Gainesville has a reputation as a college town with moderate prices relative to most college cities. You can carve out a comfortable lifestyle here on a middle-class salary (like they pay at the University of Florida) and that’s a great thing for a city with the energy and services of a college town. Unlike some super-charged college cities like Cambridge, Berkeley or even Ann Arbor, or Chapel Hill, Gainesville remains a relatively quiet city in terms of cost of living for housing and expenses in general.

For that money, you get some great perks even if you don’t attend the university. World-class speakers, musicians, and a thriving arts scene surround the school, are available to locals, and give you incredible cultural value for your buck.

If you’re coming from the North or West it’s easy to not know that Gainesville ain’t on one of the Florida coasts. So if you’re dreaming of a day at the beach and then a night watching the Gators play ball you’ll be disappointed about that first part. Not being on the coast means you’re going to get hammered with mosquitos and humidity. If you can’t handle the heat, stay out of the Gainesville kitchen. 

Everything In Moderation

LookyLOO Review of Gainesville

As was noted above the lifestyle of Gainesville is culturally interesting as a result of all that goes on around the university. Theater, music, speakers, and some serious sporting events throughout the school year are all available to anyone who lives in the area. While Gainesville has historically had most of its active nightlife near the school, downtown has developed quite a bit in recent years and there is now a pretty active restaurant and bar scene for those who want to steer clear of the university. All that said, if you aren’t a student then much of Gainesville is about families. The school system is strong and even though the city isn’t on the ocean it has amazing fresh-water springs nearby as well as a strong park system for the kiddos to run around when it isn’t too toasty. 

To see what locals get up to for fun in Gainesville check out the [calendar of events](https://www.visitgainesville.com/events/). 

We highly recommend visiting Gainesville and staying in the community in a [VRBO](https://vrbo.com/affiliate/p4JS4ZC) rather than a hotel to get a feel for living among the locals. You can receive discounted fares on travel via our [partnership with Expedia](expedia.com/affiliate/9NZ8LBQ) as well.

Lifestyle

Gainesville tends to be a one-trick pony on jobs. The University of Florida is the largest employer and a lot of the service economy exists to support students. The VA has a big facility there and there are regional administration offices for the state and county here as well so government jobs are big. Outside of that, there are mostly healthcare jobs. Education, government, and health drive most of the job opportunities here so unless you’re working remotely you’re going to need to get work in these industries. 


Worklife

If you’re looking to save dough and live off of the services, social offerings and energy of a major university then it’s a good place to put on your shortlist. 


University Town Vibes

Why You Should Move Here Now?

**JesusChrist-Jr**
6mo ago
🦉🦉🦉🦉

Context is important, where you're coming from/what you're used to, and what you're expecting. I've lived in Florida all my life, in a handful of places. I think Gainesville is one of the best places to live in Florida, in relation to my priorities and values anyway. I like that it has sort of a small town vibe, but still has all of the amenities I need. I appreciate that there is an active community with tons of diverse interests and events going on, and that it's largely a progressive community. I appreciate that the city places an emphasis on preserving natural spaces and maintaining these types of spaces for public use. I also appreciate that the city invests in public services and uses funds to benefit the citizens (I'm sure someone will have a quip for that or some anecdote that says otherwise, but on the whole I think the local government has decent priorities here.) I also appreciate that there is a wide assortment of thriving small businesses, and that the population generally prioritizes supporting them. Cost of living is increasing in recent years, as it is everywhere and especially in Florida, but it's still generally better than other similar size or larger cities in state. I think it's a great place to be a young person, and probably a decent place to raise kids, but if you're in between those phases in your 30s it can be difficult to find your scene and your people. If you're coming here for college, I think it's a great place to be.

For more reviews of what living in Gainesville is like from locals, check out [The Reviews](https://lookyloomove.com/locations/gainesville/reviews).

Reviews of Gainesville from Locals

Lots of neighborhoods for students in Gainesville. Midtown is just north of campus and has lots of older and newer rental properties for students. It also has the strip that is filled with restaurants and bars which feeds directly into downtown if students feel like getting out of the neighborhood. This is also tailgating central so if you want to be where the action is then pick Midtown. 

Sorority Row/South Gainesville and West Gainesville also have good options for students, plenty of apartment rentals and commercial districts of their own but are a bit quieter if you dont’ want to live in tailgate central. 
- Midtown
- Sorority Row/South Gainesville
- West Gainesville


Students

Midtown

Gainesville has put money into making Downtown a better place to live for young professionals. A bunch of new apartment and condo buildings went in and the commercial district got a lot better with new bars and restaurants. You also get the Hippodrome Theater which is the center of culture in Gainesville. Live theater, films, gallery showings, classes and special events nearly every day of the year happen here. If you want to live where you go out, and don’t want to go out with college students, then this is where you start your search. 
- Downtown


Young Professionals

Downtown

Northwest Gainesville is one of the most popular neighborhoods for families. Beautiful streets, lined with pine and oak trees canopy a variety of different housing types. The area is quiet, has tons of trails and a state park so doggos and kiddos are pretty dang happy here. There’s also a robust commercial district with a mix of boutique restaurants and cafes and big brand shopping options. 

