The downtown areas of Omonia, Votanikos, Gazi and Psyrri have received the most dramatic upgrades in recent years, with the 2004 Summer Olympics accelerating the completion of much-needed projects that seemed mired in perpetual construction. Omonia in particular saw the removal of the unsightly billboards that had infested the area and a thorough cleanup of its seedy underbelly. The public works have been a catalyst for a multicultural flourishing and new businesses lining Sofokleous promise to inspire further development in the area. With Athens having the lowest crime rate in Europe, these downtrodden districts were not off-putting to tourists in the past for their violent reputations, but rather because they had no real draw, a situation that is rapidly changing thanks to all of this new development.

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