Tell me about Tallahassee (Jacksonville, Miami: houses, private school, community college)

[giev]

I am considering a job offer in Tallahassee. I have three young daughters and was hoping to get the inside scoop on the area. Safety, will they be gator bait!! The schools appear to be quite good from my googling. Any insight on the public education system? How about small communities near Tallahassee. Considering a trip down in two weeks. Any must sees, things to do? What are the best beaches in the area?

The other location that I am considering is a suburb of Atlanta. Any comparisons between the two would be great.

Thanks!!

[BlueWillowPlate]

Have you used the Search button yet? (Top middle of your screen.)
There has been some discussion of Tallahassee here, a Search would bring it up for you.
I have been there a few times and really really liked what I saw. It is a larger town but not *too* big.
Beautiful moss-draped oaks, lots of green. Cultural activities, lovely homes, and the traffic wasn't too crazy.
Greatschools.net can help you with public school info.
As for other communities outside Tally, Crawfordville has been mentioned.

[florigidge]

for tally, think alabama. that area is more southern in topography than the rest of florida. it is indeed a pretty city. my niece lives there now. as the seat of state government, you will find it to be a bit of a hustle and bustle, especially with FSU nearby. rent/houses might also be higher due to the influx of politicians from around the state. craigslist might be helpful to compare housing costs.

also the paper is the tallahassee democrat - see the online version.

HOWEVER, if you are looking for beaches, um...not tally. take a look at it on the map. it's not a coastal city. you'll have to travel about an hour or so to the nearest gulf beach and the gulf beaches are not the same as the atlantic. some are really stunningly beautiful with white sands but i much prefer the pounding atlantic beaches since i grew up in miami.

here's a terrible albeit horrific anecdote: ted bundy also thought tallahassee was close to the beach.

he was chagrined to learn that it wasn't.

[macguy]

Originally Posted by giev

I am considering a job offer in Tallahassee. I have three young daughters and was hoping to get the inside scoop on the area. Safety, will they be gator bait!! The schools appear to be quite good from my googling. Any insight on the public education system? How about small communities near Tallahassee. Considering a trip down in two weeks. Any must sees, things to do? What are the best beaches in the area?

The other location that I am considering is a suburb of Atlanta. Any comparisons between the two would be great.

Thanks!!

I like Tallahassee a lot and will be moving to the area myself soon. My brother-in-law and mother-in-law live there now. I live in Fort Lauderdale. You can have your cake and eat it to there as far as living. You can live on the outskirts on a multi acre property, (reasonably priced), maybe have horses or what ever, while you are still just a short commute to your job. Don't forget, no state income tax. It has a nice change of seasons but you don't have to contend with snow. The beaches are a little ways away but not that far. You can go to wakulla springs and there are water activities there just a short drive.
http://www.floridastateparks.org/wakullasprings/
All in all it is a very nice part of the state I think you will like it.

[florigidge]

doing a yahoo maps search for something towards the coast that will get you to the gulf, i punched in "panacea, fl" and came up with a milege of 29 miles and a 48 minute drive.

to get to st. marks (not sure if there is beach access, however) and the state park there, it's 20 miles and 30 minutes.

for spring creek, it's 30 miles and 50 minutes.

so tally, as i said, is not a coastal city where a ten or 15 minute ride gets you to a nice public beach.

i've never been to any of those places i checked at yahoo. the panhandle beaches that i have been to are a two to three hour drive from tallahassee. but, they are incredibly beautiful beaches.

for wakulla springs, yahoo gives me 15.2 miles and 28 minutes. the springs around florida a very nice places to hike and swim, but keep in mind (and also with the gulf) we're talking cold water springs. however, once high summer takes place, the springs' waters can be quite nice - at least they were near gainesville, florida.

the atlantic is warm due to the gulf stream. i've put my foot into the pacific once - very very cold in the height of summer!

[BlueWillowPlate]

Florigidge

Good catch!
I had missed giev's request for info on beaches--yes, to get to water it would indeed take some driving. Tally sure is a nice city though.

I certainly agree with you about the Pacific being *freezing* (I swam in it last summer--kinda wild compared to the Gulf,too. )

[Magnolia Bloom]

I've lived in Tallahassee and spent many legislative sessions there before that and think it is a wonderful place to raise a family. I only left because I could not get a job in my field, although I did have a job that met our financial needs.

I was happy with the public school system. My kids attended Kate Sullivan Elementary. I had them in private school when I first moved up, but found Sullivan to be better- educationally, diversity-wise and high parent involvement in the PTA. Great afterschool program.

With two major colleges, FSU and historically-black FAMU, as well as a great community college- TCC, there are many opportunities for enrichment for pre-college age kids. And with the legislature, they have opportunities for exposure to the importance of being involved citizens. The Supervisor of Elections really believes in voter education and participation.

Folks are very friendly and I found it to have more racial harmony than other north Florida towns. Very religioulsy diverse. And I had real "neighbors"!

If you make a scouting trip, make time for a day trip to St. George Island and skip over to Appalachicola. Check out the city's water and aquatic park- you'd think it was a private club. Or the city's skatepark. Go to the top floor of the Capitol and check out the view!

My only HOWEVER is that if you are seeking a metropolitan area, Tallahassee is not it. And it is a couple of hours from Jacksonville, more from Atlanta. It's a small town with lots of bigger town offerings, but still a small town.

Best of luck on your adventure!

[roaring-rox]

Hereinfla,

This is something I have wondered about re: Tallahassee not being metropolitan.

Don't get me wrong---I don't want Tallahassee to be built up like mad in a sprawl-like manner where the trees are taken out too much, etc.

But, do you think in 5 to 10 years Tallahassee will get more 'metro'? It has a small grouping of some great restaurants in my opinion that one usually only finds in larger cities.

I am a native Floridian, interested in Austin, TX, but not so sure about going that far away (plus no access to a decent ocean)...also think Austin, TX is already maxed out population-wise and from what I read there, it would probably be hard to stay there in one's retirement years b/c of property taxes.

Anyway, I sometimes think Tallahassee could be a place that maybe would get more metro as time goes on (just not Tampa style, I hope).

Well, if you have any opinion, interested in hearing it!

[giev]

Thanks to everyone for all the great feedback on Tally. I look forward to visiting with my family in a couple of weeks. I like the small town feel, coming from a Northern Michigan comunity of 14,000. We have always lived on one of the great lakes, but a nice beach within an hour is just fine.

Any info on the area called Killearn Lakes?

[Magnolia Bloom]

roaring-rox-

I don't think that Tallahassee will ever become a true metropolitan area as it is pretty much built out. But for its size, it has a good number of nice restaurants- if you go, try Chez Pierre for a Tally original. Cabos Tacos- another original. There are many more.

My friends who live there do weekend trips to larger cities- Atlanta, Miami, NY via plane and Jax via car.

giev-

I am not sure if Killearn Lakes is on the golf course or another sub adjacent. My best friend lives on the tenth hole of the course and her 13 year old son can walk to the clubhouse to play golf, they go to the pool all the time. It's a very nice area and ranges from affordable to higher-end.

What is so cool about Tally is that they have a good mix of both Birskenstock and wing-tip professionals. And when we were there, my son was on a city league flag football team with kids getting free lunch and the son of one of the members of the supreme court. His school had kids from the projects and the grandchildren of (former) Senator Bob Graham.