Livability of Gainesville, FL?
June 3, 2010 11:16 AM Subscribe
We're contemplating a move to Gainesville, FL. I'm from a big northeastern city, he's from northern California. What are we likely to love? What are we likely to hate?
Other than the climate, that is. We're wondering things like this: We're pretty left-leaning and neither of us have lived in the South -- but is Gainesville meaningfully Southern? We're both pretty crunchy and would prefer to live without a car -- is that doable? And so on. More generally, what do you love about Gainesville that makes you want to stay? What would you have liked to have known before you came to Gainesville?
Other than the climate, that is. We're wondering things like this: We're pretty left-leaning and neither of us have lived in the South -- but is Gainesville meaningfully Southern? We're both pretty crunchy and would prefer to live without a car -- is that doable? And so on. More generally, what do you love about Gainesville that makes you want to stay? What would you have liked to have known before you came to Gainesville?
Honestly, most places in the South would be at least a bit of a pain in the ass without a car.
posted by showbiz_liz at 11:36 AM on June 3, 2010 [2 favorites]
posted by showbiz_liz at 11:36 AM on June 3, 2010 [2 favorites]
I don't live there but my (atheist, liberal, not crunchy) best friend does. She HATES it and can't wait to get out. She's had a lot of trouble making any off-campus friends either because of their right-wing opinions or their differing cultural tastes. She can't get rid of her car, basic shopping would be a nightmare without it. That said, people do not know how to drive, but everyone everywhere complains about that. I did hear that Florida has the highest bike-car accident rate, but can't find a cite for that now.
My grandparents live a couple hours south and I visited my friend last month. There's nothing to do. I visited her and we went to Walmart for lack of a better idea.
Sorry. Housing does seem fairly affordable though.
posted by desjardins at 11:58 AM on June 3, 2010
My grandparents live a couple hours south and I visited my friend last month. There's nothing to do. I visited her and we went to Walmart for lack of a better idea.
Sorry. Housing does seem fairly affordable though.
posted by desjardins at 11:58 AM on June 3, 2010
Gainesville would be horrible without a car, unless perhaps you live directly on University Avenue (or is it Street, whatever).
Definitely not Pandhandle both geographically and people-wise, and not Southern either. It is a university town, so expect lots of binge-drinking type of "bro" atmosphere for the most part.
The "locals" are very, very Floridian. Not exactly Southern, but could be mistaken for being Southern by people not from 'round those parts. The local TV channels, when I lived there in 1998-2000-ish, looked trapped in the 70s, both in production quality and outfits worn by newscasters.
I absolutely hated Gainesville when I was there, I've since moved to NYC, which I do like. I'm more of city-folk. But also I was a broke-ish college aged person there, so results may vary.
posted by Threeway Handshake at 12:04 PM on June 3, 2010
Definitely not Pandhandle both geographically and people-wise, and not Southern either. It is a university town, so expect lots of binge-drinking type of "bro" atmosphere for the most part.
The "locals" are very, very Floridian. Not exactly Southern, but could be mistaken for being Southern by people not from 'round those parts. The local TV channels, when I lived there in 1998-2000-ish, looked trapped in the 70s, both in production quality and outfits worn by newscasters.
I absolutely hated Gainesville when I was there, I've since moved to NYC, which I do like. I'm more of city-folk. But also I was a broke-ish college aged person there, so results may vary.
posted by Threeway Handshake at 12:04 PM on June 3, 2010
Mod note: comment removed - can you please check your geography before posting?
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 12:06 PM on June 3, 2010
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 12:06 PM on June 3, 2010
Gainesville itself is first and foremost a college town (UF has something like 50,000 students). Being a college town means that there is a requisite amount of crunchiness in the town, but the town is no liberal mecca.
I would not live there without a car, period. I'm sure people find ways to do it, but not having a car would have to be a central, defining element of your lifestyle. It would be pretty easy to set yourself up so you didn't have to use a car very often.
What you probably won't like is the broader area. Gainesville itself is a moderate to liberal town (though, being still a southern college town, probably churchier than either of you might be used to). But north Florida outside of Gainesville and Jacksonville and maybe Ocala is stereotypical southern rurality. Very conservative, often deeply racist, suspicious of outsiders, stricken with seemingly incurable poverty, ignorant... it's a bad scene. Painful to drive through on several levels.
What you might like is the broader area. On the one hand, there's no mountains or anything like that. But a lot of north Florida is really quite lovely in a low-key sort of way. There are good nature preserves in the area -- Paynes Prairie south of town is really kind of surprising, Devil's Millhopper is a big hole in the ground, and north Florida is *littered* with beautiful, beautiful springs and spring-fed rivers. Going down the Itchetucknee is a big-ass inner tube... man, that's some good times. And you're not far from either the Gulf coast (though not many beaches around there) or the Atlantic. The usual beaches for Gainesvillians -- Anastasia Island, St. Augustine, or Crescent Beach -- are also pretty low-key places. The sorts of beaches where (as of a few years ago) there were still one-family houses on the beach and small low-rise condo developments, all back behind the dune lines, not big hotel after big hotel.
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 12:11 PM on June 3, 2010
I would not live there without a car, period. I'm sure people find ways to do it, but not having a car would have to be a central, defining element of your lifestyle. It would be pretty easy to set yourself up so you didn't have to use a car very often.
What you probably won't like is the broader area. Gainesville itself is a moderate to liberal town (though, being still a southern college town, probably churchier than either of you might be used to). But north Florida outside of Gainesville and Jacksonville and maybe Ocala is stereotypical southern rurality. Very conservative, often deeply racist, suspicious of outsiders, stricken with seemingly incurable poverty, ignorant... it's a bad scene. Painful to drive through on several levels.
