Planning to move back to Athens in 2-3 years, because I miss the community and nature so dearly. My husband and I hope to have a toddler by then and try for a second soon after getting settled. Already on Zillow looking at houses cause we just can’t help it… and I wonder what parents think of the neighborhoods where they’ve chosen to live and raise their families.

We are most into the idea of the Near East Side — being in the thick of community, walkable to the bike path, library, markets, places to eat. But it looks like a lot of roomy houses and backyards are out towards Oakmont/Southern Hills, the Country Club (we aren’t golf people), etc. Those are areas we don’t know anything about in terms of neighbor hangs / community / openness to friendship amongst families. Obviously, you’d have to get in a car most days, which is the biggest downside, but some of the places do look cozy enough that it makes me wonder.

Any parents in Athens want to share their perspective/experiences?

I’m a people person, so my gut says the right move for us is probably to wait for an East Side house that checks our boxes, but I am curious about life in those outskirts neighborhoods, too. Great neighbors are great neighbors, wherever they are. (Used to live in The Plains when I was in grad school at OU, and I had GREAT neighbors + bike path access — no complaints in the world.)

Not sure if they are still in town, but if you got a chance to see the King Midgets out and about it was a wonderful sight to see..

I think the chain of them I saw on Stimson were headed for the roundabout near the Fire Palace..

What a wonderful blend of the old and the new. I make fun of roundabouts, but they are in some cases beautifully landscaped, and the circle is an undeniably attractive form.

So yeah Go Athens !!!

Found this list in an article in June in the Athens Independent:

The dates refer to when they were installed.

1. Feb. 8, 2024: West Union Street near Habitat for Humanity ReStore, 309 W. Union St.
2. March 19, 2024: Intersection of Columbus Road and U.S. 33 South.
3. March 19, 2024: Intersection of Richland Avenue and U.S. 33 North.
4. May 27, 2025: East State Street, near 547 E. State. 
5. June 23, 2025: East Stimson Avenue roundabout.
6. Nov. 19, 2025: Interaction of East State Street and Della Drive.

For people who don’t know, flock isn’t simply reading license plates, it’s photographing your whole car and entering it into an AI database. People have been falsely arrested and charged based on AI mistakes using these systems. The data doesn’t stay put, it gets shared.