Best Boomer Towns - Town Blogs

A Visitor Dropped into Athens, GA this Week

As I traversed through my daily schedule this week I had an opportunity to speak with a Colorado gentleman traveler to Athens. He said he was really just a visitor who had dropped into town, although he just took a position at the University of Georgia, and he asked what a 57 year old could do in Athens for fun.

Considering my passion for my "Classic City" and through my experience with BestBoomerTowns, I was able to give him a few ideas.

· Athens Heritage Walks Due to our status with the National Trust for Historic Preservation's as one of the 2009 Dozen Distinctive Destinations, there are tours being put on all season long that look to provide tour goers with a colorful fresh perspective to our Athenian history. Go to http://www.achfonline.org for information and the schedule of each tour.

· Ashford Manor Concerts on the Lawn-September Always a good time. Bring a friend, spouse, or find a friend while you are there! Food, drink, and fun follow suit at Ashford Manor in Watkinsville.

· College Football: UGA vs. South Carolina September 12, 2009; Self Explanatory. Go to a game with 95,000 UGA fans and you too will start bleeding red "and" black. Especially when South Carolina comes to Athens!

· UGA Golf Course Memberships for as little as $545 per quarter ($605 for the general public) and conveniently located near campus. Come and play the highly competitive UGA Golf Course. If you love golf and don't happen to be lucky enough to have football tickets this fall, you will pretty much have the course to yourself on Saturday afternoons!

These are just a few ideas. Check out VisitAthensGA.com for more things to fill your days and point you to where to play at night!

In the end, this gentlemen traveler to our town told me that he could not have created a better place to work and live than his new found home town of Athens. In parting, he told me he wished he had come to Athens years ago! He said unlike many places he has lived across the country, Athens was the only place in which when you said "Good Morning," you always got a reciprocal "Good Morning" with a smile! I hope you will visit our Bubble City of Goodness one day as well. Be prepared however, because you won't want to leave when you are under the spell of our southern charms!

 

 

America’s Best Cities to Visit by Car, but when you arrive may Hand you a Bike!

You might have noticed that my posts were absent last month.  Well I am happy to say that all of the lobbying I did to Forbes paid off again!  It is usually me and Donald Trump trying to volley our interests forward each year!  In the month of July, Forbes came out with a piece entitled, “Best American towns to visit by car.”  Athens, GA was one of the few and the proud to be included in this list.

They point out what we already knew of course that we have a thriving culture and music scene, hence the nickname, “the Classic City,” and they say Athens is “chock full of coffee shops and bars suitable for late nights and philosophizing.”  What is interesting is that they comment on the fact that we have a thriving “bike” culture which I think testifies to an active lifestyle as well as a desire to live “green.”   You can find the column at http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/31493051/ns/travel-destinations.

A couple of upcoming events of note; 

The Athens Clarke Heritage Foundation is sponsoring a guided tours celebrating Athens-Clarke County's designation as one of the National Trust for Historic Preservation's 2009 Dozen Distinctive Destinations. For more information please go to their website at http://www.achfonline.org.

The Athens Habitat for Humanity’s Birthday Bash http://www.athenshabitat.com

For 21 years serving the local community!

Finally today, let me mention that when you look over the list of things to do around Athens right now they are consumed with the outdoors.  From stargazing with the Athens Astronomical Association to going down a sleepy stream on a raft, tube, or kayak, to taking a full moon hike at night, our parks seem to be busy right now 24/7!

Come Visit Athens, GA and you will find that the “Bubble City” of Goodness has been waiting on you! 

 

Bubble Dream City of Goodness

It is late June now in Athens, GA.  Contrary to the reputation of the area for summer time heat, it is a temperate 82 degrees and sunny today.  The weather has been pleasant due to the volume of rain we have had this year.  Area lakes, have I mentioned there are four lakes within an hour’s drive that cover a total area of 164,000 acres, are at or a couple of feet off “full pond” again now that the drought has left the southeast!

As I scan through local events I notice the Athens Farmer’s Market is in full swing now through November 14^th.  In addition to locally grown food, there are crafts, music, “merriment, and our memories shared on Saturday mornings with the young and the old alike at Bishop Park.”

The Sun Flower Music Series at the State Botanical Garden of Georgia also just opened for the summer season.  Groups on the schedule are (June 23) Modern Skirts (power-pop quartet) (July 14) FiveEight (three-piece rock band), and (August 25) Grogus (Latin jazz, salsa, Afro-Caribbean jazz and reggae).  Tickets can be found at www.uga.edu/botgarden.

If you are in the mood for a little more volume to your music, you have got to go to AthFest.  More than 175 bands playing on outdoor stages and in Athens' downtown clubs.  Music, art, and KidsFest provide entertainment for every age.  What is really great is that all Outdoor stages are free.