What you might like is the broader area. On the one hand, there's no mountains or anything like that. But a lot of north Florida is really quite lovely in a low-key sort of way. There are good nature preserves in the area -- Paynes Prairie south of town is really kind of surprising, Devil's Millhopper is a big hole in the ground, and north Florida is *littered* with beautiful, beautiful springs and spring-fed rivers. Going down the Itchetucknee is a big-ass inner tube... man, that's some good times. And you're not far from either the Gulf coast (though not many beaches around there) or the Atlantic. The usual beaches for Gainesvillians -- Anastasia Island, St. Augustine, or Crescent Beach -- are also pretty low-key places. The sorts of beaches where (as of a few years ago) there were still one-family houses on the beach and small low-rise condo developments, all back behind the dune lines, not big hotel after big hotel.
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 12:11 PM on June 3, 2010
I went to high school there (graduated 88, go canes) and am back from time to time to visit family.
Myself, you could not pay me enough to go back there. While I have some fond memories of it, sometimes, the town just seems to be cheaper and tawdrier every time I go.
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 12:13 PM on June 3, 2010
Myself, you could not pay me enough to go back there. While I have some fond memories of it, sometimes, the town just seems to be cheaper and tawdrier every time I go.
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 12:13 PM on June 3, 2010
Seconding ROU's description of the surrounding area. Beautiful in places, but the people there are out of this world.
Watch Errol Morris' Vernon, Florida for a primer. Vernon is actually in the Panhandle, so they're more of "real South," but you'll get the idea.
posted by Threeway Handshake at 12:14 PM on June 3, 2010
Watch Errol Morris' Vernon, Florida for a primer. Vernon is actually in the Panhandle, so they're more of "real South," but you'll get the idea.
posted by Threeway Handshake at 12:14 PM on June 3, 2010
Moving to Florida is going to be a major shock. Compared to a big northeastern city, there is little to do. Most medium-sized Florida cities have no dining culture-- expect mostly chain restaurants a la Applebees, Olive Garden, etc.
Unless Gainesville is a liberal hotbed that I haven't heard about, there will be a lot of people who non-ironically listen to Rush, Hannity, and Beck. I grew up in Central Florida, and I honestly thought "Democrat" was a mean name that you called someone you didn't like.
Worst, IMO, is the weather. Someone coming from NoCal is going to be gobsmacked. It's not just the heat and humidity-- it's that it lasts so long. You're ready for it to be over in September, but it generally stays hot and muggy into November (December, if you're further south than Gainesville). When we moved to Florida from Oregon, I remember feeling so drained by the humidity that I could hardly move.
Counter to all of the above, I do love Florida, but only because I grew up here and it feels like home. If I were coming from somewhere outside the South, I would be miserable.
My advice: come only if you have a fantastic job lined up. Rent, don't buy, so you don't feel stuck if you decide Florida's not for you.
Yes, I do have regrets, why do you ask?
posted by cereselle at 12:22 PM on June 3, 2010
Unless Gainesville is a liberal hotbed that I haven't heard about, there will be a lot of people who non-ironically listen to Rush, Hannity, and Beck. I grew up in Central Florida, and I honestly thought "Democrat" was a mean name that you called someone you didn't like.
Worst, IMO, is the weather. Someone coming from NoCal is going to be gobsmacked. It's not just the heat and humidity-- it's that it lasts so long. You're ready for it to be over in September, but it generally stays hot and muggy into November (December, if you're further south than Gainesville). When we moved to Florida from Oregon, I remember feeling so drained by the humidity that I could hardly move.
Counter to all of the above, I do love Florida, but only because I grew up here and it feels like home. If I were coming from somewhere outside the South, I would be miserable.
My advice: come only if you have a fantastic job lined up. Rent, don't buy, so you don't feel stuck if you decide Florida's not for you.
Yes, I do have regrets, why do you ask?
posted by cereselle at 12:22 PM on June 3, 2010
To toss in my two cents:
I live in NYC now but my family lived in Gainesville a few years back and I have visited since and have many friends who go to UF. I would say that a car is necessary. You could make do with a bike but it gets extremely warm and it would be impractical for group outings and groceries, etc. I would highly recommend a car. It could also benefit you to visit neighboring areas, take trips around the state, etc.
Also, it's small. There just aren't a lot of things to do and it's not that close to any water and it is a university town highly rooted in local culture. People know each other from high school, have lived there a long time, and/or are involved or connected to the university system in one way or another. I think it's southern in a local kind of way but not meaningfully southern in a cultural way. In addition, southern culture is different. You may like it, you may not. I like it generally but sometimes I get caught up on various things.
I too am pretty outdoorsy and I lived in Tampa for a while time as well (and my family still does) and I enjoy running outside (even in the heat), swimming outside, and cycling on roads and I adored the local Y (all in Tampa). I don't know if this matches your interests as well but it is possible to do these kinds of things in Gainesville. The things that I imagine would be more difficult would be doing a post college team sport, and just meeting people in general. It's a small place. I wouldn't mind or detest living there for a year or two, but in the long run I would need something that felt a little bit less isolated. I'm okay with small towns but in Gainesville I always felt isolated.
I would also like to add that I have spent several years living in northern cities. Please feel free to ask me any specific questions.
posted by afterdark at 12:22 PM on June 3, 2010
I live in NYC now but my family lived in Gainesville a few years back and I have visited since and have many friends who go to UF. I would say that a car is necessary. You could make do with a bike but it gets extremely warm and it would be impractical for group outings and groceries, etc. I would highly recommend a car. It could also benefit you to visit neighboring areas, take trips around the state, etc.
Also, it's small. There just aren't a lot of things to do and it's not that close to any water and it is a university town highly rooted in local culture. People know each other from high school, have lived there a long time, and/or are involved or connected to the university system in one way or another. I think it's southern in a local kind of way but not meaningfully southern in a cultural way. In addition, southern culture is different. You may like it, you may not. I like it generally but sometimes I get caught up on various things.
I too am pretty outdoorsy and I lived in Tampa for a while time as well (and my family still does) and I enjoy running outside (even in the heat), swimming outside, and cycling on roads and I adored the local Y (all in Tampa). I don't know if this matches your interests as well but it is possible to do these kinds of things in Gainesville. The things that I imagine would be more difficult would be doing a post college team sport, and just meeting people in general. It's a small place. I wouldn't mind or detest living there for a year or two, but in the long run I would need something that felt a little bit less isolated. I'm okay with small towns but in Gainesville I always felt isolated.
