Wife just got a job offer at a teaching hospital there at the University as a Nurse Practitioner.  Can anyone give me some details on the area?  Ive looked at home prices and they seem to be a bit high for a small town but other than that, I dont know crap.  Any info appreciated.

As far as large cities go in this area of Florida... It's okay! It is a liberal bastion and causes the county it's in, Alachua, to be the only speck of blue in a sea of red.

The rural outlying areas are more redneckish and tend to be more conservative.

It's not as crime plagued as other cities in this area as well... Traffic sucks, but again, not as bad as some of the other cities of this size or larger in the area.

I was born and raised in Gainesville, moved out about 18 years ago to a small town and different county, north east of Gainesville... I commute there daily for work and occasionally visit on the weekends for shopping. Still have family there also.

Lots of ARFCOMERS call it and the surrounding area home... Ranges and gun shops are pretty plentiful.



Not sure about home prices, property taxes, etc....

A lot of employees in Alachua county live outside the county.  Marion is just to the south.  Gilchrist and Levy are to the west.  Land is cheaper outside of Alachua.  I live in Marion and my wife works at Shands Competition in Gainesville.  Lot of good things about this area but they call Gainesville the Berkley of the south.

Dan

I Grew up in Gainesville - it is a collage town and to me has grown way too fast.

Lots of places to look at that would be an easy commute into Gainesville - go east and you are in the Melrose - Lake Santa Fe area.

Go north - you are looking at Santa Fe river - Alaucha

Go West can look at High Springs/Fort White - you could even fall into a place that you could deer hunt off of your back porch if you play your cards right - LOL

Red

I haven't lived there in 28 years but it's a college town. Lots of Liberals, lots of places to party. Still, if you are working at Shands, I believe you will have access to the UF recreational facilities which are nice (at least were nice). Once you get outside the city, there is a lot to do and places to go. The beaches are not too far away. Lots of great places to hike, canoe and fish. Jennie Springs is a great place to spend Summer days. Not sure where the best places to shoot are anymore but I am sure others can help with that. I enjoyed my time there.

@Bronze

It's a typical college town. It has been a bit more resilient during economic downturns compared to other larger cities. Property taxes are high compared to other counties, not an issue for renters but if you're buying be sure to determine that figure up front. Check the utility costs as well esp. if you are looking within the city limits.  Along with your home owners insurance rate which tend to be high in FL. Check your auto rates too. Sales tax is 6.25% and there is an additional tax on gasoline so our fuel prices tend to be higher than some other counties. It's a liberal bastion, on any given day there could be BLM or pro-palestinian folks on the corners, the homeless population has grown exponentially in recent years due to the Liberals and they've been trying hard to make it a Sanctuary city. Panhandlers are pretty much everywhere as a result. Crime is about on par with a city of it's size.

There are a lot of parks, various arts in and around Alachua county. Nothing like the major cities like Jax, Tampa, Miami but enough culture to make it appealing. The Hippodrome state theater is a great venue, the Phillips Center for the Performing Arts has several international productions a year.

Summers are long & sweltering with 90%+ humidity everyday so be prepared for the heat and sweat, it's a sauna in the summer which runs from about March thru October. Some non-natives complain about the bugs. Keep this in mind when house shopping too, there are a lot of older & quaint homes that are old technology and the cost to cool & heat them can be high.

I've lived in Alachua which is just 10 miles up the road from Gainesville all my life except for a short stint in Jacksonville. There are plenty of places outside of the city to live depending on how far you're willing to commute. Many people do, some will commute upwards to an hour so that they can live in a more rural area.

Thanks for the input guys.

We will definitely be looking outside the city.  We are from North of Seattle so taxes look to be just over half what they are there.  Taxes here run from 9.5-9.9% and gas prices can stay north of $3.00.  Highest "sin" taxes in the nation here as well.  Can of Copenhagen....$7+ depending on the store.  Booze.....fugetabouit.

We are just waiting for the HR dept. to call the wife today so the negotiations can start on salary.  That will be the catchall.

Ugh......she just got another job offer in Jacksonville.

Commute to J'ville... live in Clay or St. Johns County... Maybe even Nassau.

Wow, great post!
Very helpful as I'm looking at the Gainesville area, too for my retirement.
My friend who lives in Punta Gorda has suggested the Micanopy area.  I plan to look around this spring.  Planning a late '19 move.

I'll do my best to turn the area a little bit redder.

Ive been spending a lot of time on Zillow and it blows me away how cheap a good house and property is there.  The average price we are looking at is 325 to 375.  Here it will get you a 1200sq ft reclamation project of a condemned home on what was once probably a superfund site and about a 7500sq ft lot.

Outside Gainesville......jumping jesus on a pogo stick.  I am foaming at the mouth.  3000-4100 sq ft on 5-10 acres.  I wont be able to gold mine any more but I am sure I can think of something to do with all that property.

I'm retiring from the USAF and we're moving to Florida. Home prices was the major reasons we were looking at the Jacksonville and Tampa areas.

I live in Ocala and work in Gainseville.  It's worth the ride.
Check out "The Sky" 97.3FM.  I think you can listen from the website. Bob Rose has the AM show.

Your new hobby will be wearing out mower blades on bahia grass and sand.

Y'all hurry up and get here so we can stem the blue tide and keep this area of Florida red!

Moved almost 5 years ago from NJ to the Gainesville area. Lived in the NW area of Gainesville for 2 years then moved just outside of Gainesville in the SW area for almost 3 years to try out the country living which we loved. But my son didn't have that many friends since house are far apart and we basically don't have internet. We have been renting and we will be closing on a house in the NW area just outside of Gainesville this coming Wednesday.

As said before, a very blue town but nothing like NJ. Nice area since its about the same drive to either coasts. If you like the out doors there is a lot to do and even more when you're on the water.

G'ville traffic is retarded. The entire city grew way to fast and not enough fore thought in planning. You go from ghetto to gated community in a stones throw. Libtards abound. Like others said you could live in high springs area sant fe river basin is very nice.

J'ville is all the above, but with way more no go areas. Pending on how far your wife wants to travel everyday there are nice little communities around it too.

Looks like we are headed to Gainesville mid June.  Wife accepted the offer at Shands hospital.  We will probably be looking for a place west of town and are planning a recon trip.  As for me, I have put in for a supervisor position with the security team at the same facility.  From what I can tell its a very "hands off" security force.  That will be a good change from the hospital I am at now.  We are pretty much a SWAT/crisis negotiation/facilities/housekeepers/cooks/barista/morgue team and I am tired of fighting with patients, just getting to old for it.  Had a guy try and take my right eye out 2 weeks ago.  Id rather sit back and call PD at this point.

If I cant get that job, I dont have a clue what I'll be doing.  The tattoo policy at 95% of the PD's will keep me from getting hired.  Maybe I'll have to learn how to say "Welcome to Olive Garden, how many in your party?"

I have lived here in Gainesville since 1988.  Reach out when you are settled and I will show you around - including the gun ranges and shops.

West of Gainesville can be rough traffic wise.  Alachua or High Springs is a reasonable commute.

Make sure you are not on GRU for utilities.

As a Nole, I find little I like about Gainesville, except the Beer. Two excellent breweries.
I had a meeting Monday in Alachua and ate lunch in High Springs on the way home. Pretty nice areas. San Felasco is a pretty good bike trail if you're into off road riding.