City of Gainesville at a Glance
GAINESVILLE, the county seat of Alachua County and the commercial hub for the entire North Central Florida area, is centrally located between the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean in North Central Florida. Within two hours of Gainesville are a host of destinations including some of Florida’s top sites of nature and man-made destinations, including Disney World, the most popular vacation destination in the world. Gainesville is located between Tallahassee (the state capitol), Jacksonville, Daytona, Orlando and Tampa, and is surrounded by a number of communities that typify small-town America – Hawthorne, Waldo, La Crosse, Alachua, High Springs, Newberry, Archer, Micanopy and Cross Creek.
Alachua County encompasses 969 square miles, with Gainesville occupying a little more than 45 square miles. The county population is just under 200,000 with the city of Gainesville accounting for almost half that number.
Alachua County is governed by five elected commissioners who serve fouryear terms. One commissioner serves as chair. The city of Gainesville has a city manager form of government, with the city commission made up of seven members who serve three-year staggered terms. The voters annually elect a mayor-commissioner. There are eight other incorporated municipalities, each governed by an elected mayor-commission form of government. Sales and property taxes are the primary sources of governmental revenue. Gainesville is home to the University of Florida, the state’s largest and oldest university, and is a center for education, medicine, cultural events and athletics. UF and Shands Hospital at UF are the leading employers in Gainesville, providing employment for not only residents of the city and Alachua County but people living in surrounding counties as well. Gainesville was ranked in September 1995 by Money Magazine as the Number One city to live in America and for six consecutive years has been identified as one of Florida's most liveable city. Approximately 65 percent of the county's 969 square miles is forests, dotted with scenic lakes and wetlands. The city’s nickname, The Tree City, comes from its lush tree canopy.
The area’s climate is temperate with a 255-day-long growing season. Average high temperatures reach 82 degrees while lows are generally in the mid-50s. However, freezes can and do often occur in the winter. They are usually mild and don’t last for more than a few night in a row. Average rainfall is 35.25 inches a year. And Gainesville, according to studies by the National Weather Service, is considered to have some of the highest humidity levels in the United States.
The historic downtown area serves as the center for nightlife, much of which caters to students from UF and Santa Fe Community College. But a great deal of the downtown cultural activities caters to people of all ages, including the Hippodrome State Theatre and a variety of restaurants.
Among the highlights of a very busy annual calendar of cultural and sports events are the Hoggetowne Medieval Faire, Gatornationals, the Spring Arts Festival, the UF Homecoming Parade and of course, the football season.
UF sets the trends in education; cultural arts, with the 1,800-seat Center for the Performing Arts, the Harn Museum and the Florida Museum of Natural History ; and sports, with the Gator football team and, in recent years, the basketball team being among the nation’s bests.
In addition to UF and SFCC, there is a public school system with more than 30,000 students and 14 private schools.
While the community’s economic base Comes from UF, Shands and the rest of the health-care industry, a strong effort has been made in the last few years to diversify. High-tech research, environmental engineering and agriculture are among the other industries influencing the local economy.
This diversification of the economy has been led by such organizations as the Gainesville Area Chamber of Commerce, Commerce, the Council for Economic Outreach and the Technology Enterprise Center, all of which operate under the Alliance for Economic Development, as well as efforts by the city of Gainesville, Alachua County, the outlying municipalities and many other organizations.
The Gainesville area is served by one local, daily newspaper, The Gainesville Sun, The Independent Florida Alligator, which publishes Monday through Friday when UF is in session. The High Springs Herald, The Record, and five star winner Alachua Today are published weekly. There are four local television stations: WCJBChannel 20 (ABC), WUFT-PBS, Channel 5, WGFL-TV53 (CBS) and WOGX-Channel 51 (Fox). Cox Communications Gainesville/Ocala, the local cable company, transmits a number of additional stations, including the other major networks plus the major news, sports, and movie channels. G
