Uptown Athens has a lot to offer. Between the local restaurants, coffee shops and, of course, the bars, for a small town, Athens has a lot packed into Court Street’s 3 blocks that lead you right to the North end of OU campus green.
Naturally, students want to live in uptown (or super-close to uptown) off-campus housing. Uptown Athens rentals are in high demand, though, so if you want a cool spot in the heart of Athens, you’ve got to be on top of it about a year ahead of time. Lucky people can snatch up the lesser-known uptown apartments only a few months ahead of time, but you don’t want to test your luck.
Living in or near Court Street is a must for students looking to have that comprehensive work-and-play college experience at OU. We could tell you about 76 reasons to rent an apartment in uptown Athens, but that would be a low-key term paper. So instead we’ve boiled it down to our top 5.
5. Rentals Close to Uptown mean Shorter walks to Class
When you’re planning your schedule each semester, part of that schedule is getting to and from class. If you choose to rent an apartment farther into residential Athens, you’ll get your steps in every day, but when the weather is bad (which is often, and usually unexpected), you end up with unpleasant hikes to and from campus.
Another pro of living in uptown rentals near OU is that, those mornings where you realize you didn’t finish an assignment or remember halfway to class that you’ve forgotten your notebook, it’s a quick walk to home and back. Can you whip out a last-minute 500 word essay in 20 minutes? Probably. Can you run home and then to class without being a few minutes late? Also probably.
4. An Apartment near Court Street means Short, Safe Walks Home at Night
Besides losing your buddy-system friend before closing time and/or having to walk several blocks from Court Street to get home, these things make you vulnerable; you’re alone in the dark at 2am. But if your apartment rental is in uptown Athens, it’s a couple blocks home and a short climb up the stairs to your bed. Rentals near Court Street mean there’s a quick transition from nightlife energy to being safe and sound, passed out under the covers.
3. 10/10 Friends who don’t live Uptown will be Jealous
While your friends might love their apartments being a few blocks away from all the action, there’s no one who learns you live a stone’s throw from Court Street and isn’t kind of jealous. Especially if it’s one of our uptown rentals. Between spacious rooms in the most crowded part of town, and amenities like dishwashers, laundry and updated AC systems, nearly all of our rental housing is less than 3 blocks from Court Street.
Just know that if you’re living in an uptown Athens rental, your house will be the pregame location, and your couch will be for friends who’ve had too much to drink and need somewhere safe and close to the bars to sleep it off. But that just makes you the reliable one in the group, and your uptown apartment a safe place for not just you but the people you care about as well.
2. Uptown Athens Rentals have Cool Historic Touches
Court Street apartments have over 200 years of history. Many apartments uptown and the rental homes and apartments that flank uptown are located in buildings at least half as old as the town itself. By keeping spaces updated while retaining the original character of our historic rental properties, you can live in an apartment super-close to uptown that has a beautiful fireplace right in the living room, or architectural touches like decorative door frames and crown molding.
Some rental companies in Athens split historic homes up haphazardly, and you end up fighting with roommates about who’s going to live in the closet-sized bedroom. But we love to preserve history and provide modern, premium housing, which means big bedrooms you don’t have to draw straws for, and cool rentals near uptown that have character. It lets you truly become a part of Athens’ and OU’s long history.
1. Your Apartment is Near all of Athens’ best Food Spots
Perhaps even more than being near the bars, an uptown apartment close to campus means you’re near the best local food joints in town. Living in an apartment near Court Street lets you take advantage of the best little spots, like:
Souvlaki’s: Gyros. Enough said. They also have amazing spicy fries, and the family that runs it is really nice, even at 3am.
Bagel Street Deli: You won’t find another place like this. Fresh local ingredients on all different kinds of bagels, this little hole in the wall (they’re currently making it a bigger hole in the wall) is a great place to pick up lunch to go.
O-Betty’s: Hand-made premium hot dogs with tons of toppings, and delicious late-night fries to take home. Or to eat on the way home. We won’t judge.
Big Mama’s: Fat burritos and late hours, some students absolutely rely on this spot for 2am closing-time carbs.
The Pub: Who knew they had more than evening drinks? Morning Bloody Marys and great bar food makes this dive not so divey.
And we’d be remiss not to give a shout-out to Burrito Buggy and Ali Baba’s, which are two of the best food trucks you’ll ever find. They’re great spots for between-class foods – both usually sit right at the border of Court Street and OU’s campus.
Kleinpenny Rentals Curates the Best Student Rentals near Uptown Athens
If you’re looking for a rental in uptown Athens, we manage, maintain, update, and rent over 70 properties in locations that are convenient to Court Street nightlife as well as campus. From studio apartments 2 blocks from Court Street with those cool fireplaces we talked about earlier, to 8-bedroom rental houses just 1 block from uptown, a quick look at the map feature on our Detailed Search will reveal an arch of premier, centrally-located rentals close to uptown and campus. Take a look around and start planning your best life in an uptown Athens rental.