For quick info
about Athens-Clarke County, check out our By the Numbers summary
in the Online Documents area under Public
Information Office.
Accolades | Geography | Population | Government | Transportation | Education
History | Miscellaneous | More Information
Accolades:
- "Georgia: There's Nothing Old School About Athens" in Small Market Meetings (July 2010)
- America's (9) Best College Towns on MSNBC from IndependentTraveler.com (June 25, 2010)
- #4 in "6 College Towns That Make Us Say 'Wow'" by University Language Services
- AmericanStyle readers have ranked Athens the No. 18 Mid-Sized City in the 2010 annual Top 25 Arts
Destinations readers' poll. Athens has made the list every year since 2002.
- College Towns: An Honor Roll on MSN Local Edition
- Featured as one of the Best Cities for Young Professionals on The Today Show on March 1, 2010 [click on 'Cities that let you have it all' link]
- One of the Top 11 Southern Retirement Hotspots in Retirement Lifestyles (Jan./Feb./March 2010)
- America's (13) Best College Towns on MSN Travel (Sept. 9, 2009)
- One of 15 Great Underpriced College Towns by U.S. News & World Report
- One of the "Best College Towns in America" by Hotels & Travel Reservations (Aug. 27, 2009)
- #14 of Medium Sized Smarter Cities in the U.S. by the Natural Resources Defense Council
- One of the Best American Towns to Visit by Car by Forbes.com (June 19, 2009)
- Best Retirement Town for the Arts (Music) by TopRetirements.com
- #5 in 10 Best Cities of 2009 by Kiplinger (May 2009)
- #4 in Top 20 College Towns for Jobs on Forbes.com (May 2009)
- #7 in Top 10 Best Small Cities for Jobs on Forbes.com (April 2009)
- Destination of the Week by Mother Nature Network (April 11, 2009)
- One of San Antonio Magazine's Five Cities Recommended for Music Lovers (March 2009)
- One of the Los Angeles Times' "29 Destinations to Visit in 2009" [Worldwide]
- One of the 2009 Dozen Distinctive Destinations as named by the National Trust for Historic Preservation
- Named one of the 20 Best Boomer Towns to retire or relocate in the United States by Best Boomer Towns.
- Ranked #51 of 400 in Sporting News' "Best Sports Cities" in Oct. 13, 2008 issue
- Noted as Southern Living's "favorite mid-sized college cit[y]" in Sept. 2008
- The Multimodal Transportation Center received a Bronze Award in the Brick Industry Association's 2008 Brick in Architecture award.
- Named #13 of Best Small Places for Business and Careers by Forbes.com.
- Ranked #33 of America's 50 Greenest Cities by Popular Science (Feb. 2008)
- Ranked second safest city in Georgia, with a national ranking
of 155 out of 378 by Morgan Quitno, a publisher
of annual and monthly state rankings and city rankings publications.
- One of 10 "Cool Blue Islands in Seas of Red" from the Winter 2007 issue of The Out Traveler
- #29 community in the United States out of 375 as ranked in Cities Ranked & Rated book (2nd. edition - 2007)
- One of five "great college towns" in its article “Attractions of a College Town” in Kiplinger’s Personal Finance special Retirement Planning 2007 issue (Fall 2007).
- A "100 Hot-City Guide" city in Cosmopolitan magazine (July 2007)
- One of five greatest unsung shopping locales from coast to coast in Lucky Magazine (Aug. 2007).
- Named as one of the recommendations in 1,000 Places to See in the U.S.A. and Canada Before You Die by travel writer Patricia Schultz (June 2007).
- Featured as one of 5 'great college towns' in Kiplinger's Personal Finance "The 40+ Life" segment (May 2007).
- Named an "Entrepreneur-Friendly" Community by the Georgia Department of Economic Development (April 2007).
- Named a Tree City USA for the 7th year (2007) by the National Arbor Day Foundation and given the Tree City Growth Award
- Named 'Best College Town for Retirees' in Kiplinger's Best of
Everything 2006
- Named
'Best Place to Recapture Your Youth' by Fortune in
June 2006
- Ranked #2 "Best Long Weekend Escape" by
GO (AirTran InFlight Magazine) in October 2006
- PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) named Athens as
the #9 "Best Vegetarian-Friendly Small Cities" in the country.