Actor/Comedian Patton Oswalt, of Pixar’s Ratatouille fame, says that “Athens is a Bubble Dream City of Goodness and like Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory where the streets are paved with pot and Leprechaun’s bring you coffee in the morning.”  Well after that, you are either missing the 60’s or are at least curious enough to come give Athens, GA a try!   

 

Athens, GA Ranked 5 in Best Cities 2009 Regarding Careers

Kiplinger’s Personal Finance wrote a piece today entitled, “2009 Best Cities: It’s all about the Jobs,” where they examined cities around the country to determine which offered stable levels of employment while also providing new career opportunities.

What they found, and what I have seen in my business, is that in 2009, “many cities are relying on government programs, universities and stalwart industries, such as health care, to bolster employment in a weak economy.”

Kevin Stolarick, who evaluated U.S. cities to look for the most economic growth potential, found, “Although downturns are felt by everyone, our research has shown that the impact is less severe for those in the creative class — people who are paid to think.”

As it turns out, Huntsville, AL was #1 on the 2009 “Best Cities” list by Kiplinger’s.  No shocker there.  Huntsville is definitely a city of “thinkers.” What might be a surprise and a source of amusement to many Americans is that Washington D.C. was #3 on Kiplinger’s list of 2009 Best Cities!  I am not personally seeing where Mr. Stolarick’s comments regarding “those in the creative class — people who are paid to think” and the words “Washington D.C.” fit together.

What I am both pleased and impressed to see is that Athens, GA came in #5 ahead of notable cities such as (#7) Madison, WI, (#8) Austin, TX, and (#10) Raleigh, NC. Please check these links out about our “Classic City.”  I think it gives us just another reason to feel proud of our little slice of heaven!

 

Athens, GA “On the Foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains”

Did you realize that Athens, Georgia is on the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains? If you like an active lifestyle head north from Athens and you will find plenty of outdoor recreation just a short drive away. From trout fishing and canoeing, with your pick of either a slower pace of a placid mountain stream or if you like the rush of whitewater, you can try on the Chattooga River. Horseback riding and hiking from Anna Ruby Falls to Tallulah Gorge or maybe the quaint whimsical Bavarian village of Helen, the North Georgia mountains provide you with the ability to take a day trip from Athens or make it a week long adventure!

Did you know the world famous Appalachian Trail begins in Georgia? That's right! The 2,175 mile trek starts at Springer Mountain, Georgia and ends at Katahdin, Maine.

A couple of suggestions on where to eat while taking your trip to the North Georgia mountains are two favorites of my family. The Dillard House in Dillard, Georgia serves three large meals a day "family style," and true to southern hospitality no one leaves the table hungry! Also, if you make your way over to Dahlonega, Georgia, you must stop by the Smith House where serving platters are piled high with fried chicken and baked ham. Roast beef and Southern style fried okra, candied yams and a dozen or so different fresh, steamed vegetables; homemade yeast rolls and corn muffins that melt in your mouth keep coming to the table until you say "Uncle!"

If boating and water activities are your pleasure, let me suggest a tour to Lake Burton or Lake Rabun, which are both in Rabun County Georgia. The Lake Burton Fish Hatchery and Moccasin Creek State Park are located on the western end of Lake Burton. The lake is home to Spotted Bass, Largemouth Bass, White Bass, Black Crappie, Bluegill, White Catfish, Rainbow Trout, and Yellow Perch. Lake Burton is a 2775 acre lake with 62 pristine miles of shoreline which makes boating fun a pleasure! Lake Rabun is a smaller more intimate lake, 835 acres, that is steeped in rich mountain living. One event to note is that on the Fourth of July each year there is a wooden boat parade that follows the shore lines of the lake.

Prizes are awarded to the best decorated boat and boat house. At night from either boat house or by boat, residents and visitors can catch a fireworks display on the lake that exceeds expectations!

The beauty of all of this is that within an hour and a half drive from Athens you can have mountains at your finger tips! Just another reason why Athens, GA is a fabulous place to spend your "Second" childhood!

 

Athens, GA is one of 7 Small Towns Offering Career Opportunities in addition to being a great place

Small cities can be both relaxing and comfortable places to live. They also can be great spots to operate either a primary business or that “second career” that many Baby Boomers embark in during their “retirement years.”  Using ZoomProspector.com, a business relocation specialist, In my research I found 7 cities and towns in the U.S. with fewer than 125,000 people, which have a favorable business environment, and a highly-educated labor force. ZoomProspector.com also takes into account the aesthetic appeal of the area, salary levels, and local dining and attractions. 

