Gainesville

Recreational opportunities in Gainesville and Alachua County include kayaking, spring and cave scuba diving, river rafting, golf, numerous hiking and cycling trails through lush forests filled with animals (pick up a map at our office), bird watching (especially in winter), and simply exploring the spectacular University of Florida campus on foot or bicycle. The Gulf of Mexico and Cedar Key are 50 miles west of town; Saint Augustine on the Atlantic Ocean is 80 miles east.

Cultural activities on campus and around Gainesville and in nearby towns include plays, concerts, guest speakers, conferences, expos, and festivals.

There are hundreds of sporting events at the University of Florida each year, and NHRA drag racing at the Gainesville Raceway.

Some facts about Gainesville, Florida:
• Gainesville’s Santa Fe Community College is the largest community college in the U.S. - 12,000 students.
• The year round population within the city limits is 110,000; the population of the metropolitan area is 240,000.
• Gainesville has one of the highest ratios of runners by population in the U.S.
• Gainesville is widely recognized as one of the best places in the U.S. for active retirees.
• Tom Petty grew up and Gainesville. "Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers" (originally "Mudcrutch") was founded in Gainesville.
• Gatorade was invented in Gainesville at the University of Florida.
• On the southern edge of the city there is a natural grassy wilderness area 6 miles across called "Paynes Prairie" where free roaming wild bison (American buffalo) graze.
• Other natural attractions include city and state parks, springs, nature trails, close proximity to the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico, numerous species of wildlife including the aforementioned bison herd, manatees, alligators, and overwintering birds from all points north including the sand hill crane.
• Gainesville is a heavily treed “city in the forest”, with rolling hills and numerous spring-fed white-sand creeks running through deep ravines. Gainesville is the southernmost city in the United States where deciduous hardwood trees predominate. There is an abundance of summer shade. Many residential streets are covered by a stately canopy of arcing tree branches.
• The deciduous trees are covered with lush greenery from early March through late October. About half the trees are evergreen including tall pines, palms, and live oaks with branches heavily laced with Spanish moss and covered with ferns, the thick branches spreading wide in all directions. There is some fall color in November, especially on the dogwoods, tupelos, sweet gums, and maples.
• Gainesville is a “hurricane sanctuary” city. It sits well inland, 170 feet above sea level, and there are thousands hotel beds normal reserved for football and basketball fans where evacuees can sleep.
• Gainesville is known as "end of the South". Starting somewhere just south of Gainesville, there are more "transplants" from other states than native Floridians, so the argument goes that more than half the population south of Gainesville are not native southerners.
• Most of Gainesville's streets are numbered and run North/South or East/West, forming a grid with four quadrants (NW, NE, SW and SE).
• SmartMoney.com ranks Gainesville # 1 place to retire during an economic downturn
• Forbes ranks Gainesville in the top 25 "Smartest cities in America" and in the top 25 "Best places to do business and have a career"
• Popular Science magazine ranks Gainesville "Most Technologically Advanced City in Florida"
• National Geographic Adventure magazine ranks Gainesville among the top 10 "Best places to live and play"
• AARP ranks Gainesville in the top 20 "Best Places to Reinvent Your Life"

Gainesville is considered by locals and many Floridians to be Florida's best kept secret. Gainesville ranked #1 in the newest Sperling's "Cities Ranked & Rated: 400 Metropolitan Areas Evaluated in the U.S. and Canada".

Gainesville's rise to #1 on the list can be largely be attributed to it being an attractive, small city with a gigantic university, warm climate, short commute times, and a low cost of living. Gainesville is home to the University of Florida, one of the five largest universities in the U.S. The presence of a world-class university has a powerful positive impact on a city the size of Gainesville, giving it a stable economy, endless cultural opportunities, and world-class medical facilities.

Gainesville has relatively less suburban sprawl compared to most American cities, but there is some sprawl. The very attractive downtown has been recently "rediscovered". Gentrification and upscale condo development is moving at a rapid pace, especially in the large unofficial historic district between downtown and the University of Florida. There are several downtown B&Bs operating in beautifully restored Victorian-style mansions.

The Northeast Residential, Southeast Residential, and Pleasant Street Historic Districts feature restored Victorian and Queen Anne style residences built in the 1880s and 1890s. Thirteen houses and buildings are on the National Register of Historic Places:

Old Gainesville Depot (1850s)
Bailey Plantation House (1854)
Matheson Center Home (1867)
Epworth Hall (1884)
Cox Furniture Store (1887)
Cox Furniture Warehouse (c. 1890)
Mary Phifer McKenzie House (1895)
Star Garage (1903)
Baird Hardware Company Warehouse (1910)
The Old Post Office (now the Hippodrome State Theatre) (1913)
Masonic Temple (1913)
Thomas Hotel (1928)
Seagle Building (1937), 13 stories, downtown's tallest building

Gainesville has a humid subtropical climate. Summers days are hot and humid with a heavy downpour cooling things down in late afternoon. Spring and fall are long and mild with light to moderate rainfall. The short winters are generally cool, dry, and sunny with many days of cloudless blue sky. Cold temperatures are accompanied by clear skies. Two or three hard freezes occur on average each winter where the nighttime temperature dips into the low 20's Fahrenheit. Rainfall totals around 50 inches per year.