Learn me... Gainesville/Florida

My roommate/landlord sold his house and closing date is set for mid-late March. I'm starting to get ansy again about where I live, and my job at a Gainesville store is available. I've never lived in the SE part of the US. Hot and Humid summers are fine with me. I'm about a year into my bachelor's degree and I'm not too committed to staying in this area for this school. Single, late 20's, no big attachments, paid well enough, etc. Looking to move more than likely just after the end of this semester, in May. Learn me.

UF, Gainesville Raceway, The FIRM, all of the assosciated bars and restaurants that come with a college town.

Within an hour: Daytona, Ocala Grand prix, Ocala National Forest, the Gulf,

Within a couple hours: Sebring, Orlando, Tampa

No state income tax

Im sure Dyintorace will chime in

There are no pretty coeds at U of F.

Bwwaahahahahahhahahahahhaha.

A fellow grad student friend of mine went from Viet Nam (thinks early 1970s) to a classroom in U of F for his undergrad degree. He said he found it difficult to concentrate.

How old are you maturity wise? Gainesville has very few single people from 25-35 years old. Being in the midst of your bachelor's will give you the opportunity to date lots of 18-21 year olds which can be fun-beauty and unreasonable happiness are fun to be around, but constant talk about how cool prom was and the latest boy bands can get old. Most of the college bars are filled with 19 year olds bouncing off of the walls. That said, the coolest bar is usually the one with your friends at it so if your workplace has a crowd you like where you are your crowd here will probably have a good place to hang out.

The car community is kind of sparse. There are the IMV guys if that's your thing. There is a smallish sport bike community. There's the FSAE stuff. There is of course the drag strip. Several GRM'ers live here and we usually have some goofy project going on so their is always a wrench to turn if you want to.

Big plus-our weather means we can wrench all year long.

Sounds pretty good so far. Keep it coming, you guys are doing a good job convincing me. Going to work on my resume after work tonight. I'd put in for the position, but I'd like to talk with that store manager and everything first.

I lived in Gainesville from 2006 - 2013, from ages 18 - 25. Gainesville is a great place to spend your early 20's, but as I occasionally go back, it still has a lot to offer for those in their mid-late twenties. If you want a watering hole, I would suggest Stubbies & Steins, The Top, and 2nd Street Speakeasy as good places to start. Because of the schools, it is quite diverse; you shouldn't get the "not from 'round hurr" attitude. I imagine that its atmosphere is like all other small college towns big on football.

Gainesville is culturally dense; it has a lot of amenities considering its size. There are a ton of nature parks surrounding the city, some scenic driving roads, a few museums, and a ton of great and affordable restaurants. It is also essentially Florida's mature hippy enclave. It has at least three coffee roasters, a farmer's market just about every day of the week, the cultish Hare Krishna community, LBGT parade, and lots of O stickers. I would call it the best place in Florida to commute by bicycle.

Car culture isn't very strong; the track is isolated on the far north side of town. Few know that it exists aside from "ACRs" (Alachua County Residents, the term for natives and long-term non-students). Families primarily live on the western outskirts of town. Most late twenty-somethings I know are graduate students. Unless you have something lined up, there's not a whole lot of work available, aside from retail, healthcare, & teaching.

There are a ton of places in town to rent, but keep in mind that many properties operate on the August 1st - July 31st lease rotation, simply to align with semester scheduling. However, it will be really easy to find subleases starting in May, since a lot of people graduate with a few months left on their rent. This would be a great opportunity to move to town and find a place that you like once you learn the area.

Rent prices went down a bit starting 6 years ago, since a lot of new rental property construction was completed. It may have gone up by now, but I don't know. The last place I lived, a 1920's 3/1 shotgun house with an amazing front porch, was $725/month.

In reply to Mitchell: lol at "residents"

That's the acronym that I have always heard; what's your version? Rednecks?

In reply to Mitchell: yep, must have gotten more PC over the years.

I could never live in Florida without being within a 5min drive to the beach.....

Careful, you could become the 'host hotel overflow ' for the Challenge.

I moved to Orlando after college and that was the best move I ever made. No more snow and crap weather. I would rather be hot than cold and shoveling a foot of snow. Living in the central part of florida in the summer is always way hotter than being near the coast. No offshore breeze and too much humidity for me so I went west to the suncoast. I love the beaches here and the weather is not as bad in the summer as orlando.

In reply to jonnyd330:

Sarasota/Bradenton also don't suck. I wish I had the time to head down to my uncle's beach house on AMI this year.

My wife and I live about an hour away. Gainesville is high on my list of places to live. If the job market were stronger, we'd already be living there.

MrJoshua wrote: In reply to Mitchell: yep, must have gotten more PC over the years.

It's cheaper - and less prone to hurricane damage - to live in the middle of the state.

MrJoshua wrote: The car community is kind of sparse. There are the IMV guys if that's your thing.

There are few people so annoying and stupid as to be banned from GRM. The IMV guys fall into that tiny special group who have. Coming on a forum and telling all the regulars that they are Bob Costas because they don't street race like you do is a sure way to not make friends. http://www.gainesville.com/article/20110107/ARTICLES/110109651/1169?Title=3-men-accused-of-street-racing#gsc.tab=0

I'm 11 years in to my second stint in Gainesville. Born and raised here through most of high school, and then we (me, my wife and first child) moved back in 2003. I love it here. I echo many of the comments already made, and would add that I have seen a maturing of the town over the past few years. There is a burgeoning innovation economy that shows great promise. The university open an "Innovation Hub" a few years ago and it has spurred a great deal of entrepreneurial endeavors. Gainesville consistently places well on top places to live lists and aspires to even better things. It's a very cool place.