Where to Find Home Sweet Home in Athens

Dear CSAA class of 2011,

My apologies for not updating in almost a month! As you will soon learn, the life of a graduate student is hectic (but great!). The second semester of your first year includes classes, assistantship, practicum, internship searches, whew! Since spring break, things have calmed down quite a bit, which means we can bring you all the information you are dying to know about your big move to UGA!

If you are not provided housing with your assistantship, a big decision to make is where to live. A few students choose not not live in Athens, but I am going to highlight choices for those who do! There are lots of great options in Athens and many (depending where you are coming from) are quite affordable! Athens has two main areas (West and East) that stretch out from campus. Both include lots of apartment complexes, as well as shopping, dining, and services.

Some of the popular choices of current CSAA students include:

Legacy Mills
This is about 15 minutes from campus and includes some fun amenities like gym, pool, tennis court, etc. It’s close to restaurants and shopping centers. Most of the residents are young families or other UGA professionals/graduate students

Beechwood Pines
This is also a popular CSAA complex and is very similar to Legacy Mills. This is a couple miles closer and nestled between some popular shopping and dining areas. Overall, it’s in a great location for grad students – close enough to campus that you run home if need be, but far enough that you can “get away” at the end of a day.

The Exchange
Located right across from Target (who wouldn’t love that!), this complex is about 10 minutes from campus and also close to shops, dining, etc.

Family & Graduate Housing
Some students choose to live on campus and Georgia has some great options for those who go this route. Location can’t be beat and the apartments come with amenities like water, electricity, internet, that you may pay extra for somewhere else.

There are many other complexes around Athens and generally offer competitive rates/amenities. The Area Guide for Athens is great and has a lot of other apartment complex listings. Word to the wise – many of the complexes close to campus are mostly undergraduates. Keep this in mind as a young professional. Some mind it, some don’t, but it’s definitely something to consider.

Craigslist.com is also a great place to look! What you want (included utilities, pets allowed, washer/dryer), is going to play a huge part in where you end up and sometimes clist posts offer up the perfect combination at a great price! This is also good for non-complex apartments, roommate searches, and cheap furniture!

Wherever you are in your search, please contact current CSAA students! We are more than willing to answer questions about location, prices, complexes, etc.

Or shoot me a question here! Over the summer, there will be posts about other need-to-know items in terms of moving to UGA, but if you have a particular topic of interest, let me know!

I do hope to update more frequently, especially as school winds down and our internships begin! This summer you will find CSAA students everywhere, including Texas, New Jersey, North Carolina, and even Qatar! There will be a handful of us staying in Athens for the summer and we can’t wait for the new students to come!

Go Dawgs!