Tally or Gainesville? (Miami, Tampa, Tallahassee: theatre, universities, to live in)

[Winwahoo]

Hi! My wife and I are pondering a future move to Florida, from Ohio. She likes northern Florida better than the south, gardening, being outside. I like college towns, college football, microbrews, and riding my scooter. We both enjoy the arts, a "green" attitude towards things and an atmosphere that is, shall we say, "not overtly conservative". Which would we like better....Tallahassee or Gainesville? Thanks for any input!

[phonelady61]

Out of those two I would say you would like gainesville better I was just reading a thread about how high utility costs are in tallahassee and I was floored at what some posters were saying about electric costs and such etc . I m only contemplating a move back to florida if something were to happen to my husband and then I would go down there to be closer to my family . I dont really care for florida right at this point but you never know in a few yrs things could change . I would go down and visit and see which one you liked better if at all possible .

[g0gat0rs]

Is this even a question?

[kyle19125]

Originally Posted by Winwahoo

I like college towns, college football, microbrews, and riding my scooter. We both enjoy the arts, a "green" attitude towards things and an atmosphere that is, shall we say, "not overtly conservative".

You can check all of the boxes for Gainesville with those criteria as well as gardening and outdoor activities. Tallahassee is more conservative, does not have much of a "green attitude", and has less cultural activities.

[JAS]

FSU has a lot of music/theatrical performances from its highly-rated music and theatre programs ... I don't see how the gardening and outdoor activities would differ much between the two ... Gainesville has some nice springs nearby, TLH is a closer drive to the coast. Both cities probably have similar voting records, so probably not a significant difference between the two.

My advice is to check out both places in person for a few days, see all parts of the cities and surrounding areas, and make your decision based on that (after you've researched job opportunities, etc.). If anyone on the forums give extreme answers comparing the two cities, you should ignore those opinions since they have significant bias. Extreme opinions comparing TLH to Miami, or Gainesville to Tampa, could be considered because you're talking about the desire to live in a bigger city versus a smaller city (or large town), but TLH and Gainesville are similar in size, each with a large university -- Gainesville is probably more of a true "college town", but TLH has the political/govt angle that is very interesting.

[Strel]

Originally Posted by Winwahoo

Hi! My wife and I are pondering a future move to Florida, from Ohio. She likes northern Florida better than the south, gardening, being outside. I like college towns, college football, microbrews, and riding my scooter. We both enjoy the arts, a "green" attitude towards things and an atmosphere that is, shall we say, "not overtly conservative". Which would we like better....Tallahassee or Gainesville? Thanks for any input!

Both qualify.

Tallahassee is bigger and has a lot more stuff going on not directly connected to the University, so it is less of a "college town."

Do you want hills? Then choose Tallahassee.

[Strel]

Originally Posted by kyle19125

You can check all of the boxes for Gainesville with those criteria as well as gardening and outdoor activities. Tallahassee is more conservative, does not have much of a "green attitude", and has less cultural activities.

Wrong, wrong and wrong.

Tallahassee is more understated in its liberalness, because the population is much less dominated by students. I don't know of a greener city in the state, including Gainesville, than Tallahassee.

And being several times Gainesville's size, as well as sporting two universities (one of which is FSU, which is way ahead of UF in the arts departments) as well as the seat of state government, uh...

..I think you haven't spent much time in Tallahassee.

[HeartofFlorida]

Originally Posted by kyle19125

You can check all of the boxes for Gainesville with those criteria as well as gardening and outdoor activities. Tallahassee is more conservative, does not have much of a "green attitude", and has less cultural activities.

Originally Posted by Strel

Wrong, wrong and wrong.

Tallahassee is more understated in its liberalness, because the population is much less dominated by students. I don't know of a greener city in the state, including Gainesville, than Tallahassee.

And being several times Gainesville's size, as well as sporting two universities (one of which is FSU, which is way ahead of UF in the arts departments) as well as the seat of state government, uh...

..I think you haven't spent much time in Tallahassee.

Below are links to Energy Star cities and Greenest cities so you both can see how Tallahassee and Gainesville stack up in Florida and the U.S.
Top 25 Cities with Most ENERGY STAR Labeled Buildings in 2009 (http://www.energystar.gov/ia/business/downloads/2009_Top_25_cities_chart.pdf - broken link)
Find qualified buildings and plants

Moderator cut: link removed, linking to competitor sites is not allowed

[kyle19125]

Originally Posted by Strel

Wrong, wrong and wrong.

Tallahassee is more understated in its liberalness, because the population is much less dominated by students. It would be understated because it's kept that way...rampant conservatism and religious overtones.

I don't know of a greener city in the state, including Gainesville, than Tallahassee. Perhaps, but due more to regulatory action than citizen initiative.

And being several times Gainesville's size.. Size has nothing to do with livability, period. Speaking of wrong.

As well as sporting two universities (one of which is FSU, which is way ahead of UF in the arts departments) I'm not sure I would say way ahead. Beyond that, touring concerts and exhibits are far more likely to choose Gainesville over Tallahassee.

as well as the seat of state government..which means nothing. Florida's politicians aren't known to be the most culturally savvy so I wouldn't use that as an example.

..I think you haven't spent much time in Tallahassee. I haven't, not much there to keep me interested, just sayin'.

I highly disagree, see above.

[HeartofFlorida]

Originally Posted by kyle19125

I highly disagree, see above.

Everything is subjective except for the population comparison in which Tallahassee is 1.48 times the size of Gainesville and hardly worth mentioning.