan/Bush.

[Iris]

8. but it does have tons of 19 yr. olds driving SUVs and talking on

their cell phones.

A friend of mine who just finished up her master's there told me she just heard one of her instructors was run over by an SUV at an intersection downtown.

Athens has always been dangerous for pedestrians, but now with the SUVs - scarey.


Anyway, it's an ok place. My husband would love to live there, but I'm not impressed with anything outside of the university. My brother and his wife live there and everyone he knows is pretty redneck. (One friend of theirs moved out of his neighborhood because he was surround by "brown" people.)

But, after all that, if you are going there to go to school, esp. linquistics, by all means, go!

[hlthe2b]

3. Yeah... a cool little town...

And, ironically, because of REM, B52s and numerous other bands that hailed from Athens, more Europeans seem to know Athens, GA than Atlanta, which I always found amusing! So much for CNN's impact.... HA.

Grad schools are good there, but undergrad is known for the party atmosphere... (I was in a doctoral program there several years back, so that didn't impact me so much). 'Better like southern style football, (or get out of town on home games). Fun little city, with great college-based progressive nature and good local music scene. I enjoyed my time there.

[mike_c]

4. just out of curiosity, when were you there...?

I did my doctoral work in entomology at UGA from '89-'94 and a brief post-doc afterward. I LOVED Athens! My daughter lives there now (and goes to UGA).

[hlthe2b]

5. Ahh, now I do feel old!

Vet School Class of '83!

[checks-n-balances]

6. Well that's nothin', y'all, 'cause I was undergrad there in (gasp!)

1972...but I'm not old, I'm still only middle-aged!

Anyway, hope you'll like it in Athens, jdjkkse.

[hlthe2b]

7. Well, now we're as old as we feel.....!

Ohhh, I shouldn't say that today.... Where are those muscle relaxants, ha?

:toast:

[mac56]

9. Good town.

I moved here from Minnesota 2 1/2 years ago, and never regretted it. Public transportation leaves something to be desired, but that's true for most cities.

[doni_georgia]

10. I went to UGA in the 80s

I loved Athens. They had quite an alternative scene when I was there. There's a very active UU church in Athens, and I know there have been several war protests in Athens, so I would say the progressives are alive and well in the classic city.

[Drunkkkkkkkkman]

11. Leo Kottke too!

Everyone knows Drivin' N' Cryin' and REM are from Athens (btw, listen to Drivin' N' Cryin's song Fly Me Courageous, the lyrics can pertain to modern day pretty well), but also Kottke is from there too. If you like acoustic guitar, check him out. So mellow and so, so good.

[wkirby]

12. Do it!

I'm there now and love it, the music scene is still pretty good.


Best wishes,
Will

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