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I moved to Athens to support my partner's career when they came here for college. After a year and half living in the area, I would not recommend coming to this place unless you absolutely have to, or if you are ok with being around drunk and reckless college students for a majority of the year. There is almost nowhere to go on Court St that it is not overrun by clueless 18 to 21-year-olds. Driving down the street on a weeknight is essentially a game of ******* because so few of them have learned how to navigate walking through a public street. The economics of the town reflect this reality, as there are no less than seven head shops within a one-mile walk, with more on the other edges of town. The food choices are similarly lackluster beyond burgers and pizza.
The few places that do cater to adults are mostly filled with alcoholics, meth heads, or the elderly. There really is not much going on to cater to young professionals here, unless you already have an engrained friend group from college. If you're not a university student, good luck. While it's true that most small towns have an in-group problem, this is doubly true of Athens, largely because of its unique environment. It is a slightly cosmopolitan island nestled in the middle of one of the most depressed and impoverished counties in the nation. Because of the high amount of drug abusers, criminals, and transient students in the surrounding area, locals here are generally mistrusting and keep to their pre-established friend groups. That's doubly true for the university students. Everyone here is part of a clique that they're rarely willing to get out of it or let anyone else into. That said, you might have a better chance of finding your place if you're an ultra-liberal granola muncher. And if you're not a big drinker, you're even more out of luck.
Now, with that vitriol out of the way, there are some things I will miss about it here. The best thing Athens has going for it is the trail along the Hocking River. The town overall is extremely walkable and bikable if you live in a central area, but the trail doubles as a beautiful path that goes all the way to Nelsonville and is a convenient corridor to get to the business section of town on East State Street. My morning runs there are one of the few things that I look forward to when waking up. There's also one bar toward the outskirts of town, the West End Cider House, that is so whimsical and friendly inside that it can briefly make you feel like you're in an entirely different town. And for what it's worth, there is a lot of civic pride from the people who do enjoy life here - I just can't count myself as one, despite how much I've tried.
If OP is still mulling over this question, it all comes down to what you're looking for. If you love small towns, I'm sure that there are many in other places that offer other amenities, but since you're looking for shopping, dining, and cultural events in addition to that bucolic, close-knit atmosphere ... this really isn't it. Though I haven't been there, I would definitely recommend Kent for its closer proximity to the Cleveland metro so you can enjoy those resources. Columbus is about an hour away from Athens, but it's rarely worth the drive there in comparison to the other two C's in Ohio. My favorite small town in near Cleveland, by the way, has got to be Akron, though, a cozy town that feels like a community plucked out of Massachusetts and dropped in Ohio.
As for me, I can not wait to get out of here. I have nothing against the people or community of Athens, but I've ultimately decided it's not for me long-term. Thankfully, we got lucky and found a place that is so cheap that we can set aside enough money to have a comfortable fund to draw from when we finally move out! I'm hoping to get back up to the Northeast, where we both have family and will be more closely networked. I'd be happy to be anywhere else though. Ironically, I'd love to be closer to St. Louis, which is close to OP's location.
Perhaps consider one of the "Heights" communities of Cleveland -- University Heights, Cleveland Heights and Shaker Heights. John Carroll University is in University Heights.
All three Heights communities are close to University Circle, location of Case Western Reserve, the highest ranked university in Ohio by U.S. News, and otherwise a world-class medical center and one of the nation's top cultural centers -- the Cleveland Orchestra at Severance, the Cleveland Museum of Art, and much more. Shaker Heights and some neighborhoods of Cleveland Heights offer good mass transit service by rail rapids to downtown pro sports venues, and other attractions (e.g., Playhouse Square; check out the 24/7 Healthline bus rapid that runs from UC through the mammoth Cleveland Clinic campus, Playhouse Square to Public Square downtown), and to the Market District of Ohio City (West Side Market and surrounding breweries and restaurants) and the airport.
Now, with that vitriol out of the way, there are some things I will miss about it here. The best thing Athens has going for it is the trail along the Hocking River. The town overall is extremely walkable and bikable if you live in a central area, but the trail doubles as a beautiful path that goes all the way to Nelsonville and is a convenient corridor to get to the business section of town on East State Street. My morning runs there are one of the few things that I look forward to when waking up. There's also one bar toward the outskirts of town, the West End Cider House, that is so whimsical and friendly inside that it can briefly make you feel like you're in an entirely different town. And for what it's worth, there is a lot of civic pride from the people who do enjoy life here - I just can't count myself as one, despite how much I've tried.
Athens is relatively close to the Hocking Hills, one of the most beautiful locations in Ohio, and within an hour there are other attractions such as the Wayne National Forest, Chillicothe (Tecumseh Outdoor Drama and other attractions -- see following link), and several very nice state parks.
My favorite small town in near Cleveland, by the way, has got to be Akron, though, a cozy town that feels like a community plucked out of Massachusetts and dropped in Ohio.
Kent is 25 minutes from Akron. Most Cleveland attractions and Lake Erie are less than an hour from Akron. The University of Akron is a large state school, and its E.J. Thomas Hall is one of the best performance venues in the state, with Broadway tours managed by Cleveland's acclaimed Playhouse Square organization.
