Moving to Athens, Georgia (Atlanta, Savannah: for sale, rentals, house)

[skm100]

Hi everyone, We might be moving from Cincinnati OH to Athens, GA soon. We haven't visited the place yet as everything happened virtually and didn't get a chance to go for a site visit. We currently live in an area where there are a lot of indians (South east Asians). I was wondering about the Indian population in Athens and close by area. I have 2 kids who will be going to middle school. Please let us know the neighboring counties which are close to Athens and have a good school and a reasonable sized indian population,

Thanks in advance, any information and feedback is greatly appreciated.

[JMatl]

Originally Posted by skm100

Hi everyone, We might be moving from Cincinnati OH to Athens, GA soon. We haven't visited the place yet as everything happened virtually and didn't get a chance to go for a site visit. We currently live in an area where there are a lot of indians (South east Asians). I was wondering about the Indian population in Athens and close by area. I have 2 kids who will be going to middle school. Please let us know the neighboring counties which are close to Athens and have a good school and a reasonable sized indian population,

Thanks in advance, any information and feedback is greatly appreciated.

Sorry, I know nothing re: the local Indian community. However, the best schools and the preferred suburb is adjacent Oconee County. Many UGA professors and Admin types live here, so I wouldn't be surprised if there is at least a small community.

Good luck!

[skm100]

Thank you so much Jmatl for your response

[JMatl]

Originally Posted by skm100

Thank you so much Jmatl for your response

You are very welcome!

[Cdarocks]

I would say the population here of folks from India and environs is pretty small. I do know some, but I would not say there is a community of them here. There are people from all over the world at the university, however. Is South East Asia your heritage? I grew up in a neighborhood that was majority from India :-)


I agree with the above poster that Oconee has by far the best schools for your children. it's not a close contest, so look to live there if you can. It can be tricky to find a house, but they do come on the market. Rentals are even tougher to find. I am about to list mine for sale. They go quickly.

[ellie]

I don’t believe there is a neighborhood with a large number of people from India. However, there is a restaurant called Taste of India that appears to be owned by Southeast Asians. Perhaps you can call them and get their opinion on these questions.

[skm100]

Thank you Cdarocks and ellie for your response

[Claire17]

I am interested in possibly retiring in Athens. I am attracted to the idea of a university town (not the UGA frat stuff though) and I love architecture and history. I like a small town that is walkable and also near to a big area, like Atlanta. I am currently in the Pacific Northwest, life long West Coast. So the Southeast is new territory. But Athens sounds like a pretty good fit for retirement. I hope to visit for a week in the next year, hopefully the COVID scene gets better soon. A few questions:


1. Are the bugs bad? Are there snakes?

2. Can you swim in the local lakes? Can you sit on your porch, sit in the yard or is it too hot and buggy most of the time?

3. Is it less hot than Savannah or Charleston?


I visited Charleston and Savannah a few years back - loved them both very much. I am also looking at both for retirement. I am leaning towards Athens because I like the university vibe and heard that it is not as hot as the coast.



I have heard good things about Asheville NC too.

[cwkimbro]

Originally Posted by Claire17

I am interested in possibly retiring in Athens. I am attracted to the idea of a university town (not the UGA frat stuff though) and I love architecture and history. I like a small town that is walkable and also near to a big area, like Atlanta. I am currently in the Pacific Northwest, life long West Coast. So the Southeast is new territory. But Athens sounds like a pretty good fit for retirement. I hope to visit for a week in the next year, hopefully the COVID scene gets better soon. A few questions:


1. Are the bugs bad? Are there snakes?

2. Can you swim in the local lakes? Can you sit on your porch, sit in the yard or is it too hot and buggy most of the time?

3. Is it less hot than Savannah or Charleston?


I visited Charleston and Savannah a few years back - loved them both very much. I am also looking at both for retirement. I am leaning towards Athens because I like the university vibe and heard that it is not as hot as the coast.



I have heard good things about Asheville NC too.

Athens is great. Asheville is great.

Athens is in the rolling hills of the Piedmont. Asheville is in a nook surrounded by mountains of the Appalachians. I enjoy both towns. Asheville is much more Bluegrass and Athens is a bit more REM.

Some pros and cons. Athens, even for the south, has more poverty problems than most. There are some great areas to be in, but it has more limited shoping offerings for cities the same size elsewhere.

The Downtown is absolutely charming and plenty of eating spots to explore, but it is absolutely overrun by the college community. There is a heavy influence of the college bar crowd.

There are also many small community based festivals put on by college groups and the town. The park system is decent. Athens has a the small Georgia Museum of Art on the college campus and the Georgia State Botanical Gardens.

If you want a nice, new suburban area look to the west in Oconnee County. It is one of the wealthier counties in the state. If you want an exurban retirement neighborhood there is one even further west on GA316.

Athens will not have the historic vibe of Charleston or Savannah very much. The downtown to a small extent in a limited area and the college campus itself, but nothing like Savannah or Charleston. The same could be said of Asheville.

