[rkkb80]

My husband and I are considering a move to Northern Florida. South Florida is just too crowded and noisy. We own property near the Alachua county border and can easily commute to Gainesville each day. I am a teacher and am aware that salaries in Alachua are low, there is a glut of teachers and that I will need to find a job in the surrounding counties that pay more. My husband is an electrician with a lot of industrial and commercial experience. He is now a supervisor. Can anyone tell me if there is work in the Gainesville area for my husband/ He would be looking for supervisory work for water treatment facilities and such. How are car insurance rates, homeowners insurance rates and taxes?
THank you so much for any info you could provide.

[logybogy]

I would suggest you look into GRU. That's the utility company for Gainesville. They may have job opportunities for your husband. Check out their website.

GRU- More than Energy®

OCala Electric Utility serves the Ocala area.

Ocala Electric Utility

Also, check out the Alachua County and Marion County public school system. Don't give up on Alachua. There's always some churn in teachers and you may get lucky. Marion County, the county south of Alachua where Ocala is the only other big county in commuting distance. The little counties around Alachua and Marion pay absolutely nothing. They are very rural and poor
areas.

ACPS Home

Marion County Public Schools, Ocala, Florida

Good luck! North Central Florida is a great place to live! Try not to tell too many people so it won't get ruined like the rest of Florida.

[rkkb80]

Thanks for the info....

[deb 069]

I will be moving my family to Florida, soon from Ga and would like info on northern Florida (Not below St. Augustine) I will have an Associate's Degree in Biotechnology and need info on jobs, housing, and childcare.
I've looked on citydata.com and it was helpful but some info is old, (they use data from the census) any help is appreciated.
Thanks

[mquintana]

Gainesville isn't plentiful with jobs, I can tell you that- and any other "common" job are taken by college students. It's not my choice of place to live in-but that's just me. I really didn't like it there and I lived there for 3 yrs.

[Hawaiijobs]

The Alachua area appears to have been the first area occupied by the immigrant Oconees, the original Seminoles, about 1740. Their first town was situated on or near the old Alachua plain, now called Payne's Prairie in homage to "King" Payne, chief of the Alachua settlements upon his death in 1812.

The meaning of Alachua is suggested by a passage in the journal of Lieutenant Diego Peña, who on his expedition to Apalachee and Apalachicola in 1716, traversed the region, and of the area between the Ichetucknee and Suwannee Rivers in southern Suwannee County remarks:
“ The 21st day I left the said site (adjacent to the Itchtucknee River) and camped at a place they call Aquilachua this day I marched five leagues. In this day's march no creeks were encountered but there are good springs of water, and the first (is) named Usichua, (and) the other Usiparachua, and another Afanochua. ”

That the springs without effluent streams were sinkholes is consistent with the area, which has many. The names of these watering places all possess the terminator chua, which suggests that chua is the Timucuan name for sinkhole. This inference is not inconsistent with the general opinion of residents of the county, that the name Alachua means sinkhole.[3]

Alachua County proper was created in 1824. The original county seat was Newnansville located near the current site of the city of Alachua. In 1853, the new railroad from Fernandina to Cedar Key bypassed Newnansville, and Gainesville, a new town that was located on the railroad, began to draw business and residents away from Newnansville. Gainesville became the county seat the following year.[4]