Athens, Ohio (Columbus, Cleveland, Cincinnati: real estate, job, sick)

[dream21]

Hi everyone. I just found this forum tonight. For the past couple of weeks, I've been think about moving from Sacramento, CA to Athens, OH. I grew up in Akron. I have family in Athens & have always loved it. I've lived there for short times. I've been in Sacramento for 15 years & I'm sick of it. I have a 14 yr old daughter & would like to show her what small town life is like. It would also be great for her to experience the seasons I always talk about. Any thoughts? I'd love to hear from anyone in the Athens area.
Thank you!

[laadeedaa]

Any progress in your move? Our family is thinking of moving to Athens too. What have you decided?

[dream21]

Hello. I'm still looking into it. My move has been put off until around Aug. or so. The housing market here is really bad, so not a good time to sell my home. I love Athens & there would be many good things about moving there. The biggest problem is finding a good job. I'm looking into other areas also. I'd like to find a nice small town.

[wheelingman]

Personally, I wouldn't want to live there because it is a little too small, but it is a great little city and I love OU's campus.

[dream21]

I think it's just the right size! I'd like to find a place outside of town w/ a little land. I'm sick of the big city. I love the campus too.

[proud to be American]

Originally Posted by dream21

I think it's just the right size! I'd like to find a place outside of town w/ a little land. I'm sick of the big city. I love the campus too.

Athens is a great not so little town.If you are thinking of buying land and building a home Ohio just passed a law in regards to septic system installation and i have heard it is EXPENSIVE

[dream21]

A couple of months ago, I looked into a place in Guysville. It needed the septic system replaced & was going to be $6000.

[Pilliod Njaim]

Athens has the most intense party scene of any town its size in America. There's nothing else like it (Palmerfest, Halloween, Mill Fest, Four Fest, High Fest, etc.), but as a family person, you'll probably be staying away from that. Court Street bars have crowds every night of the week, with Tuesdays and Wednesdays becoming the most popular (big drink specials on Tuesdays and Wednesdays). During Fall and Spring quarters, OU parties harder on week nights than most universities do on weekends. Each bar has a "theme" or regular crowd. Greeks (myself) go to The Crystal. Pittsburgh kids (a HUGE chunk of OU is from Pittsburgh) go to Lucky's. Lucky's tends to play harder rock music. Cleveland kids go to Cat's Eye. Cincinnati kids are increasingly going to Courtside (the biggest meathead bar), and that's also the main country bar in Athens. Toledo and Columbus kids do not have a specific bar, and spread across town pretty evenly.

The Pub and 19 South are popular with African-American students and both mainly play club hip-hop music. Both are fun venues most nights of the week. The rock concert crowd goes to Blue Gator (AWESEOME live music venue) and Jackie O's (music is not as good, but still cool). The gay bar is Casa Nueva.

Pawpurr's is popular with everyone, and they have the best prime time drink sepcials. They generally play great music during drink special time (Motown, old school)

C.I.(College Inn) and Junction are two of the most popular bars, but they have no specific theme- just a bunch of drunk white kids. Skipper's is popular with underage kids and there are 25-cent PBR's there. It's the cheapest way to get drunk in Athens.

The alternative bars are Tony's, Union, and Smiling Skull.

The town is NOT quite the laid back hippie place like it used to be. Kids are still smoking tons of pot, but cocaine has become the new drug of choice. The wealthy suburban kids are in fact making it more conservative (not in behavior, just political leanings). Still, Athens County is by far the most liberal county in Ohio. The surrounding city and county are actually more liberal than the OU students. No matter what the year, the vast majority of people are voting Democratic. It's similar politically to Cleveland and Toledo (overwhelmingly Democratic), not most of Ohio. Liberal Democrats run every level of local government, and the town's hatred for George Bush/Dick Cheney is unmatched anywhere else in the state. Protests are common, and many Democrats visit Athens like Jessie Jackson, John Edwards, Michael Moore, etc., etc.

