I never said Athens was alone... I said Greenville was the model, which means I think its one of the best mid-size city downtown developments in the country. In other words, I am in fact saying there are lots of cities that fail to measure up, not just Athens.
Also, you are quoting numbers based on where things currently stand. Those numbers are where we are today, but had some forward thinking people been in charge of Athens 40 years with a common vision continued on by the generations that followed, Athens would likely have better numbers than that. But everyone's goals were mostly to just keep the status quo.
Greenville didn't get to where they are over night... it took decades, and as they built it they made it a more desirable place to live, and as it became a more desirable place to live higher earning people chose to settle there.
Don't get me wrong... I love Athens. I made the conscious decision to move here in 1994... I made the decision to settle here permanently in 2002 and have been here ever since. I love it here... but it would be incorrect to say Athens has done all they can to develop the downtown in any way that rivals what Greenville has done even relatively speaking based on local median income. Maybe the powers that be think "Why should we do more? People already love Athens." and I concede they would have a point. I'm living proof of it as I do live here after all and commute an hour every day to work elsewhere. But downtown Greenville is now nicer and that was not always the case.