My husband and I just finished a Master's program in Athens and are waiting to hear where we will be moving for Ph.D. Athens is a nice little laid-back town where in general the hippy crowd outnumber the young sorority/fraternity partier type. I agree with the previous poster that it seems like it should be much cheaper than it is for housing. We rented a house just north of town and it was $950 for a three-bedroom with some land. Not too bad. My first year, I lived above the Cycle Path (a local bike shop) and it was ok, just really small. I would suggest if you have a car trying to find someplace outside of town a bit. A lot of crappy places close to campus and shady landlords.
My favorite places:
the farmer's market - State Street past Wal-mart. Saturday and Wednesday mornings. A lot of local farmers, strange hippy backwoods types, Mennonite and the such. Don't miss the asiago cheese bread from Avalanche Pizza...only available at the Saturday market and not at their store. (on the topic of Avalance pizza...just simply the best in Athens. no competition. don't waste you money on others...just go to Avalanche.)
The Village Bakery - State Street before the highway. Great food from local sources, fair trade products in their market. A bit pricey but worth it occasionally.
The Farmacy - Natural food store and cafe. Don't miss their fried tofu sandwich. mmmmm! Reasonable prices.
Casa - Downtown off of Court Street. Claim to be Mexican food, but that's a stretch. A very local, healthy take on Mexican but still yummy. Seasonally changing menu based on local availability. Their sweet potato fries in autumn are amazing.
The Pawpaw Fest - Every fall outside of town towards the airport. If you don't have transport try to catch the shuttle that leaves from campus. Great local fest with music, food, and activities centered around the pawpaw...don't know what it is? Go to the fest!
Enjoy!