I would also like to add that I have spent several years living in northern cities. Please feel free to ask me any specific questions.
posted by afterdark at 12:22 PM on June 3, 2010
To put the whole "Gainesville is a college town" into perspective, the city itself is counted as having about 120,000 residents, if you count the surrounding metro area, that figure rises to about 250,000. The University of Florida has a student population of about 50,000. Anyway you slice and dice those numbers, the fact remains that Gainesville is essentially a university with some extra housing. Now, aside from passing through a few times and checking out UF for grad school, I haven't really spent any appreciable amount of time in the city, but I have spent a good amount of time in Athens, which is another Southern city with a similar town-to-university population ratio. If the two are at all alike you should expect all work and play to revolve around the university, a pretty sweet local music/arts scene, a quaint historic downtown area, your fair share of frat boy douchbaggery, and for the place to turn into a ghost town during the summer -- a scary ghost town too, as central Florida is not exactly brimming over with cosmopolitan natives.
As for car-free living, I think it depends on what your acceptable limits of walking/biking are. If you're standing in the dead center of the city, 5 miles in any direction will pretty much take you past the city limits. Having lived car free in Atlanta for the past two years, I would say that's a pretty acceptable biking radius. Of course, I also live in the center of much larger and denser city, with a much more extensive public transportation system, and with friends to bum rides off, so YMMV. Wikipedia does mention that Gainesville has a pretty high percentage (~5%) of people who velo-commute to work. Also, as you note, Florida is stupidly hot.
I should mention (as others have), that the people I know who went to school there have almost universally reviled the place. I suppose it all comes down to why you'd be moving there, though.
posted by Panjandrum at 12:36 PM on June 3, 2010
As for car-free living, I think it depends on what your acceptable limits of walking/biking are. If you're standing in the dead center of the city, 5 miles in any direction will pretty much take you past the city limits. Having lived car free in Atlanta for the past two years, I would say that's a pretty acceptable biking radius. Of course, I also live in the center of much larger and denser city, with a much more extensive public transportation system, and with friends to bum rides off, so YMMV. Wikipedia does mention that Gainesville has a pretty high percentage (~5%) of people who velo-commute to work. Also, as you note, Florida is stupidly hot.
I should mention (as others have), that the people I know who went to school there have almost universally reviled the place. I suppose it all comes down to why you'd be moving there, though.
posted by Panjandrum at 12:36 PM on June 3, 2010
I only lived in Gainesville for about a month and it was under bad and stressful circumstances, so I am biased negatively. Traffic congestion is truly astonishing for how small the city is. There are lots of homeless people in Gainesville. The weather will be a difficult transition from the climates of CA and the northeast.
That said, I think the geography of rural FL is really beautiful, and the state has a diverse landscape (gorgeous beaches, hills, swamps, tropical islands, lots of lakes). Personally, I thrive in the heat and humidity (must be my hispanic blood) and I really ENJOYED that it rained every afternoon in the summer.
Plus, since the entire town is dependent on the university, your job will probably be stable (if you're coming for a job). If you're coming to attend UF, I have several friends who did undergrad there and all pretty much enjoyed it, though it's a big "bro" party school, as mentioned above.
Good luck!
PS - you will need a car to not hate living there.
posted by funfetti at 1:55 PM on June 3, 2010
That said, I think the geography of rural FL is really beautiful, and the state has a diverse landscape (gorgeous beaches, hills, swamps, tropical islands, lots of lakes). Personally, I thrive in the heat and humidity (must be my hispanic blood) and I really ENJOYED that it rained every afternoon in the summer.
Plus, since the entire town is dependent on the university, your job will probably be stable (if you're coming for a job). If you're coming to attend UF, I have several friends who did undergrad there and all pretty much enjoyed it, though it's a big "bro" party school, as mentioned above.
Good luck!
PS - you will need a car to not hate living there.
posted by funfetti at 1:55 PM on June 3, 2010
Some of my family lives in Florida, and I have been driven through Gainesville. I would not want to repeat the trip. Living without a car would be virtually impossible, and I saw a disturbing number of homeless on the streets. The other thing I noticed was the massive congestion: it seemed to take forever to leave. That's virtually all I remember, and I like to vacation in Florida.
posted by StrikeTheViol at 2:23 PM on June 3, 2010
posted by StrikeTheViol at 2:23 PM on June 3, 2010
Okay, I currently live in Gainesville and have for the past 12 years. In terms of how liberal the city is I'd say it's on par with Austin. The city itself is quite liberal.. though it sits in a conservative state. However, the city is much smaller than Austin with very little in the way of a young-professional, singles scene.
Yes, Gainesville is primarily a college town. However, there are a large number of what I call "real people" here. That is non-college students. There are a number of strong alternative groups/cultures in town:
1. There is a strong music scene. The city has a 3 or so day punk festival during October called The Fest (last years website: http://www.thefestfl.com/fest8/). An active low-power FM station (http://www.wgot.org/). And many, many local bands. Two places with lots of live shows are Common Grounds & The Atlantic.
2. There are also a number of groups interested in local/sustainable food types of issues. We are building a co-op right now (http://www.citizensco-op.com/)! An awesome farmer's market downtown on Wed afternoons and several others throughout the week. There's also a Slow Foods chapter though that has slowed recently. Oh, and a locally owned, independent grocery store - Wards. My favorite grocery store ever. Part southern, part health food crunchy.
3. There are tons of local restaurants for a city its size. See http://www.nosoupforyou.com/ for a list. These are all locally-owned, independent restaurants. Many are great. Some aren't so check Yelp for reviews :) A bonus is that both food & drinks are cheap because it is a college town.
