People who are visiting Athens on college trips are not seeing that much of the poverty on the way in. From Cincinnati they are taking US32 which is under populated. Dayton US35/32. Columbus US33 the new 4 lane expressway. Northeast Ohio some are taking I-77 and US50. I don't think they are really seeing the poverty. What they are seeing is when they try to book a visit for a college trip on a fall Saturday online is they can't find a hotel room.

DelBobcat, I think that's a good breakdown. Certainly all of southeast Ohio is poor, but I think you're right that the numbers are thrown off by the student count in Athens County. I think Athens probably is among the "least poor" counties in southeast Ohio because of the university. An indication from the article that shows Athens County isn't really that poor is its 4.6 percent unemployment rate, which is only slightly worse than the state average and better than nearly every other county in southeast Ohio.

Then Adams County has a population of 28,000 compared to 65,000. With the difference in unemployment rate Athens County has about 3 times the amount of total jobs.

Good analysis, Del. I might add that it's not just OU students that skew the numbers, because Hocking College students do as well. There should be some way to exclude students from these calculations.

That's funny that you mention that Wes. I remember when I was the RD in Pickering from 79 - 81, one of our RA's who was from Basking Ridge, NJ, told me about his family's trip out here to check out OU. Admissions routed them across 70 from PA to Zanesville then down 22, to 93, to 13 to Athens. There were several times driving down that curvy two lane hour road that they almost turned around and went back to NJ to choose another school.

https://www.census.gov/newsroom/blogs/random-samplings/20...

They aren't really booked, it's that they will not sell rooms for weekends in September or October until the football schedule is released. That said, I just checked the Hampton for the last weekend in September (UMass) and they have rooms available with a two night stay at $534.60 for two night. Please see below including the 30 day in advance cancellation policy.

Rate Details HONORS DISCOUNT
EXCLUSIVE HONORS MEMBER SAVINGS WHEN YOU BOOK DIRECT. PLUS, HILTON HONORS MEMBERS GET FREE STANDARD WI-FI HILTON HONORS POINTS TOWARDS FREE NIGHTS, CHOOSE YOUR ROOM AND MORE ALL WHEN YOU BOOK DIRECT THROUGH HILTON. WI-FI IS NOT FREE IN MEETING SPACES OR PROPERTIES WITH A RESORT CHARGE

Room: 1 KING HEARING ACCESSIBLE W/SOFABED NOSMOK
Adults: 1
Children: 0
DATE PRICE PER NIGHT (USD)
28 Sep 2018 236.55
29 Sep 2018 236.55
Room Subtotal 473.10
Taxes 13.00 % per room per night
61.50
Total for stay 534.60
Rules & Restrictions
Taxes
13.00 % per room per night
Guarantee Policy
This reservation requires a credit card deposit of $534.60 USD which will be charged to your card.

If you use a debit/credit card to check in, a hold may be placed on your card account for the full anticipated amount to be owed to the hotel, including estimated incidentals, through your date of check-out and such hold may not be released for 72 hours from the date of check-out or longer at the discretion of your card issuer.

Cancellation Policy
If you wish to cancel, please do so 30 days prior to arrival to avoid cancellation penalties.

At check in, the front desk will verify your check-out date. Rates quoted are based on check-in date and length of stay. Should you choose to depart early, price is subject to change.

We reserve the right to cancel or modify reservations where it appears that a customer has engaged in fraudulent or inappropriate activity or under other circumstances where it appears that the reservations contain or resulted from a mistake or error.

Totals listed here are estimated based on current taxes and exchange rates (if applicable) and do not include additional fees/charges that may be incurred during your stay.

Optional services for an additional charge
Parking charges: Self parking - Complimentary, Unsecured lighted.
All guests get free standard Wi-Fi in-room and in the lobby.

When our younger daughter was a student at UMich and we stayed at a Hampton Inn in Ann Arbor there was a free shuttle to the stadium! ;-)

Also, at the Greenbrier once my wife, on her birthday got a free carriage ride. Better than a shuttle any day!

I'll have to agree you get more for you money at the Greenbrier, but then you don't get OHIO football, either.

We used to offer "gator shuttles" to Peden from the Green and White tailgates.

As Alan's link pointed out, students in dorms aren't the problem because they are considered "group quarters" population, just like folks who are in jail. They're not in "households" or "families" at all, by the Census Bureau's definition.

But students in off-campus housing count as "households" and not "families." This is because they all live under the same residential roof (in a non-group quarters situation) BUT they are not related. So they drag down the household income number and not the family income number (unless they ARE related, then they'd be counted in both). It just so happens that because Athens County is a sparsely populated county even by college town standards this effect is exaggerated. For example, it's less of an issue in Oxford because Butler County is way more populous. And yes, other rural college towns like State College see this effect to some degree as well.

EDIT: I should note that the Census Bureau is interested in where people actually live, not their permanent address. They want to know where your head is hitting the pillow at night. These numbers are used for funding formulas for all kinds of things. If I'm trying to figure out how much money to give counties for roadway projects I don't care if a student's parents live in Cleveland. That student is in Athens for most of the year and they are using Athens roads, so the money should follow their physical presence.