This is a drinking/sex town, not a family place, though there are some good family neighborhoods. You can avoid the party scene, but there's not much outside that. It's a small town, but a small town unlike any other. If you have a teenaged kid, there's a good chance they'll be exposed to quite a bit of sex, drugs, and alcohol- far more than anywhere else in the state. Usually, with party towns like this, I always say "it's the company you keep", but a young person will be pretty bored in Athens if they avoid the party scene. Athens is the exception to the rule. Just some quick facts before you move:

-largest/livliest nightlife district in Ohio.
-three largest block parties in Ohio. One of the largest Halloween parties in North America. Big Athens block parties average 100 arrests a pop. Rape and sexual assualts are common too.
-highest per capita alcohol consumption in Ohio.
-highest crime rate of any college campus in Ohio since 2005
-highest concentration of bars of any town its size in America.

Athens KICKS ASS, but I don't know if I'd raise my kid there. It's open-minded and tolerant, but the party scene can be a bit much, even for me. Contrary to popular belief, the party scene is growing, not shrinking, particularly during spring quarter (this is the trend at all schools). OU is every bit the party school it was in 1975, and you still see public sex on Mill and Palmer Streets.

I've been in Sacramento for 15 years & I'm sick of it.

You're in for serious culture shock. People in Ohio are shocked when they visit Athens by all its debauchery. This town has changed a lot over the last couple of years. It's far less friendly, and violence (used to be rare) is becoming common. Athens has more than its fair share of street fights, assaults, and rapes. Since people are drunk 24/7 here, hardly anything is reported. Athens is unmatched in its drunkeness. There are tons of kids getting drunk all day long, every day.

[lucaswillow]

Originally Posted by dream21

Hi everyone. I just found this forum tonight. For the past couple of weeks, I've been think about moving from Sacramento, CA to Athens, OH. I grew up in Akron. I have family in Athens & have always loved it. I've lived there for short times. I've been in Sacramento for 15 years & I'm sick of it. I have a 14 yr old daughter & would like to show her what small town life is like. It would also be great for her to experience the seasons I always talk about. Any thoughts? I'd love to hear from anyone in the Athens area.
Thank you!

I grew up in Athens, Ohio and have lived there all my life minus 10 years. Athens is an area that calls one back if only for a visit. I have a 25 acre horse ranch 10 minutes east of town! If your daughter likes horses you would be welcome to visit. How long has it been since you’ve been in Athens?

Originally Posted by dream21

A couple of months ago, I looked into a place in Guysville. It needed the septic system replaced & was going to be $6000.

The reason for the big cost in septic systems is Ohio has a new law that governs a different design system. You would be better off if you could find a property with a good system or one that is grandfathered and you could up-date the system with out hiring a design team. New-England is where I live it is about 5 minuets from Guysville, my mother my mother lives there. Guysville, has no city sewer system and the system they have now is out dated and is failing so most everyone is being asked to put in a new system to improve the area as a whole. Do you know what school you would like your daughter to go to? Where did you attend?
Deborah

[Russell Chamberlain]

Actually, the new septic system rules that were implemented at the beginning of 2007 were rescinded later this year. We are now back where we once were...a finger to the wind and and an off-the-cuff assessment re: size/scope of new installations.

Although most in my profession (I own a real estate company in Athens) were against the new legislation, I was actually in favor of it...mainly because it put science and data in the driver's seat of decision making...rather than the aforementioned finger-to-the-wind approach.

On to more flowery subjects: I think Athens is a great place to raise kids, so long a you do it with eyes wide open. Certainly this is a party town, but it's also a town where parents know what each others' kids are doing....there's a strong network here, and it's a town where kids have a hard time staying too far below the radar.

Two websites that provide a great glimpse into our town are the Athens Visitor's Bureau (Home :: Athens County Visitor's Bureau) and a new site that features short videos about various aspects/characters/scenes in Athens (Soul of Athens).