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I am thinking of the possibility of moving to Florida and am looking for some suggestions, reviews of the area, etc. etc.
I was born and raised in Canada, and currently live here. I am going to university for veterinary medicine, and the only school in my province is several hours away. We've been looking for a home close to that school for over a year but long story short, the prices in Florida are much more attractive!
The veterinary school in Florida is in Gainesville. Could anyone tell me their opinions of that town? How is the safety? Is it a quiet town or busy? How about tornados, hurricanes and tsunamis? What's the weather like? Are the people friendly? What about crocodiles or alligators, are there a lot? What kind of issues do houses in Florida commonly have? How is the job situation? What's the minimum wage there? Is it difficult for Canadian to find jobs there?
I am thinking of the possibility of moving to Florida and am looking for some suggestions, reviews of the area, etc. etc.
I was born and raised in Canada, and currently live here. I am going to university for veterinary medicine, and the only school in my province is several hours away. We've been looking for a home close to that school for over a year but long story short, the prices in Florida are much more attractive!
The veterinary school in Florida is in Gainesville. Could anyone tell me their opinions of that town? How is the safety? Is it a quiet town or busy? How about tornados, hurricanes and tsunamis? What's the weather like? Are the people friendly? What about crocodiles or alligators, are there a lot? What kind of issues do houses in Florida commonly have? How is the job situation? What's the minimum wage there? Is it difficult for Canadian to find jobs there?
UF Vet school is very tough to get into. Before you move here I'd make sure you think you will be able to get in.
I am thinking of the possibility of moving to Florida and am looking for some suggestions, reviews of the area, etc. etc.
I was born and raised in Canada, and currently live here. I am going to university for veterinary medicine, and the only school in my province is several hours away. We've been looking for a home close to that school for over a year but long story short, the prices in Florida are much more attractive!
The veterinary school in Florida is in Gainesville. Could anyone tell me their opinions of that town? How is the safety? Is it a quiet town or busy? How about tornados, hurricanes and tsunamis? What's the weather like? Are the people friendly? What about crocodiles or alligators, are there a lot? What kind of issues do houses in Florida commonly have? How is the job situation? What's the minimum wage there? Is it difficult for Canadian to find jobs there?
I agree that it wouldn't be wise to move until you're accepted. Acceptance rates for Veterinary Schools are lower than those for Medical School, and there are only 28 Vet Schools in the US. The University of Florida isn't the only one with affordable housing in the area. Auburn University, Colorado State University, University of Georgia, Louisiana State University, North Carolina State University, Ohio State University, Oklahoma State University, Purdue University, Texas A&M University and the University of Tennessee are all in areas with similar housing costs to Gainesville.
I agree that it wouldn't be wise to move until you're accepted. Acceptance rates for Veterinary Schools are lower than those for Medical School, and there are only 28 Vet Schools in the US. The University of Florida isn't the only one with affordable housing in the area. Auburn University, Colorado State University, University of Georgia, Louisiana State University, North Carolina State University, Ohio State University, Oklahoma State University, Purdue University, Texas A&M University and the University of Tennessee are all in areas with similar housing costs to Gainesville.
Thanks. Yes, of course, I would wait until I was accepted prior to moving there! 28 vet schools, compared to only 5 in all of Canada... Clearly has many more options.
It's a nice town. No tsunamis. Very low tornado chance. Hurricanes can hit the state but Gainesville is far enough from the coast that storm surge is not an issue and wind speed would slow down somewhat from the time it hits land. Though wind damage could occur.
Gators are in the fresh water lakes and ponds. Stay out of the fresh water and away from the edge of the water and the gators won't get you.
Thinking about Gainesville too. Sultry summers; mosquitos (west nile?), allergies?, crime, extra taxes are probably things to consider in addition to your list.
There are nice parts of gainesville. You really need to visit the town and see the areas for yourself. Most of the apartment complexes there are geared towards students or low(er) income employees of the university.
I have not lived there in 15+ years, so I could not give specific recommendations on complexes, as some of the places I lived are likely ghetto'ed out by now, as they were trending towards that when I lived there.
My opinion is that, for such a small town in Florida, it has an abnormally large population of absolute bottom dwellers and ghetto. Pretty much the entire east side of town is hood, a big hunk East of 13th street, North of University Ave and South of 16th ave N is ghetto, and then headed south down 13th street, a big hunk south of 16th ave S is full of prostitutes, drug dealers and pseudo hood.
It's definetly got it's nice parts, but you really need to visit for yourself to see.
Gainesville is a typical American college town. Pretty much everything is geared towards the university and students. There is also a large junior college (Santa Fe), so the city is full of 18-25 year olds.
You will not see alligators roaming the streets, but alligators can be found in abundance in freshwater lakes and rivers.
As far as weather goes, Gainesville is very hot and humid in the summer. It will be VERY different from a Canadian summer. The winters are mild. The temperature will dip below freezing sometimes, but that is about as cold as it gets. Snow is extremely rare (like once or twice in a lifetime). There is not much of a spring or fall.
College towns tend to have higher than normal rates of property crime. That is just part of it. When you concentrate a very large group of young people together in one city, that's just what happens. I don't think it's anything to be afraid of.
