Gainesville, Florida

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

7 Things You NEED To Know When Moving To Gainesville Florida