4. Also lots of environmental activism & outdoor activities. Lots of older hippies live in the area and keep the Sierra Club running though it could use some new blood. I run the entire year and have bike commuted for the past 4 years. Next year I'll ride the bus because I'll finally live on a bus route. The local running & biking clubs are quite active. Kayaking in the area is awesome!
In terms of living completely carless. Yes, possible. I have always ridden my bike to work or school. All 12 months of the year. Summer is hot but not horrible in the morning. The way home you end up drenched - either it rained, or you're super sweaty. If you live in the Duckpond you are close to downtown (= restaurants & bars) and close to grocery stores, etc. However, if you don't have a car you'll be missing out on a big part of the allure of North Central Florida - the outdoors! Someone else mentioned the Springs. They really are everywhere around the area (http://springsfever.org/). And of course, the beach. It's an hour and a half to St. Augustine. A beautiful and quiet beach. And ROU_Xenophobe the beaches near St. Augustine are still filled with single family homes set behind the dunes. Additionally, if you ever want to explore Florida you'll be pretty limited. Public transit within Florida is non-existant though they are developing a high-speed train from Tampa to Orlando.
Okay, those are the things I know about because those are the things I'm interested in.. Any other questions let me know!
posted by newsomz at 2:42 PM on June 3, 2010 [3 favorites]
Yes, Gainesville is primarily a college town. However, there are a large number of what I call "real people" here. That is non-college students. There are a number of strong alternative groups/cultures in town:
1. There is a strong music scene. The city has a 3 or so day punk festival during October called The Fest (last years website: http://www.thefestfl.com/fest8/). An active low-power FM station (http://www.wgot.org/). And many, many local bands. Two places with lots of live shows are Common Grounds & The Atlantic.
2. There are also a number of groups interested in local/sustainable food types of issues. We are building a co-op right now (http://www.citizensco-op.com/)! An awesome farmer's market downtown on Wed afternoons and several others throughout the week. There's also a Slow Foods chapter though that has slowed recently. Oh, and a locally owned, independent grocery store - Wards. My favorite grocery store ever. Part southern, part health food crunchy.
3. There are tons of local restaurants for a city its size. See http://www.nosoupforyou.com/ for a list. These are all locally-owned, independent restaurants. Many are great. Some aren't so check Yelp for reviews :) A bonus is that both food & drinks are cheap because it is a college town.
4. Also lots of environmental activism & outdoor activities. Lots of older hippies live in the area and keep the Sierra Club running though it could use some new blood. I run the entire year and have bike commuted for the past 4 years. Next year I'll ride the bus because I'll finally live on a bus route. The local running & biking clubs are quite active. Kayaking in the area is awesome!
In terms of living completely carless. Yes, possible. I have always ridden my bike to work or school. All 12 months of the year. Summer is hot but not horrible in the morning. The way home you end up drenched - either it rained, or you're super sweaty. If you live in the Duckpond you are close to downtown (= restaurants & bars) and close to grocery stores, etc. However, if you don't have a car you'll be missing out on a big part of the allure of North Central Florida - the outdoors! Someone else mentioned the Springs. They really are everywhere around the area (http://springsfever.org/). And of course, the beach. It's an hour and a half to St. Augustine. A beautiful and quiet beach. And ROU_Xenophobe the beaches near St. Augustine are still filled with single family homes set behind the dunes. Additionally, if you ever want to explore Florida you'll be pretty limited. Public transit within Florida is non-existant though they are developing a high-speed train from Tampa to Orlando.
Okay, those are the things I know about because those are the things I'm interested in.. Any other questions let me know!
posted by newsomz at 2:42 PM on June 3, 2010 [3 favorites]
I will chime in to say that I've lived in Gainesville for six years without a car, and it can be done. The local bus system here, RTS, is partially subsidized by the university, and anyone with a university ID card can ride it without paying a fare. By the standards of larger cities or other countries, Gainesville's public transit options will not knock your socks off -- but by Florida standards, RTS is amazing. There are often drunk homeless people throwing up on the back seats, but by and large, RTS is reliable and safe. However, RTS offers severely curtailed service on the weekends and during the summer, so if you need to go anywhere on Sunday after 4 p.m., or if you live beyond the urban bounds of RTS' routes, you're out of luck.
I think a lot of crunchy people here have a "back-up" car and then just try to bike/walk/bus as much as possible. I have gone completely car-less, and it can be done, but I think most people choose not to do it.
If you're looking for places to live -- East Gainesville has the reputation for a greater degree of poverty and crime, whereas West Gainesville is where the university is located and where most of the students live.
(Caveat: I am moving in two months, and the thought of leaving Gainesville is not filling my heart with sorrow, but I haven't minded living here.)
posted by cabezadevaca at 2:44 PM on June 3, 2010
I think a lot of crunchy people here have a "back-up" car and then just try to bike/walk/bus as much as possible. I have gone completely car-less, and it can be done, but I think most people choose not to do it.
If you're looking for places to live -- East Gainesville has the reputation for a greater degree of poverty and crime, whereas West Gainesville is where the university is located and where most of the students live.
(Caveat: I am moving in two months, and the thought of leaving Gainesville is not filling my heart with sorrow, but I haven't minded living here.)
posted by cabezadevaca at 2:44 PM on June 3, 2010
I was born in Gainesville and moved away when I was little. Almost all of my extended family lives there so I've been going back 3-4 times a year for my whole life. I also lived there a couple of years ago while working on a Master's degree. Most of the people I hung out with were crunchy liberal arts students who didn't own cars and did just fine. There is a large, well-developed bus system, but it can be crowded and traffic generally grinds to a standstill during commuting hours. My uncle bikes to work every day, and various cousins of mine also bike to school and work. I do suggest having a car for two reasons: 1) the weather can be pretty gross during the summer and Gainesville is affected by hurricanes. You may not want to wait at a bus station or try to bike during heavy rain. 2) You will probably want to be able to visit the beach and other cities nearby and get out of the bubble for a bit.