Also check out Haile in the southwest corner of Gainesville. It has plenty of different housing options and has a great Village center to create your own little downtown vibe. You get plenty of place to eat, drink and shop in cool boutiques and you only have a 10 minute drive to campus is you work there or 15 minutes to downtown for a night out. 
- Northwest
- Haile 


Families

Northwest

Gainesville

**sirbearus**
6mo ago
🦉🦉🦉🦉

Small town with lots of interesting places to eat.

Lots of great outdoor activities. Cool museums. Several local community theater troops. Major venue for shows but not rock concerts. Close to three major cities that get big rock shows. Cool local music scene. Two gaming stores. Lots of bars. Youthful population. Even our older crowd is youthful. Local gyms galore.

Lots of people who probably share your interests.

**JesusChrist-Jr**
6mo ago
🦉🦉🦉🦉

Context is important, where you're coming from/what you're used to, and what you're expecting. I've lived in Florida all my life, in a handful of places. I think Gainesville is one of the best places to live in Florida, in relation to my priorities and values anyway. I like that it has sort of a small town vibe, but still has all of the amenities I need. I appreciate that there is an active community with tons of diverse interests and events going on, and that it's largely a progressive community. I appreciate that the city places an emphasis on preserving natural spaces and maintaining these types of spaces for public use. I also appreciate that the city invests in public services and uses funds to benefit the citizens (I'm sure someone will have a quip for that or some anecdote that says otherwise, but on the whole I think the local government has decent priorities here.) I also appreciate that there is a wide assortment of thriving small businesses, and that the population generally prioritizes supporting them. Cost of living is increasing in recent years, as it is everywhere and especially in Florida, but it's still generally better than other similar size or larger cities in state. I think it's a great place to be a young person, and probably a decent place to raise kids, but if you're in between those phases in your 30s it can be difficult to find your scene and your people. If you're coming here for college, I think it's a great place to be.

**altarflame**
6mo ago
🦉🦉🦉🦉


Some of this is context. I came from decades in Miami Dade County 6 years ago…. So when I see people complain about crime, high cost of living, or how people drive/traffic, I find it EXTREMELY fucking silly…. Because all of those things are soooooooo much better here vs Miami that there’s no overstating it. I feel INCREDIBLY safe here, including letting my teenagers walk and bike all over by themselves, take transit and learn to drive themselves, etc.

But if I came from the Midwest or something, maybe it would seem super dangerous and expensive? I don’t know, I’ve never been to the Midwest :p

Coming from Miami, it’s really amazing that the parks are clean, the museums are free, and the parking seems super easy (parking is another thing that long time residents bitch about because it’s apparently not as good as it used to be, but again for me comparatively it feels wonderful and like a non-issue).

Some of my favorite things about Gainesville:

-in addition to Books a Million and Book Gallery West, which continue to exist and do well, and the annual AMAZING friends of the library book sale, we’ve had Barnes and Noble AND The Lynx bookstore open, in the last year. So different than what is going on most places!

-tons of rad brunch options

-tons of farmers market options

-planetarium shows are so cheap and easy

-lots of HUGE trees and a fair amount of wildlife all over (I hear so many crazy owls at night, and have seen a fox 3 times since living here!)

**FelicisAstrum**
1y ago
🦉🦉🦉

I live in Gville and have for 10 years.

Cons: -no good jobs except for city, UF, or Shands, unless you can work remote -rent has gone up significantly in the last 5 years. All new construction is "luxury" student housing, which really means its shittily built and they're charging $2k for it. -also regarding rent, many places here rent by the room for students so keep an eye out for that if you don't want that type of living situation -when the students are in town, going anywhere downtown/midtown/archer is a nightmare -when there's a game day, don't expect to go anywhere near the stadium without loads of traffic and careless pedestrians -our electric utility is fucked with debt, you can read about GRU and the recent committee enstated by DeSantis

Pros: -the most beautiful nature I have ever seen. Paynes Prairie, Devils Millhopper, San Felasco(oldest hardwood forest in FL!), and so much more! We have wild bison, wild horses, gators, Sandhill cranes, and all sorts of lovely and cute critters. Easily my favorite part of Gainesville -not far from the ville are multiple freshwater springs and rivers for swimming -we have a good amount of unique locally owned businesses and restaurants for the size of gville. Lots of different types of cuisines are represented here -the arts and music scene is active. We have a huge art fair every year, we have fest, and we have regular artsy things and music shows you can go to if that's your thing -an easy drive to jax, orlando, tampa. I go to Orlando City Soccer games all the time as a day trip -since we have a huge university, the politics of the city are more liberal. Flip side is we are surrounded by lots of conservative folks

Gainesville, Florida

The Swamp

Looklyloo Score: 88