Communities
The neo-classical architecture of the pedestrian-friendly downtown and adjoining campus area was spared the destruction common to the area, when General Sherman’s Army routed its March to the Sea further to the southeast, through Savannah. The early planners’ vision of an academic town on the model of its ancient Greek namesake lives on by the banks of the Oconee River. The downtown area remains a testament to all the best of Southern openness and hospitality, with its dining, shopping, galleries and venues for the music that made the community famous in the late 70s and early 80s, most notably for the nationally renowned products of the national scene, the B-52s (‘a rock band named after a hairstyle named after an aircraft’ whose hits include “Rock Lobster” and “Love Shack”) and R.E.M. (a rock band whose name was chosen at random from a dictionary whose hits include “Stand”, “Shiny Happy People”, “Everybody Hurts” and “What’s the Frequency, Kenneth?”). Notable Americans who maintain homes in Athens, Georgia, include members of both R.E.M. and the B-52s, as well as football’s Fran Tarkenton, actress Kim Basinger, and former UGA student newspaper editor turned Pulitzer Prize winning author and journalist Deborah Blum, whose work deals primarily with the ethical conflicts between the interests of science and industry those of animals in research and environmental crises.
Among other factors, a superb healthcare system (with two hospitals located within five miles of the city center) and a violent crime rate of only 3.7 per thousand helped Athens rank as number fifteen on a 2002 survey of best places to live and work in the United States conducted by BestJobsUSA.com.
Athens winters are bright, the summers are sunny, and the springtime is spectacular with dogwoods and azaleas.