I lived in Athens, Ga. I loved it there. Cool town. Much less snobby than Ann Arbor, which I also love. Athens was much more affordable too (at least back then, not so much now). Ann Arbor had The Stooges and Bob Seger, Athens had R.E.M. and The B-52s. I wore shorts in January in Athens. They all thought I was crazy. 40 Watt Club and Blind Pig both had the same vibe. I like both equally. Both had great record stores back in the day. Athens gets high with a balloon festival these days, Ann Arbor gets high with Hash Bash. Ann Arbor is losing it's personality as the old hippies that opened businesses are retiring and their businesses are being replaced with chains. I don't know if that is happening in Athens. Athens had The Varsity (it's moved) and Weaver D's (Automatic For The People). Ann Arbor has Zingerman's and the Fleetwood (hippie has browns). Athens was 90 mins. away from Atlanta, Ann Arbor is 40 minutes from Detroit.