As for the people, I'd say it's pretty moderate inside of Gainesville but gets traditional/conservative as soon as you get out of the city limits. ROU_Xenophobe is correct that there are problems with racism in the area, but I don't think it's too much worse than you would see in any other rural southern area (and I have lived in much more racially tense areas). Gainesville suffers from a legacy of segregation that can still be seen in the local high schools, for example. I'm not sure how much of this you'd notice just moving there, though.
Some things I loved about Gainesville: I actually grew to appreciate sports more (being there in the Tebow years didn't hurt :). The beauty of the land astonishes me. Gainesville has really strict laws about trees and signage so the city is more green than most. The spring rivers are gorgeous and very refreshing on a hot day. They have a very nice natural history museum and art museum- they also have a nice art/music scene including two art festivals a year. I also agree with newsomz on the food! I really, really miss the diversity of restaurants there and the farmer's market is pretty awesome. I think you'll like Gainesville even more because of the people who live there. Maybe I just got lucky, but I met some of the most interesting, talented, brilliant people there and I miss them a lot.
posted by Mouse Army at 3:02 PM on June 3, 2010
As for the people, I'd say it's pretty moderate inside of Gainesville but gets traditional/conservative as soon as you get out of the city limits. ROU_Xenophobe is correct that there are problems with racism in the area, but I don't think it's too much worse than you would see in any other rural southern area (and I have lived in much more racially tense areas). Gainesville suffers from a legacy of segregation that can still be seen in the local high schools, for example. I'm not sure how much of this you'd notice just moving there, though.
Some things I loved about Gainesville: I actually grew to appreciate sports more (being there in the Tebow years didn't hurt :). The beauty of the land astonishes me. Gainesville has really strict laws about trees and signage so the city is more green than most. The spring rivers are gorgeous and very refreshing on a hot day. They have a very nice natural history museum and art museum- they also have a nice art/music scene including two art festivals a year. I also agree with newsomz on the food! I really, really miss the diversity of restaurants there and the farmer's market is pretty awesome. I think you'll like Gainesville even more because of the people who live there. Maybe I just got lucky, but I met some of the most interesting, talented, brilliant people there and I miss them a lot.
posted by Mouse Army at 3:02 PM on June 3, 2010
I grew up in a town 30 minutes south of Gainesville (Ocala) and thought Gainesville was super-cool, but then I lived there for a year after college.
(As of 2004) There is very good, cheap food like The Top and Chopstix and very pretty parks like Devil's Milhopper, but the people there are strangely clique-ish and protective of whatever scenes they've got. We didn't make any new friends there at all and were happy to leave after a year.
In my experience, Austin is a bigger, funner, friendlier, slightly less green version of Gainesville with much more opportunity. Gainesville employment opps dont go much further than UF and Shands Hospital. I think you might not like Gainesville if you are from bigger cities.
posted by ejoey at 3:35 PM on June 3, 2010
(As of 2004) There is very good, cheap food like The Top and Chopstix and very pretty parks like Devil's Milhopper, but the people there are strangely clique-ish and protective of whatever scenes they've got. We didn't make any new friends there at all and were happy to leave after a year.
In my experience, Austin is a bigger, funner, friendlier, slightly less green version of Gainesville with much more opportunity. Gainesville employment opps dont go much further than UF and Shands Hospital. I think you might not like Gainesville if you are from bigger cities.
posted by ejoey at 3:35 PM on June 3, 2010
I think one of the things I've found that happens in Florida but perhaps not as much in California or the Northeast are the rainstorms.
Florida's approach to rain seems to get it all done and over with in 30 minutes. So you will have beautiful weather (or slightly cloudy humid awful weather), walk for 5 minutes, and find yourself in an unexpected downpour. Soak-you-to-the-bone-in-30-seconds downpour. Across the street it may be sunny. You'll then run into a building to get out of the rain, have a coffee or stare at the various goods in the store and the rain will have finished and it will be blazing sun again. And then the sun will evaporate all of the water off of the roads and sidewalks and you will feel like you are in a steam room.
During the right seasons this will happen about twice a day, around 9ish and 4:30ish.
posted by that girl at 5:44 PM on June 3, 2010 [3 favorites]
Florida's approach to rain seems to get it all done and over with in 30 minutes. So you will have beautiful weather (or slightly cloudy humid awful weather), walk for 5 minutes, and find yourself in an unexpected downpour. Soak-you-to-the-bone-in-30-seconds downpour. Across the street it may be sunny. You'll then run into a building to get out of the rain, have a coffee or stare at the various goods in the store and the rain will have finished and it will be blazing sun again. And then the sun will evaporate all of the water off of the roads and sidewalks and you will feel like you are in a steam room.
During the right seasons this will happen about twice a day, around 9ish and 4:30ish.
posted by that girl at 5:44 PM on June 3, 2010 [3 favorites]
I'm tipsy, so I've only read as far as desjardins' comments, but hers feels off to me.
I've lived in Gainesville for three years. I moved here for graduate school. It is an extremely crunchy place, pretty easy to live without a car if you live near the center of town--the best areas are either the Duckpond neighborhood (which is just east of the crosshairs between University and Main) or the Pleasant Street neighborhood (just west of said crosshairs, where I've lived for the three years I've been a Florida resident). If you're looking for rentals, I'd love to hook you up with my landlord, who owns a whole bunch of old, charming victorian houses within walking distance to great coffee (Volta), cuban food (flacos), bars (the top, the wine and cheese gallery), not to mention a local farmer's market and the best [public library ever, which has no late fees. Pretty easy to live without a car--but better with one. Everything important is concentrated in the central two miles or so of town (ignore rentals further out--seriously!), but if you, say, want to go to ward's (awesome local supermarket) or payne's prairie (awesome local buffalo) you'll have to drive.
The heat is . . . hot. Florida is hot in a way that you can't really think of otherwise. Expect bad hair and bad zits, which I never got anyplace else. I walk everywhere, but I'm in the minority, and I shower twice a day in August. Right now, it's my favorite gainesville season, where there are amazing thunderstorms every afternoon. But fall and spring are pretty amazing, too. You don't get sharp autumn crispness, but you'll be outside sometimes and look at the thunderheads and feel the perfect weather and see the swallows crossing overhead and think, "Man, I really do live in paradise."
