Gainesville from a 30-year resident's perspective
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4/22/2008
Gainesville has pretty regularly been in a number of top 10 or top 100 type lists of US or US/Canada places to live over the past decade or so. In 1995 it was Money Magazine's #1 in USA, and Gainesville was recently selected the #1 city in north America by Cities Ranked and Rated, 2nd edition (2007).
You get Florida living with less hurricane danger, drive to either coast in about 90 minutes. Good health care and schools, including the University of Florida and Santa Fe Community College (which also has upper division degrees via acting as a satellite campus for St. Leo University). Although a town of just over 100 thousand, UF has a Center for the Performing Arts, there is a professional regional theatre (the Hippodrome), Florida's oldest community theatre (Gainesville Community Players) which just opened a new facility a couple years ago, a couple smaller theatres (including Acrosstown Repertory Theatre), a natural history museum and an art museum (on UF campus) and several small private art galleries. The local original music scene is vibrant.
There is a large local international population due to UF (I know, my wife teaches English to them!). Just north of town, and throughout the region a bit further out, are some worldclass springs, tubing (floating down a river in a raft or tire innertube) and cave diving opportunites.
If you are looking for a big city, look elsewhere, but to me Gainesville combines the best cultural attributes of a big city without the big problems like crime, pollution, congestion/overpopulation. If you don't like dealing with college kids, it's not the place for you. Property values have escalated although still not as bad as places further south. Gas prices are high here though.
Brian | Gainesville, FL