My big concern about Athens is that for years, Ohio Republicans have turned southeast Ohio into a fracking waste disposal dumping ground using high-pressure injection wells, perhaps a likely ticking time bomb. Athens County fracking injection wells increasingly are the subject of controversy, especially as Ohio imports fracking waste from other states unwilling to permit injection wells for the waste.
<<Appalachian Ohio is a primary dumping ground for natural gas fracking waste. Nearly half of it is coming from neighboring states. A battle is underway to try to strip the Ohio Department of Natural Resources from its hold on the permitting process for these injection wells.
A coalition of environmental activists and community groups in Southeastern Ohio are calling on the U.S. EPA to take over oil and gas waste injection well permitting from the ODNR, pointing to the millions of barrels of fracking waste being injected into Ohio ground, and continual pollution incidents.
“Ohio’s Class II well program contains numerous technical deficiencies that have allowed for underregulated oil and gas waste disposal which has resulted in serious consequences to human health and the environment,” attorneys from EarthJustice, the Sierra Club of Ohio, and various community groups say in their petition to the EPA asking them to begin the rulemaking process to revoke Ohio’s primacy over its Class II program “due to the longstanding and systemic failures....”
The petition claims that toxic and radioactive organic and inorganic compounds are found in fracking injection waste, though the exact mixtures of oil and gas brine used by companies for fracking is generally protected by the industry as trade secrets.
The petition also pointed to evidence from the group Physicians for Social Responsibility that per‐ and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) have been used in the hydraulic fracturing process in oil and gas wells in Ohio, and as a result oil and gas waste in Ohio could contain PFAS chemicals. These are known as “forever chemicals,” and are widely used, long lasting chemicals found in water, air, fish, and soil at locations across the nation and the globe....
The group is alleging that ODNR has failed to prevent underground injection that endangers drinking water sources and fails to comply with the requirements of the national Safe Drinking Water Act.>>
<<Athens County Commissioner Lenny Eliason was also on the call, and counted a win in local officials now being able to call upon the ODNR to hold public hearings for injection wells that were previously at the agency’s discretion.
“The problem with the hearing is that even though the public provides input on safety issues and concerns with injections, the ODNR director has no discretion. As long as the permit is correctly filled out, the permit gets granted,” he said. “Why involve the public in a sham process when you’re not going to do anything about acting on the information that’s provided during that public hearing?”
The other question Eliason said he had is why it’s so much easier to get an injection well permit in Ohio as compared to other states regulated by the national EPA.
“The third thing you deal with, with ODNR, is that enforcement is slow or non-existent,” he said. “We’ve had some open wells for a number of years that were supposed to be closed down and covered up, and they never got covered up because ODNR lacked inspectors.”>>
My big concern about Athens is that for years, Ohio Republicans have turned southeast Ohio into a fracking waste disposal dumping ground using high-pressure injection wells, perhaps a likely ticking time bomb. Athens County fracking injection wells increasingly are the subject of controversy, especially as Ohio imports fracking waste from other states unwilling to permit injection wells for the waste.
<<Appalachian Ohio is a primary dumping ground for natural gas fracking waste. Nearly half of it is coming from neighboring states. A battle is underway to try to strip the Ohio Department of Natural Resources from its hold on the permitting process for these injection wells.
A coalition of environmental activists and community groups in Southeastern Ohio are calling on the U.S. EPA to take over oil and gas waste injection well permitting from the ODNR, pointing to the millions of barrels of fracking waste being injected into Ohio ground, and continual pollution incidents.
“Ohio’s Class II well program contains numerous technical deficiencies that have allowed for underregulated oil and gas waste disposal which has resulted in serious consequences to human health and the environment,” attorneys from EarthJustice, the Sierra Club of Ohio, and various community groups say in their petition to the EPA asking them to begin the rulemaking process to revoke Ohio’s primacy over its Class II program “due to the longstanding and systemic failures....”
The petition claims that toxic and radioactive organic and inorganic compounds are found in fracking injection waste, though the exact mixtures of oil and gas brine used by companies for fracking is generally protected by the industry as trade secrets.
The petition also pointed to evidence from the group Physicians for Social Responsibility that per‐ and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) have been used in the hydraulic fracturing process in oil and gas wells in Ohio, and as a result oil and gas waste in Ohio could contain PFAS chemicals. These are known as “forever chemicals,” and are widely used, long lasting chemicals found in water, air, fish, and soil at locations across the nation and the globe....
The group is alleging that ODNR has failed to prevent underground injection that endangers drinking water sources and fails to comply with the requirements of the national Safe Drinking Water Act.>>
<<Athens County Commissioner Lenny Eliason was also on the call, and counted a win in local officials now being able to call upon the ODNR to hold public hearings for injection wells that were previously at the agency’s discretion.
“The problem with the hearing is that even though the public provides input on safety issues and concerns with injections, the ODNR director has no discretion. As long as the permit is correctly filled out, the permit gets granted,” he said. “Why involve the public in a sham process when you’re not going to do anything about acting on the information that’s provided during that public hearing?”
The other question Eliason said he had is why it’s so much easier to get an injection well permit in Ohio as compared to other states regulated by the national EPA.
“The third thing you deal with, with ODNR, is that enforcement is slow or non-existent,” he said. “We’ve had some open wells for a number of years that were supposed to be closed down and covered up, and they never got covered up because ODNR lacked inspectors.”>>
The wrong link was posted as a source for the above story. It should be:
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Correction of source