- Military Officer Magazine lists Athens as the #1 "Best
City for Relocating Families" of small metropolitan areas
(50,00 to 250,00 population) in its March 2006 issue.
- Money
Magazine named Athens as one of the "Top Five Best
Places to Live" (2005) for retirees.
- Kiplingers.com
named Athens as one of "Seven Cool Cities" (Sept. 2005)
for young professionals.
- ApartmentRatings.com
named
Athens as the 6th most renter-friendly community in the country.
- The Worldwide
Employee Relocation Council, Primacy Relocation and Sperling's
BestPlaces named
Athens the top small U.S. metro area in 2005 & 2006's
Best Cities for Relocating families.
- Expansion
Management Magazine gave the Athens metropolitan area a five-star
ranking for its appeal to high-tech companies.
- Men's
Journal named Athens #30 in the "50 Best Places
to Live" in its April 2005 issue as well as placing in the top 50 in the 2003
& 2004 issues
- Travelocity.com
named the Tree That Owns Itself and the Twilight Criterium as two of
the top ten Georgia local spots of interest in the 2005 "Local
Secrets, Big Finds" International Poll
- Rolling
Stone named Athens #1 of the "Campus Scenes that
Rock"
in February 2003
- Southern
Business & Development Magazine ranked Athens 11th
among all markets regardless of size and 7th
among the South’s small markets (250,000 and under) in 2003
Geography:
Athens-Clarke County, comprised of 125 square miles, is the smallest in
land area of Georgia's 159 counties. City Hall, located in downtown Athens on one of the highest points in Athens, is approximately 761 feet above sea level. It was the twenty-fifth county created
in the state and is located approximately 65 miles NE of Atlanta.
Population:
According to the 2000 census, Clarke County was the fourteenth most populous
county in the state with 101,489. (In 1990, the census showed 87,594 people.)
The Athens-Clarke County Planning Department estimates the 2005 population
at 108,222.
Government: The Unified Government of Athens-Clarke County's Mission Statement: "Athens-Clarke
County, an open and responsive government, facilitating a positive environment
for individuals to obtain a high quality of life and local organizations
to achieve success by providing innovative, high quality services and
responsible stewardship of the community's resources, to benefit current
and future generations." (Adopted November 4, 1997).
- Legislative: The government is headed by an elected mayor and 10 elected commissioners
from 8 geographical districts and 2 super-districts covering districts
1-4 and 5-8. The Mayor and Commission's regular meeting is the first
Tuesday of the month and an agenda setting session is held on the Thursday
after the third Tuesday of the month, both at 7:00 p.m. in City Hall.
Both meetings are televised locally on ACTV, Cable Channel 7 and available online in streamed live and on-demand formats. The Mayor
& Commission holds other meetings as necessary. Read
more about the Mayor and Commission.
- Executive:
The Unified Government of Athens-Clarke County's day-to-day operations
are overseen by a manager appointed by the Mayor and Commission. There
are 26 main departments, divisions and offices under the managerial
group.
- Judicial:
Athens-Clarke County houses Magistrate, Juvenile, Municipal, Probate,
State and Superior Courts. Superior Court covers the Western Judicial
Circuit, which also includes Oconee County.
Transportation:
The Athens-Ben
Epps Airport is used by private planes and commercial air travel to Atlanta, GA. Public transit locally is provided by the Athens
Transit System and a downtown bus station is served by Greyhound and
Southeastern Stages.
Education:
The Clarke County School District is a separate entity with nine elected
members on the Board of Education and an appointed superintendent. The
School District runs 13 elementary, 4 middle and 3 high schools. Additionally,
there are 5 private schools in the area. Athens-Clarke County is the home
of the University of Georgia, Athens Area Technical College, and the Navy
Supply Corps School, as well as other higher education institution
extensions.
History: Read about the history of the City of
Athens, Clarke County, Unification and the City of Winterville in our detailed
history section. Or check out our timeline of important dates.
Miscellaneous:
- The Gingko
is the official tree of Athens (adopted April 7, 1964)
- The Iris
is the official flower of Athens (adopted April 7, 1964)
- The Urban
Service District (old city boundaries) is designated as a bird sanctuary
(adopted April 8, 1977)
- Cortona,
Italy is Athens' official sister city (adopted June 6, 1978)
- There
are 9 locally designated historic districts, 41 locally designated landmarks,
15 nationally designated districts, and 38 nationally registered sites
More specific information
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