The Place Where You Live

Gainesville is located in the heart of North Central Florida. Equidistant from both coasts and the Georgia border, our inland climate creates an environment hospitable to the flora and fauna of the Deep South – moss-draped live oaks, flowering dogwood, and possums.  It’s also home to the tropical plants and animals of the typical Florida postcards – palm trees, egrets, and, of course, alligators.

I live downtown, and yet it’s only a short bike ride to “the prairie,” where I can spot an alligator within twenty minutes of leaving  home. La Chua trail runs through a former  17^th century Spanish cattle ranch by the same name. Wild horses, descended from that time, still roam freely.  Before the Spanish, the Potano, a branch of the Timucua people lived here.  In 2000, a drought revealed over fifty ancient canoes in nearby Newnan’s Lake – most between three and five thousand years old.

My own family has lived in this area for seven generations.  My great-grandmother was born 45 miles north of where I live. There are many folks like me in this region, people whose last names are engraved on weathered grave markers and whose accents and speech patterns are reminiscent of a time when language was more reflective of geography.  

But Gainesville is also home to a lot of relative newcomers. It’s perhaps best known for the University of Florida, home of the “Fightin’ Gators.” The University brings stimulating diversity and fresh ideas into our southern town, a vibrancy unique to our place.  

We’re a city of artists and educators, medical professionals and organic farmers, musicians and shop owners. We have a strong core of folks who consider Gainesville to be home and for whom words like “sustainability” and “community” hold value and promise. Balancing the needs of a growing population with care of the environment continues to challenge us, but our track record of sound city planning, acquisition and preservation of sensitive land, pro-active support of local farms and farmers, and environmental innovation like our solar power feed-in tariff program inspire us with the possibilities that creativity and love of place can foster.