My Observation......

God bless you 'city folk' for staying right where you are.

Things I like about living in the country:

1. In 7 years of living in the mountains, no one has approached me asking for spare change.
2. No traffic.
3. "Crime" = bounced checks.
4. People say "please, thank you," and "excuse me."

Things I miss about the city:

1. Sushi.
2. Autocrossing.

Fortunately, we're only about 50 minutes outside of Atlanta, so trips to the airport/autocrosses aren't too brutal, and good sushi can be had about 25 miles south.

My favorite characteristic about Gainesville is how compact it is.

I do miss Gainesville sometimes. I used to live off of NW 39th Ave., which was out of the way enough that I didn't have to worry about my car getting broken into, or puked on by drunken frat kids, but close enough to clubs that I could go see a show, puke on someone else's car, and walk home.

Plus, the springs were short drive away, which makes for a fun close-to-free afternoon, and the drive to St. Augustine isn't unbearable.

It's funny though, when you go down there, anything that's more than 10 minutes away is "way the hell out..."

Yeah, 39th? That way on the other side from town from me! And yeah, that's about ten minutes away. It would have been quite a walk from downtown to NW 39th, though.

MitchellC wrote: Yeah, 39th? That way on the other side from town from me! And yeah, that's about ten minutes away. It would have been quite a walk from downtown to NW 39th, though.

When you're young, drunk, and anxious to get home, the miles just tick away. I was a little more svelte back then (read: starving.) When my car broke down, I used to ride my roomate's bike to and from work (the carwash on Archer road.) Those bike lanes came in handy!

I think the farthest I've walked was from my apartment a few blocks south of Archer and 34th (SW 39th blvd) to the Checkers on University. It's strange what seems appealing when one needs to study for a final.

MitchellC wrote: I think the farthest I've walked was from my apartment a few blocks south of Archer and 34th (SW 39th blvd) to the Checkers on University. It's strange what seems appealing when one needs to study for a final.

That IS no small distance!

However, of course I'm a winner. Dirty Nelly's to a little before Josh's place. The walk there wasn't so bad, as I was...ethanol fueled.

The walk back to my apartment, however? Grueling.

On the original subject: Gainesville is full of shiny happy persons! Daddy's Merc doesn't make you cool, bro.

Theres an infusion of South Florida students/money into Gainesville in the last 5-10 years. The entire neighborhood area across from campus used to be full of houses that rented for about the same price as your place Charlie. Town had a slightly different attitude then.

"Town had a slightly different attitude then."

Ah, the "good old days...5 to 10 years ago."

I lived in Jacksonville in the early '70s and then again in the mid to late '80s. When I first stumbled onto Gainesville it REALLY was a sleepy little college town as it was the middle of summer 1971 or '72. I liked it and made quite a few trips back over the next few years. After living in Ca. and Tx. for about 10 to 15 years, I went back the first chance I got in the mid '80s. It was still quiet, relatively, and smallish...but you could see it was on the brink of exploding into the big time.

I haven't been back since the late '80s, but I would expect it NOT to be the same quiet college town I remember.

Holy E36 M3 guys, it's Tom Petty!!!

If you havent been back since the 80s youre in for a shock. UF has over 40,000 students, Archer road isnt cow fields, the student ghetto is all high rent apts, 34th st is 6 lanes, the Gainesville Mall is gone, the bulk of the population and wealth is moving west, its 4 lanes all the way to newberry, most of the way to hawthorne, all the way to alachua and all the way to micanopy, we actually have big box stores, theres a publix on every corner, Hell SFCC is probably as big as UF was then. Sad thing is with all that development, theres probably less motorsports than the 80s.

We're actually above 50,000 students now.

Integraguy, have you been to Jacksonville lately? If not, I'm sure you would be surprised how it is now.

SFCC is probably as big as UF was then

Turnpike Tech FTMFW!