One of the Top 100 Best Places to Live
From the natural beauty of our wide-open trails, to the hospitality of our tight-knit community, to the stores we love and the new ones to discover, it’s all here. But that’s just a snapshot of today — because our home city has big plans for the future.
With an average high of 65 degrees in January, you rarely hear the terms “wind chill factor” and “freezing rain” in Gainesville — unless you happen to be watching a national weather forecast. Mild winters and warm summers are par for the course in the Sunshine State. With its beautiful natural landscape, nearby freshwater springs and stunning prairies, Gainesville has been called an “urban forest.”
There’s more to the climate in Gainesville than the weather and scenic environment. Gainesville is the Home to the University of Florida, the nation’s 5th-ranked public university and the Florida Gators. There is the climate of innovation and entrepreneurship that has resulted in the creation of a substantial number of new businesses in recent years, making the city especially attractive for dual-career families.
UF’s Strategic Development Plan provides a robust framework for building a more dynamic city with a low cost of living and friendly neighborhoods nestled among the parks and open greenspaces. Leveraging experts across the university, this innovative model for town-and-gown relationships earned UF the Society for College and University Planning’s 2017 “Excellence in Planning for an Existing Campus” award.