Undergrads are conservative, in my experience (ie, teaching them). Everyone else IN Gainesville is very liberal.
The worst part of Gainesville, in my experience, is that it's essentially an island. I mean, Florida seems full of these little city islands. Drive past Micanopy (where you'll find the BEST pizza in the world, Blue Highway) and it's two hours to anything exciting. Expect to drive two hours in any direction to get out of Gainesville--but often, you don't even need to. There's enough happening in town that you don't often need to leave.
Oh, I hear what cereselle is saying in theory, but Gainesville itself is nothing like the rest of N Florida in terms of restaurants. There ARE chains, but there are also redonkulous local restaurants here: the aforementioned blue highway, satchels, thai food, decent sushi, a buncha tapas places, boca fiesta (mexican food owned by the dudes from against me!). The basic primer for Gainesville food is nosoupforyou.com. I'm a huge foodie. I've been very, very happy here.
I'm moving soon, but I'm sad about it. And I'm a so-liberal-I'm-pretty-much-socialist atheist bi chick. If it's any enticement, here are some photos I took in my neighborhood during my first year here. Really pretty, special place which will always be close to my heart. I also realize that, thanks to tonight's wine and whiskey, this is surely incomprehensible. Feel free to MeMail me if you have any questions.
posted by PhoBWanKenobi at 7:10 PM on June 3, 2010 [3 favorites]
I've lived in Gainesville for three years. I moved here for graduate school. It is an extremely crunchy place, pretty easy to live without a car if you live near the center of town--the best areas are either the Duckpond neighborhood (which is just east of the crosshairs between University and Main) or the Pleasant Street neighborhood (just west of said crosshairs, where I've lived for the three years I've been a Florida resident). If you're looking for rentals, I'd love to hook you up with my landlord, who owns a whole bunch of old, charming victorian houses within walking distance to great coffee (Volta), cuban food (flacos), bars (the top, the wine and cheese gallery), not to mention a local farmer's market and the best [public library ever, which has no late fees. Pretty easy to live without a car--but better with one. Everything important is concentrated in the central two miles or so of town (ignore rentals further out--seriously!), but if you, say, want to go to ward's (awesome local supermarket) or payne's prairie (awesome local buffalo) you'll have to drive.
The heat is . . . hot. Florida is hot in a way that you can't really think of otherwise. Expect bad hair and bad zits, which I never got anyplace else. I walk everywhere, but I'm in the minority, and I shower twice a day in August. Right now, it's my favorite gainesville season, where there are amazing thunderstorms every afternoon. But fall and spring are pretty amazing, too. You don't get sharp autumn crispness, but you'll be outside sometimes and look at the thunderheads and feel the perfect weather and see the swallows crossing overhead and think, "Man, I really do live in paradise."
Undergrads are conservative, in my experience (ie, teaching them). Everyone else IN Gainesville is very liberal.
The worst part of Gainesville, in my experience, is that it's essentially an island. I mean, Florida seems full of these little city islands. Drive past Micanopy (where you'll find the BEST pizza in the world, Blue Highway) and it's two hours to anything exciting. Expect to drive two hours in any direction to get out of Gainesville--but often, you don't even need to. There's enough happening in town that you don't often need to leave.
Oh, I hear what cereselle is saying in theory, but Gainesville itself is nothing like the rest of N Florida in terms of restaurants. There ARE chains, but there are also redonkulous local restaurants here: the aforementioned blue highway, satchels, thai food, decent sushi, a buncha tapas places, boca fiesta (mexican food owned by the dudes from against me!). The basic primer for Gainesville food is nosoupforyou.com. I'm a huge foodie. I've been very, very happy here.
I'm moving soon, but I'm sad about it. And I'm a so-liberal-I'm-pretty-much-socialist atheist bi chick. If it's any enticement, here are some photos I took in my neighborhood during my first year here. Really pretty, special place which will always be close to my heart. I also realize that, thanks to tonight's wine and whiskey, this is surely incomprehensible. Feel free to MeMail me if you have any questions.
posted by PhoBWanKenobi at 7:10 PM on June 3, 2010 [3 favorites]
for the place to turn into a ghost town during the summer -- a scary ghost town too, as central Florida is not exactly brimming over with cosmopolitan natives.
Skimming the other comments now--I love Gainesville during the summer, unabashedly. It's quiet and peaceful and the downtown isn't filled with untz untz untz undergrads every Saturday night, but the crunchy hippy locals/professionals will still be around. Agreeing that, yes, the homeless are a problem here generally. But I live near downtown and haven't had any problems personally with, say, crime affecting me directly in the time I've been here.
posted by PhoBWanKenobi at 7:19 PM on June 3, 2010
Skimming the other comments now--I love Gainesville during the summer, unabashedly. It's quiet and peaceful and the downtown isn't filled with untz untz untz undergrads every Saturday night, but the crunchy hippy locals/professionals will still be around. Agreeing that, yes, the homeless are a problem here generally. But I live near downtown and haven't had any problems personally with, say, crime affecting me directly in the time I've been here.
posted by PhoBWanKenobi at 7:19 PM on June 3, 2010
Gainesville is meaningfully Southern. Yes, the presence of the University means there are lots of left-leaning transients, but they rarely vote in significant numbers, even though their numbers could really impact this region. It's very religious (Southern Baptist - generally no games or events on Wednesday nights) and "socially conservative" in the way that southern Florida (Orlando/Tampa on down) is not.
Gainesville appears to have a lot of ethnic diversity, but there is little evident solidarity between the privileged students of color and the Florida blacks and Mexicans who live here full time. This translates to a fair amount of friction between townies and anybody who looks like University. Since UF is looking to reduce its obligation to Florida students in favor of rich kids from out of state, look for that to get worse.