In this study, in addition to population maximums we narrowed down cities in the U.S. based upon job growth rates (2000-2008), unemployment rates, and median age.  In regards to labor force, I asked ZoomProspector.com to allow cities with a labor force of at least 33% having a bachelor’s degree, 75% a high school diploma or higher, and 50% of the labor pool being considered “white collar.”  Finally this list was narrowed down again for towns having Universities in the town or within 50 miles, commute time of less than 20 minutes, an airport in the city or within 50 miles, and finally travel time to the nearest interstate within 15 miles.

The following, according ZoomProspector.com, are their top 7 towns that offer great places to work, operate a small business, and offer plenty of career opportunity beyond just being a great place to live;

1. Athens-Clarke County, GA
2. Lafayette, LA
3. Tuscaloosa, AL
4. Fayetteville, AR
5. Lawrenceville, KS                                                                                                        6. Rochester, MN
7. Greenville, NC

Athens, GA had the youngest median age at 26.0 years.  It had the second most total of Universities (19) and Airports (16) in town or within 50 miles as compared to the other cities in this list.  Athens also had the fourth highest job growth rate at 16.8%, and the third highest percentage of inhabitants who have at least a Bachelor’s degree.

In the end, just another reason to feel proud and boast a little about our “Classic City!” Come visit Athens and you will find through our Southern hospitality that you finally made it home!

Concerts on the Lawn, Athens

How would you like to walk into a gorgeous park or garden with flowers and fountains, on a beautiful starry summer night with a statuesque old southern Victorian home, illuminated for the evening by candle light, in the background?

Throw in a picnic with some of your closet friends and family and you have an intimate gathering. Toss in music, live of course, and now you have a party! At Ashford Manor, during their Concerts on the Lawn, they put all this together and more! For food, bring your own or dine with one of their restaurant partners. From Mirko Pasta where their motto is "Fresh pasta made daily, many days hourly. Real Italian food. Fast, Affordable, Delicious," to Le Maison Bleu where sandwiches and salads are prepared with a continental flare! Barbaritos for southwestern grille items or Girasole's for fine Mexican and Italian dishes. Annual Music favorites range from "Mama's Love" to "Greg Hester's Van Morrison Tribute Band" and finally "Sons of Sailors" where they have been playing Jimmy Buffet for decades! These are just a few of the bands highlighting the summer schedule! For more information on 2009 Concert Schedule.

Don't come however unless you are ready to have a fun experience framed around one of the most beautiful garden settings in the Athens area. As they say on their website, the Concerts on the Lawn are close to home and a reasonable price. The possible biggest draw to attending a Concert at Ashford Manor something I found on their website, that I agree with wholeheartedly, that stated, "Folks tell us that this is often the only chance to really see and enjoy their neighbors and friends, without having to entertain at their own homes."

The only requirement that they insist upon at Ashford Manor is that you relax and have fun - "no stress vibes, no bad office karma here!"

 

Athens in the Spring; Kids playing, Tigers in Augusta & Recollections of the March to the Sea

My training and passions are in real estate and delving into numbers.  While I would love to tell you about how according to Zillow, mortgage rates in the top 20 states they track are lowest in Georgia (4.96% last week), and how real estate in Athens is a stable holding in one’s portfolio due to the University of Georgia and our fabulous hospital systems locally, on this sunny morning I would rather look outside the window and gaze at the blooming Dogwoods (we call them Dawgwoods in Athens), and Azaleas blooming as I look forward to this day and perfect 70 degree temperatures that make up a spring in our area.  Perfect for working in the yard, golf, or some activity with the kids or grandkids! 

By the way, youth soccer leagues have just started and there are roughly 1000 kids playing anywhere from U-6 to U-18 soccer in the Athens suburbs of Oconee County with another 1500 playing baseball.  The UGA Baseball team is having their best start ever, currently ranked #5 in the season.  As I have mentioned in previous posts, you can go to a highly competitive college baseball game in Athens and it won’t cause you to have to tap into your 401-k to afford to attend the game and get a hotdog.

Athens is also close enough to run down to Augusta, as my oldest son and I did this week, and attend the Masters.  Some people pay big bucks to stay in Augusta during Masters week.  I believe it only took us about 90 minutes to run down to Augusta.  On the way back we stopped at Reynolds Plantation and Lake Oconee and played a quick 9 holes before it got dark.

One thing we history buffs enjoy is a trip down the Georgia Antebellum Trail.  Check it out at http://www.atpilgrimage.org.  It covers seven cities that the “scoundrel” Gen. Sherman didn’t burn his infamous march to the sea.  From Athens to Watkinsville, then down to Madison, which happens to have been looked at as the most “aristocratic” down between Charleston and New Orleans back in the days of the carriage routes.  It then carries you down to Eatonton, Milledgeville, and then toward Macon.  Now if you are not in to history all that much, there is beautiful architecture from the 1800’s as well as a large variety of shopping and dining opportunities.