Originally Posted by Claire17

1. Are the bugs bad? Are there snakes?

Compared to the Pacific Northwest, Perhaps, I don't know the Pacific Northwest outside 3 or 4 visits. Compared to Florida, No. It is humid here and we get more rain. There is a small area north of Athens (about 30 minutes away) considered a temperate rainforests, like the coastal Pacific Northwest. This is also a heavily wooded area and obviously that provides the perfect habitat for bugs and snakes.

How big of a deal this is depends on if you live next to a wooded area, if you get pest treatment for your house on a quarterly basis, or if you have a creek in your backyard.

Originally Posted by Claire17

2. Can you swim in the local lakes? Can you sit on your porch, sit in the yard or is it too hot and buggy most of the time?

The peak of summer for about 2-2.5 months gets brutal. The rest of the year not so bad.

You can swim in some lakes. Sandy Creek Park has a lake with a small beach. You can also go to Fort Yargo State Park in Winder, GA about 30 minutes away. You can rent a house on the larger Lake Oconnee to the South of Lake Lanier north of Atlanta.

Lakes are not native or natural here. They are built with earth dams and we have this thick red dirt we call Georgia Red Clay. The waters can be a bit murky, even for a lake. Swimming spots tend to be limited and can be prone to closing is the facility operating doesn't have the funds to maintain it.

Originally Posted by Claire17

3. Is it less hot than Savannah or Charleston?

Yes, absolutely. It is away from the coast and approx. 1000 ft in elevation. It is less muggy and cooler, generally speaking. It is also north of what we loosely call the "gnat line". If you go south/southeast of Macon/Augusta, GA/Columbia, SC you get an increase in gnats and bugs as you get closer to the coast and much lower in elevation.

If this is a large concern, give Asheville a visit. Also consider Chattanooga, TN, Knoxville, TN, or Dahlonega, GA. Dahlonega being far smaller.

There is a climate website I love using for comparing areas. In all of the traveling I have done, it seems to hold up well. What is unique about it is it has charts that show what time of the day at different times of the year are hot, cool, comfortable, etc... It also has good charts explaining humidity at different times of the year

https://weatherspark.com/y/16237/Ave...tes-Year-Round

Compare this to other cities.

[Born 2 Roll]

Originally Posted by Claire17

I am interested in possibly retiring in Athens. I am attracted to the idea of a university town (not the UGA frat stuff though) and I love architecture and history. I like a small town that is walkable and also near to a big area, like Atlanta. I am currently in the Pacific Northwest, life long West Coast. So the Southeast is new territory. But Athens sounds like a pretty good fit for retirement. I hope to visit for a week in the next year, hopefully the COVID scene gets better soon. A few questions:


1. Are the bugs bad?

By Southern standards, the bugs are not necessarily that bad, but for someone from a more Northern clime such as yourself, there will be many, many more bugs than you might have been used to seeing and living with in the Pacific Northwest.

Originally Posted by Claire17

Are there snakes?

By Southern standards, Northeast-central Georgia is considered to have a lesser-to-moderate amount of snakes, especially when compared to parts of the Southeast that are farther south and east and closer to coastal areas.

But by Northern standards, there are a lot of snakes. But there is so much vegetation in the area that snakes are often (though not always) able to stay hidden within heavy vegetation.

But there are times (including and particularly after extended periods of extremely heavy rains or during after warmer winters) when snakes might be likely to be more visibly active and out in the open.

Originally Posted by Claire17

2. Can you swim in the local lakes?

There are about at least a couple of local bodies of water where people can and like to swim. Including, the beach at Sandy Creek Park on Lake Chapman.

Originally Posted by Claire17

Can you sit on your porch, sit in the yard or is it too hot and buggy most of the time?

By Southern and Southeastern standards, it is only really truly hot and humid from maybe June through maybe early September. But someone coming from the Pacific Northwest might consider it to be hot from May (and sometimes as early as late April) through September.

But the good thing is that spring (March-May) and fall (mid/late Sept-Nov) seasons will feature mostly pleasantly warm days where outdoor activities will seem much more viable. Winters can and will feature some cold days, but will also feature very many mildly warm and pleasant days as well.

Again, the bugs are not at all bad by Southern standards (particularly when compared to the excessively buggy part of the Southeastern U.S. below the “Gnat Line” or the Fall Line that separates the Piedmont Plateau from the Atlantic/Gulf Coastal Plain where the rivers become navigable), but the amount of bugs may be more than someone from the Pacific Northwest might be used to.

Originally Posted by Claire17

3. Is it less hot than Savannah or Charleston?

Summers in Athens will be slightly less hot and noticeably somewhat less humid than coastal Southeastern cities like Savannah and Charleston. But from May through September, Athens likely will still feel very hot and humid for someone from the Pacific Northwest.

Originally Posted by Claire17

I visited Charleston and Savannah a few years back - loved them both very much. I am also looking at both for retirement. I am leaning towards Athens because I like the university vibe and heard that it is not as hot as the coast.



I have heard good things about Asheville NC too.

Asheville is an excellent option as well that is popular with Southern and Eastern retirees because of the mild climate and because of the overwhelming scenic beauty of the Blue Ridge Mountains region that the area is located in.