Another thing that drives me insane about the University is the poor quality of services in town, owing to the endless stream of wealthy consumers with short memories. Most of the mechanics in Gainesville have been corrupted by the lure of easy money from students whose parents are paying to fix the car, so they don't care how much it costs or whether it was diagnosed right in the first place. If you live here permanently and have a car that needs fixing, you will drive 30 miles or more to Melrose or Chiefland or LaCrosse or even Ocala to meet a mechanic who doesn't know what a meal ticket UF students are.
My impression from people who've been here a long time is that Gainesville was a lot, lot nicer before Danny Rolling got here. After the murders, a lot of people who were actively invested in the ongoing liveability of Gainesville gave up and moved on, leaving developers to run wild.
What will I miss when I leave? Paynes Prairie, San Felasco, springs in every direction, for swimming and just looking into, awesome paddling rivers from Suwannee to Waccasassa, the Marjorie Harris Carr Cross Florida Greenway, Wacahoota Road, the 34th Street Wall, The Hippodrome, Common Grounds, Caribbean Queen, NW8th Ave. and the Westside Rec Center, GHS basketball.
Oh, and can you rock Gainesville without a car? Maybe if you're a really hardcore biker or bus rider, but then how will you get to the springs?
posted by toodleydoodley at 9:26 PM on June 3, 2010 [1 favorite]
Gainesville appears to have a lot of ethnic diversity, but there is little evident solidarity between the privileged students of color and the Florida blacks and Mexicans who live here full time. This translates to a fair amount of friction between townies and anybody who looks like University. Since UF is looking to reduce its obligation to Florida students in favor of rich kids from out of state, look for that to get worse.
Another thing that drives me insane about the University is the poor quality of services in town, owing to the endless stream of wealthy consumers with short memories. Most of the mechanics in Gainesville have been corrupted by the lure of easy money from students whose parents are paying to fix the car, so they don't care how much it costs or whether it was diagnosed right in the first place. If you live here permanently and have a car that needs fixing, you will drive 30 miles or more to Melrose or Chiefland or LaCrosse or even Ocala to meet a mechanic who doesn't know what a meal ticket UF students are.
My impression from people who've been here a long time is that Gainesville was a lot, lot nicer before Danny Rolling got here. After the murders, a lot of people who were actively invested in the ongoing liveability of Gainesville gave up and moved on, leaving developers to run wild.
What will I miss when I leave? Paynes Prairie, San Felasco, springs in every direction, for swimming and just looking into, awesome paddling rivers from Suwannee to Waccasassa, the Marjorie Harris Carr Cross Florida Greenway, Wacahoota Road, the 34th Street Wall, The Hippodrome, Common Grounds, Caribbean Queen, NW8th Ave. and the Westside Rec Center, GHS basketball.
Oh, and can you rock Gainesville without a car? Maybe if you're a really hardcore biker or bus rider, but then how will you get to the springs?
posted by toodleydoodley at 9:26 PM on June 3, 2010 [1 favorite]
I went to high school in Gainesville, got out of town and came back mostly to visit my family. I didn't miss it while I was gone, but a few months ago I moved back pretty unexpectedly due to family problems. The circumstances for being here are pretty stressful and I miss the mountains and close-knit community and environmental job opportunities I left behind, but I've been pleasantly surprised by my experience so far, but like I said I've only recently come to live here as an adult.
Things I like: The Civic Media Center, which hosts a lot of poetry readings, independent film showings, workshops, experimental music groups.
The The Hippodrome which has theater and film showings. I believe they also just hosted a really big drag show in the basement a few weeks ago, as well.
Urban homesteading is actually fairly common in some of the downtown areas. There's quite a few houses, especially downtown, with bees and chickens and gardens. There's also a guerrilla gardening movement here, too. There's several community gardens, including one near the student gardens on campus - a lot of granola folk from all ages hang out there and are pretty keen on showing newcomers some of the local attractions.
I've actually found Gainesville to be pretty bike friendly. There's loads of bike lanes, and you can get to one portion of the beautiful Payne's Prairie via the Hawthorne Trail in about fifteen/twenty minutes from downtown Gainesville. Seriously, a fifteen minute bike ride to tons of alligators and beautiful views of the Prairie is pretty sweet. I have a car, and I use it to drive out to the springs, but I do most of my transit on bike.
There's a lot of good music venues - Boca Fiesta as mentioned above is one of my favorite places.
If you do get a car, get a canoe and a canoe rack to with it. The Santa Fe River is a beautiful place to go canoeing - ton of small springs to stop at and explore and pretty easy to get up and down. An hour or so away is the beautiful Suwanee River.
There's also an ultimate frisbee park, two active women's roller derby teams, tons more parks, a good natural history museum, plenty of amazing restaurants, and nice people.
Drawbacks are: mediocre job market, and a somewhat insular community setting where groups keep to themselves. It takes a little while to get established here, I think, but there's definitely a strong alternative scene, a fair amount of granola and outdoorsy type people (meetup.com has an outdoor adventure group) a really long and excellent growing season, beautiful spring, summer and fall flowers, and a temperature winter punctuated by bouts of citrus, which grows heavily in January and February in counties a little south of here.
A few other things I like: ultimate frisbee parks, karst topography (there's places to do caving nearby, as well as cave diving), two women's roller derby teams, plenty more beautiful (uniquely Florida) parks, and lots of weird eccentric flea markets in the surrounding areas.
posted by ajarbaday at 11:00 PM on June 3, 2010
Things I like: The Civic Media Center, which hosts a lot of poetry readings, independent film showings, workshops, experimental music groups.
The The Hippodrome which has theater and film showings. I believe they also just hosted a really big drag show in the basement a few weeks ago, as well.
Urban homesteading is actually fairly common in some of the downtown areas. There's quite a few houses, especially downtown, with bees and chickens and gardens. There's also a guerrilla gardening movement here, too. There's several community gardens, including one near the student gardens on campus - a lot of granola folk from all ages hang out there and are pretty keen on showing newcomers some of the local attractions.
