Welcome to Athens, Georgia

In the past three years, Athens, Georgia has received
several prominent designations:

• Georgia's second safest city, according to the 14th annual "City Crime Rankings," CQ Press (a unit of
  Congressional Quarterly), November 2007
• The Globe named one of the Best Bars in America by Esquire magazine, October 2007.
  
• Five & Ten, named "Restaurant of the Year" by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, October 2007
  
• One of five 'great college towns,"  Kiplinger's Personal Finance special Retirement Planning 2007 issue,
  "Attractions of a College Town," Fall 2007
• "Top 10 Most Popular Retirement Towns," Topretirements.com, August 2007
• AmericanStyle readers have ranked Athens the No. 7 Mid-Sized City in the annual Top 25
  Arts Destinations readers' poll, moving Athens up 17 places from last year's ranking.
  
• 40 Watt Club and The Melting Point, named "Top 40 Music Venues in America,"  Paste magazine, May 2007
  
• Cosmopolitan magazine's online 100 Hot City Guide
• Expansion Management Magazine gave the Athens metropolitan area a five-star ranking for its
  appeal to high-tech companies.
• ApartmentRatings.com named Athens as the sixth most renter-friendly community in the country.
  
• Athens and AthFest recommended in 1,000 Places to See in the U.S.A. and Canada Before You Die,
  by Patricia Schultz
• Athens, Georgia: one of Lucky magazine's five greatest unsung shopping locations
  
• Readers' Choice Award - ConventionSouth, December 2006
  
• Southeast Tourism Society Top 20 Event - AthFest, June 2005, June 2006, and June 2007; Robert
  Osborne's Classic Film Festival, March 2006 & March 2007
• Military Officer Magazine lists Athens as the #1 "Best City for Relocating Families" of small
  metropolitan areas (50,000 to 250,000 population) in its March 2006 issue.
  
• "Best College Town for Retirees" - Kiplinger's Personal Finance, Nov. 2006
• Named among the Top Five Places to Retire by Fortune Magazine in June 2006.
  
• Ranked second safest city in Georgia, 136th safest in the country - Morgan Quitno Press, October
  2006 (crime statistics analysis of cities with 75,000 or more people)
  
• Ranked #2 "Best Long Weekend Escape" - GO, AirTran InFlight Magazine, October 2006
  
• Ranked A "Top 25 Arts Destination" among midsized cities - AmericanStyle Magazine, June 2007
  (ranked each year since 2002)
• "Best Place to Recapture Your Youth" - Fortune magazine, June 26, 2006
  
• Ranked #1 Small City for Relocating Families, 2005 and 2006, Worldwide Employee Relocation Council
  
• Athens Ranks 34th Nationally in Quality-of-Life by 'Cities Ranked & Rated' at BestPlaces.net. 
  
• Best Veg-Friendly City Award (#9 in Small City category), GoVeg.com, March 2006
  
• UGA's Ramsey Student Center for Physical Activities, #1 college fitness center, CosmoGIRL! Magazine, Oct. 2005
  
• Top Five "Best Places to Retire 2005," Money magazine, Oct. 11, 2005
  
• One of seven "Cool Cities," Kiplinger's Personal Finance, Oct. 2005
  
• "Five Star Knowledge Worker Metro," Expansion Management, May 2005
• 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.
  
• "Top Small U.S. Metro Area," 2005's Best Cities for Relocating Families (study commissioned by
  Worldwide Employee Relocation Council, www.primacy.com)
  
• "50 Best Places to Live" -Men's Journal, Ranked 49 in May 2004, 30th in May 2005
• Men's Journal named Athens #30 in the "50 Best Places to Live" in its April 2005 issue as well as
  placing it in the top 50 in the March 2003 issue.
• Rolling Stone named Athens the #1 "College Music Scene that Rocks" 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.
  
• Ranked 11th in "Southern Metro Business Climate Index" - Southern Business &
  Development Magazine, Summer 2004
  
• Athens is "Live Music Central." - The New York Times, 5/10/02
  
• Top Ten "Great College Towns" - The Princeton Review, 2002
  
• Hugh Acheson, one of America's "Top 10 Best New Chefs" - Food & Wine
  Magazine - July 2002
  
• "Best Places to Retire" - Where to Retire - Winter, 1996; Spring, 2002
  
• "Best Places for Black Families to Live in America" - Family Digest - Jan. 2003
  
• "Best Places to Live and Work in America" -- Employment Review - June, 2002
  
• Georgia's "Most Enlightened City" - Utne Reader, April 1997
  
• One of America's "Top 15 Cities for Vegetarians" - Vegetarian Times - June, 1995
  
• "Top 12 Places to Retire in America" - Your Money magazine - August, 1999
  
• UGA's Bulldog Mascot, Uga V: "Best Team Mascot" - Sports Illustrated - April, 1997
  
• "Best Student Recreation Center" - Sports Illustrated - April, 1997
  
• "Best Places to Live Now" - Top metropolitan area in Georgia, Money Magazine, 1991 and 1992