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APRIL 2004

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A Day Trip to the Good Life Community

Alachua Florida - Learn about our next door neighbor, Alachua, and the many special places it has to offer.

CONVENIENCE, charm and excitement. An experience awaits those who visit the picturesque small town of Alachua. Located just minutes from Gainesville and at the crossroads of Interstate 75 and U.S. Highway 441, all roads lead to Alachua. An early railroad town, the city was incorporated in 1905, roughly 20 years after the rails were first laid in 1884 beneath the centuries old hammocks of trees. Over the last century, Alachua has evolved into a charming small city, rich in history and on the move.

Rich in its heritage of southern hospitality, Alachua remains an important corridor. In the 21st Century, the city remains a crossroads, not only for transportation but also as a mecca of biotechnology, bringing robust high tech research and industry to the area.

Fueled by the growth in the business economy, Alachua has responded to demand for a variety of restaurants, and offers an eclectic variety of cuisines, sure to satisfy the most discriminating palette. Stroll down Alachua’s famously uniquely serpentine-style Main Street and shop among the dozen or so stores as friendly shopkeepers wait to greet you. After you’ve worked up an appetite, stick around because there’s no shortage of dining experiences awaiting.

Alachua is home to a variety of restaurants, from sitdown mid-day dinner or fine evening cuisine, to an onthe- go meal, the town’s many restaurateurs aim to please. Don’t pass up an opportunity to dine in for home-style cookin’, great barbecue, famous big burgers and steaks or fine Italian cuisine.

And keeping pace with the dining scene, Alachua offers unique opportunities for shopping pleasure. Dotting Alachua’s Main Street and other shopping venues throughout the city are numerous locally owned establishments, including consignment shops, bookstores, gift shops and gardening stores.

Looking for that special something to complement your home décor? Alachua is sure to have a shop that carries that special item. For the growing numbers of aficionados of previously owned items, the town’s consignment shops display hard-to-find treasures and products of days gone by. Fill that empty space in your home with a bargain from one of Alachua’s engaging consignment shops.

If exercise and the outdoors is your cup of tea, bring your bike. Discover the biking trails awaiting at the San Felasco Hammock entrance off U.S. 441 to the rear of Progress Corporate Park. Bring your bike — or your horse and carriage. Both are welcome on the miles of natural trails that wind through North Central Florida’s native flora and fauna. Looking for a game of basketball, baseball, tee-ball, football, soccer, you name it — it’s happening at the Alachua Recreation Center, one of the best small-town recreation centers in the state. Tennis anyone? Bring your own racquet and a partner, and square off at the city’s tennis courts in the downtown district.

Just as Alachua is rich in its heritage of the past, and potential for the future, it also offers an abundance of educational opportunities to improve the quality of life for today’s residents, and generations to come. Whether attending one of the four public schools, a charter school, or a private school, education is taken seriously. And with Santa Fe Community College and the University of Florida just a short few minutes away, Alachua offers many benefits customarily found only in cities of much larger size, and without the hassle of big city traffic.

Visitors, who find that a day trip isn’t long enough, can book first-rate motel accommodations year round. And visitors, who succumb to the charm of historic Alachua and decide to stay for a lifetime, will find an ever-growing number and variety of housing accommodations to suit almost every budget. From apartments to town homes, from two-story colonials to ranchettes with plenty of open spaces, Alachua has housing covered. And geared toward active families and retirees alike, many new housing developments offer pedestrian friendly amenities including sidewalks, cul-de-sacs and parks.

In just a few words, Alachua is simply a great place to visit or live. Stop by historic Alachua, and find out for yourself.