I've actually found Gainesville to be pretty bike friendly. There's loads of bike lanes, and you can get to one portion of the beautiful Payne's Prairie via the Hawthorne Trail in about fifteen/twenty minutes from downtown Gainesville. Seriously, a fifteen minute bike ride to tons of alligators and beautiful views of the Prairie is pretty sweet. I have a car, and I use it to drive out to the springs, but I do most of my transit on bike.
There's a lot of good music venues - Boca Fiesta as mentioned above is one of my favorite places.
If you do get a car, get a canoe and a canoe rack to with it. The Santa Fe River is a beautiful place to go canoeing - ton of small springs to stop at and explore and pretty easy to get up and down. An hour or so away is the beautiful Suwanee River.
There's also an ultimate frisbee park, two active women's roller derby teams, tons more parks, a good natural history museum, plenty of amazing restaurants, and nice people.
Drawbacks are: mediocre job market, and a somewhat insular community setting where groups keep to themselves. It takes a little while to get established here, I think, but there's definitely a strong alternative scene, a fair amount of granola and outdoorsy type people (meetup.com has an outdoor adventure group) a really long and excellent growing season, beautiful spring, summer and fall flowers, and a temperature winter punctuated by bouts of citrus, which grows heavily in January and February in counties a little south of here.
A few other things I like: ultimate frisbee parks, karst topography (there's places to do caving nearby, as well as cave diving), two women's roller derby teams, plenty more beautiful (uniquely Florida) parks, and lots of weird eccentric flea markets in the surrounding areas.
posted by ajarbaday at 11:00 PM on June 3, 2010
Inside Gainesville (which is small) it's about as left-leaning as North Florida gets.
Step outside Gainesville and it's pretty far in the other direction. Pretty much, no matter what your politics, it's not safe to discuss them with ANYbody unless you know them well.
The left-leaning inside the city makes things interesting. Some examples: the traffic congestion mentioned above is because the city council thinks that keeping roads too small will encourage mass transit use. They've consistently rejected a Super Walmart within the city limits. There's some interesting history with the homeless population that I don't quite have a grasp of. You have to have a permit to cut down any oak, even on your own property (if I understand correctly). There are a lot of low-cost/free county services that I haven't seen in other places I've lived (free counseling, help in getting health insurance for the under-employed, etc).
Being a college town with a medical school means there are a LOT of medical specialists of various kinds. The veterinary school means there's just about every kind of emergency service your pets might need around the clock within easy driving distance.
I find that Gainesville driving is much easier to tolerate than Tampa, Orlando, Miami, Jacksonville. People here actually stop for yellow lights, go the speed limit, and let you over more consistently than in other FL cities I have had to visit regularly. Even so, when my husband was regularly commuting by bike, he had a number of near misses--in the ever-present bike lanes, yet--where vehicle drivers just didn't see him and weren't paying attention. I was very much relieved when he stopped biking.
Another major hazard of living in a college town is the college kids are so sure they have the right of way, they often don't even look before crossing the street. Even the largest streets, off-campus. Not to mention the invincible (or crazy) college kids who do unpredictable things behind the wheel. Still, there are fewer crazy people driving in total, I think, even if it's just that there are fewer people who live in Gainesville.
A hassle of a college town is that good independent businesses keep going under. According to a long-term resident I know, they often don't budget correctly for their customers to entirely dry up over the summer (or even if they do, it's more difficult than they thought it would be), and tend to struggle.
Cost of living here is much less than other places I've lived. Real estate is cheaper, property taxes are less (but going up). On the other hand, job prospects are limited; another long-term resident told me I was the first person he know who'd gotten a job without the benefit of "knowing somebody" to get the interview.
posted by galadriel at 6:00 AM on June 4, 2010
Step outside Gainesville and it's pretty far in the other direction. Pretty much, no matter what your politics, it's not safe to discuss them with ANYbody unless you know them well.
The left-leaning inside the city makes things interesting. Some examples: the traffic congestion mentioned above is because the city council thinks that keeping roads too small will encourage mass transit use. They've consistently rejected a Super Walmart within the city limits. There's some interesting history with the homeless population that I don't quite have a grasp of. You have to have a permit to cut down any oak, even on your own property (if I understand correctly). There are a lot of low-cost/free county services that I haven't seen in other places I've lived (free counseling, help in getting health insurance for the under-employed, etc).
Being a college town with a medical school means there are a LOT of medical specialists of various kinds. The veterinary school means there's just about every kind of emergency service your pets might need around the clock within easy driving distance.
I find that Gainesville driving is much easier to tolerate than Tampa, Orlando, Miami, Jacksonville. People here actually stop for yellow lights, go the speed limit, and let you over more consistently than in other FL cities I have had to visit regularly. Even so, when my husband was regularly commuting by bike, he had a number of near misses--in the ever-present bike lanes, yet--where vehicle drivers just didn't see him and weren't paying attention. I was very much relieved when he stopped biking.
Another major hazard of living in a college town is the college kids are so sure they have the right of way, they often don't even look before crossing the street. Even the largest streets, off-campus. Not to mention the invincible (or crazy) college kids who do unpredictable things behind the wheel. Still, there are fewer crazy people driving in total, I think, even if it's just that there are fewer people who live in Gainesville.
A hassle of a college town is that good independent businesses keep going under. According to a long-term resident I know, they often don't budget correctly for their customers to entirely dry up over the summer (or even if they do, it's more difficult than they thought it would be), and tend to struggle.
Cost of living here is much less than other places I've lived. Real estate is cheaper, property taxes are less (but going up). On the other hand, job prospects are limited; another long-term resident told me I was the first person he know who'd gotten a job without the benefit of "knowing somebody" to get the interview.
posted by galadriel at 6:00 AM on June 4, 2010
are you sure about loving the climate? the only thing in-land Florida's climate has going for it not being completely underwater when the ice caps all melt. The coastal areas have a breeze which helps with the bugs quite a bit...
posted by jrishel at 12:17 PM on June 4, 2010
posted by jrishel at 12:17 PM on June 4, 2010
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by JMOZ at 11:25 AM on June 3, 2010