Gainesville is more or less a stereotypically "Southern" town, at least among those who live there full time and grew up there. It has a sizeable black population, as most Southern towns do, and you will hear Southern accents, especially among the older people. Being a college town though, you get people from all over, including South Floridians who are not "Southern" at all.
You seem to be concerned about distance from home (you mentioned that the nearest vet school in your province is a few hours away). Well, Florida is more than a few hours from Canada, unless you have easy access to an airplane. Gainesville's airport is small, and you will not find direct flights to Canada. You will probably have to fly to Jacksonville, Orlando, or Tampa, all of which are 1-2 hours drive (at a minimum) from Gainesville.
You might consider taking a road trip and visiting several different universities so that you can better know what you're getting into. Think about the region of the country that you want to study in. Do you want to be in the South, the Northeast, Midwest, or West?
G'ville is GORGEOUS in the Springtime. Azaleas and dogwood put on a real show! You learn to pace yourself in the summer. It is lazy with low student and traffic. Morning and evening activities, with trips to the pool or the beach in the daytime. Sunscreen year-round. Ideal for golf and tennis all year round! Gardening from March to mid June, then indoors til September, for another round of fall plantings and vegetable gardening late into the year. Growing season is a real difference from Canada!! I'll take FL summers over CA winters anytime! lol
Born and raised in Gainesville, lived all over the place...couple things....
Weather Related: It's Florida, it's hot and humid from April - October, and only moderately cold (40-50 w/ a few days of sub 30 per year, it's never snowed once in my 30 years there). Air can be pretty stagnant, since it's inland and heavily populated with trees. I hope I'm painting a picture of a place where if you walk around the block in July, you'll need to shower and change clothes. Don't worry about hurricanes and tornadoes, you can't predict the weather...but it is florida. I'd say thunderstorms/wind and flooding are more of a concern depending on where you live, especially if you're near a body of water or low elevation area.
Jobs/Wages: Actually I'm not sure anymore, but it's probably $7 or $7.50 for min wage. Jobs are abundant. Last I knew Alachua county had the lowest unemployment rate in the state of florida, something like 3-4%. But it's mostly service industry. Most higher end jobs are traditional medicine/law/accounting/finance/teaching. City doesn't really foster much of a tech industry...but they're trying...kinda.
Culture: Assuming you stay out of the bad neighborhoods mentioned below. Outside of the student population, Gainesville residents are typically pretty relaxed. Lots of love for the hometown Gators in football/basketball. Nice local music scene, decent bar scene for a small town. Naturally the closer you get to the university the more university-centric the bar scene is. Once you're out near main street bars have an older crowd, more townyish. Not much of a country vibe really as you might think for what used to be a southern good old boy sorta place, lots of Miami/SoFla transplants because of the university. One thing I've always liked is how young the town is though. I could walk around some parts of town all day without seeing anyone over 40 years of age. It's a very young town.
House Issues: Pretty much the same thing you'll find anywhere else....termites/bugs/tree branches, etc. Mostly natural occurances. Outside of some downtown areas, there are no rats to speak of. Roaches are another thing entirely. If you don't treat for it, you can guarantee roaches in your house if you are on the bottom floor. Also be careful about fleas, there is a severe feral cat problem in gainesville, though mostly in the central areas of town (university ave, 13th st, 6th st. and main st.). Also lots of people own pets, and you can rest assured if you rent that someone previously owned a pet, so be careful and watch for telltale signs of fleas and/or ask about managements policies on pest management. If your home is infested, putting advantage on your cat/dog is not enough.
Safety: The town is extremely safe. Even the hood/ghettos/downtown aren't particularly dangerous, they're just rundown. There does seem to be a ridiculous number of homeless people in Gainesville, though they are primarily transients (hitchhikers/hobos), and are relatively harmless, though it can be frustrating and annoying dealing with all the panhandlers. It's nearly impossible to tell which ones actually need help and which ones don't. Long time residents ignore them ( I just say I don't carry cash on me...hey it's plausible these days). There is a bit of a drug culture though....mostly weed amongst the students and dropouts/townies, of which their are many. Heavy crack culture in the ghettos/hoods and homeless population. There are some transvestite prostitutes on the corner of SW 5th and 5th if that's your thing , but they won't really bother you.
Bad Neighborhoods: Most areas east of Waldo Road I would leave off the grocery list. I would also probably not consider anything north of NE 23rd avenue and east of NE 9th Street. Anything South of SE 5th Avenue and East of SW 6th Street, do not consider. Anything between SW 13th St and Main Street North of 5th Avenue and South of 8th Avenue should be crossed off. Those are the main stay away areas, but there are pockets of section 8 and trailer parks that pizza places don't deliver to after dark for a reason, such as Pine Ridge and Phoenix Apts. If you just stick with the student areas of town, you'll be fine.
Alligators: I'd like to clarify that yes, there are alligators in fresh water rivers/lakes. But you will likely never see one, unless you go to less populated lakes/rivers. For instance, there are always people that say they've seen lots of alligators in Ginnie Springs (extremely popular river/springs cause you can drink beer on the river, which isn't allowed at state the other state parks in the area)....but I've been going there 30 years and never seen a single one...though I will tell stories to scare young coeds on occasion . On the other hand, you go down the La Chua trail off SE 15th St, and you can potentially see hundreds of alligators during the right time of the year.
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, but they won't really bother you.
