Moving to Gainesville (Tampa, Lakeland: jobs, medical, housing)

[Sunnydee1206]

Hi. My husband and I are looking to move to Florida to be closer to my dad. He lives in Tampa, but I have no desire to raise a family there. I currently live in a VERY small town in WV and am looking for a bigger area, but still with some small town feel. I have heard that Gainesville offers this, but after reading some threads on here, I am looking for some more details about the Gainesville area.
I am wanting to know about cost of living, schools, (I have two very young daughters), employment opportunities and of course, crime. Any info will be GREATLY appreciated. (My husband is in the education field and I am in school for interior design)
Thanks!

[Dallas Gator]

Look I'm a UF grad - I LOVE Gainesville!!! BUT economic opportunities for you will be FAR greater in Tampa

[gypsychic]

Originally Posted by Sunnydee1206

Hi. My husband and I are looking to move to Florida to be closer to my dad. He lives in Tampa, but I have no desire to raise a family there. I currently live in a VERY small town in WV and am looking for a bigger area, but still with some small town feel. I have heard that Gainesville offers this, but after reading some threads on here, I am looking for some more details about the Gainesville area.
I am wanting to know about cost of living, schools, (I have two very young daughters), employment opportunities and of course, crime. Any info will be GREATLY appreciated. (My husband is in the education field and I am in school for interior design)
Thanks!

Hi Sunnydee - I remember a while back I gave you info on Lakeland where I live. Not sure why you ruled that out, but it has everything you want, plus more job opportunities than Gainesville. Also, it is an easy commute to Tampa, and it is a WONDERFUL place to raise a family. It has small town charm with bigger city amenities, and the residents here like it that way. This is also a college town, with a small branch campus of USF (soon to build a large one) Polk Community College, Florida Southern, Florida Southeastern, and a few more smaller ones. Polk County is also hurting for teachers, and pay as well or better than many counties in Florida. Cost of living here is a bargain compared to most parts of Florida. You may want to reconsider your decision, at least come here and check out what it has to offer if you haven't already done so.

Good luck!
~gypsychic~

[Gatornation]

Originally Posted by Sunnydee1206

Hi. My husband and I are looking to move to Florida to be closer to my dad. He lives in Tampa, but I have no desire to raise a family there. I currently live in a VERY small town in WV and am looking for a bigger area, but still with some small town feel. I have heard that Gainesville offers this, but after reading some threads on here, I am looking for some more details about the Gainesville area.
I am wanting to know about cost of living, schools, (I have two very young daughters), employment opportunities and of course, crime. Any info will be GREATLY appreciated. (My husband is in the education field and I am in school for interior design)
Thanks!

Gainesville has a fair amount of culture due the university and has somewhat of a small town feel. Everything really revolves around UF, so if you don't have any connections I'd think it would get a bit old.

Job market is very tough outside of medical field, the main employer is UF.
Due to UF there are a fair amount of very good schools. You will probably find the cost of living to be a little higher then most areas of FL with the exception of South Florida. The economy is mainly based around UF jobs and therefore doesn't follow national trends as much. Also property tax is very high as the land UF has isn't taxed so everyone else has to make up for it.

[her2001]

Originally Posted by Gatornation

Gainesville has a fair amount of culture due the university and has somewhat of a small town feel. Everything really revolves around UF, so if you don't have any connections I'd think it would get a bit old.

Job market is very tough outside of medical field, the main employer is UF.
Due to UF there are a fair amount of very good schools. You will probably find the cost of living to be a little higher then most areas of FL with the exception of South Florida. The economy is mainly based around UF jobs and therefore doesn't follow national trends as much. Also property tax is very high as the land UF has isn't taxed so everyone else has to make up for it.

That post descibes it pretty well.

For a mid 30s transplant to GV it took 3 years to get boring.

The local clicks are hard to break into as well.

If you have the money there are a few really nice areas. Even with the housing slump it is still very expensive to me after coming from the panhandle.