Well in the end, I can’t personally say Sherman was too much of a scoundrel.  After all, and to the chagrin of my family, my own Great-Great Grandfather was a Lieutenant in his cavalry. 

The Boulevard Historic District of Athens, Georgia

The Boulevard Historic District of Athens Georgia is an area of town just as unique as “Five Points.”  According to the Boulevard Neighborhood Association, The Boulevard Historic District is the area roughly bound on the south by Prince Avenue, on the west by Hiawassee Street, on the north by the Seaboard Coastline Railroad (now CSX), on the east by Pulaski Street.

This “Streetcar Suburb” as they call it, is named for Boulevard, its broadest street, which runs all the way through the 150 acre district. Boulevard is laid out in a grid pattern on slightly rolling terrain, which is typical for the area, behind Antebellum mansions on the north side of Prince Avenue. This historic district consists of homes built in the late 1800’s to early 1900’s and has a rich architectural influence of Greek Revival, Queen Anne, and Neoclassical architecture. The American Bungalow with its’ Craftsman style is also a prevalent site. 

Most of the land in this historic district originally was a part of the Antebellum mansions that line Prince Avenue. When Athens acquired a streetcar service in the later 1800s Athenians were now able to enjoy suburban living for the first time, and the Boulevard District was created.

In previous posts I have mentioned Walkscore.com.  What interests me, apart from the intensely detailed history of this area, is the fact that it has one of the best “Walk Scores” of any subdivision in the Greater Athens area due to the high quantity of grocery stores, coffee shops, dining, movie theaters, libraries, and retail establishments within walking distance. It scored a 75 out of a possible 100 which would place the Boulevard Historic District of Athens above Seattle, Portland, Baltimore, and Denver just to name a few!

If you are looking to relocate to Athens Georgia as you change direction in life, take a look at this area.  It’s not only a great place to live, it is also a nice place to take a stroll if you enjoy gazing up at oaks that were there during the days of street cars and architecture that would have made Frank Lloyd Wright proud.

Doom and Gloom in the Housing Market? Let Me Be the Contrarian

Well here we are again.  Another quarterly report from Case-Schiller, and another report of doom and gloom for the housing market while very quietly the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight (OFHEO) has updated for 4th quarter 2008 their Home Price Index (HPI) in the last few days with no hurrah from the national media.

As I indicated in my post of January 2, 2009, OFHEO, or the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight, has published information about the differences in their methods of indexing their House Price Index from the Case-Shiller® Home Price Index. Here are some of the points:

Case-Shiller only uses purchase prices, while the All-Transaction OFHEO HPI also uses refinance appraisals.

Case-Shiller mortgage data comes from county records, while OFHEO uses conforming mortgage data from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

Case-Shiller is value-weighted, giving more weight to higher priced homes, while OFHEO equally weights all prices.

Case-Shiller has no data from 13 states, while OFHEO covers all states; important when some areas are growing rapidly.

At times, one of these indexes can show a trend of increasing prices, while the other can show the opposite. So these differences should be carefully considered when you’re deciding on information on which to make investment decisions.

This Link is a FAQ Page discussing OFHEO, Case-Shiller, and HPI or the home price index as used by the OFHEO. For a Technical Description of how OFHEO determines their HPI index please Click Here.

However, back to the newest Case-Shiller report.

“Home prices post record 18% drop”

While this is news, is it not really news when you consider that we all live in a local market, not the United States housing market as a whole.  What I mean by this is that Athens Georgia, for one example, has an increase of 1.32% in four quarter percentage change through the 4th quarter of 2008.  That’s right, Athens Georgia as a whole has “appreciated” by 1.32% in the past year. 

What about your town?  Check out http://www.ofheo.gov/hpi.aspx to find out how your locale has performed.  That is the biggest issue I have always had with Case-Shiller and even the Zillow quarterly real estate market report.  The Zillow Real Estate Market Reports track 161 metropolitan statistical areas, or MSAs as they call them, throughout the United States.  I would probably contend that the Zillow report is more accurate than Case-Shiller to today’s market. I feel it is in every property owner’s best interest to understand their own individual market, and by providing this information I hope to assist home owner’s everywhere in this endeavor.

At the OFHEO website there is also a useful map of the United States entitled, “FOUR-QUARTER APPRECIATION U.S,” that allows you to drag your cursor across the United States to see how your state performed over the previous four quarters through the last quarter of 2008.  It shows Georgia, for example, at a loss of 2.7% with Florida at a negative 19.5%.  The site also provides more information for state by state research and of course, and as noted, city to city.

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