| Gainesville and the north cental Florida
area is a good place to live. Not far from the northern border of Florida
and a little more than an hour's drive from either coast, the city has
a pleasant climate. Although it is predominantly warm, in summer the temperature
generally drops about 20 degrees at night, in winter there are short but
stimulating cold spells, and the seasons change. In spring, the dogwoods
are spectacular. The mean temperature is 70.1 (degrees F), ranging from
57.7 in January to 81.1 in August. The average amount of sunshine per day
is nearly 7.75 hours and the annual rainfall is 49.97 inches. The coast
is not so near that the area is in much danger from tropical storms.
The present urban population of the city is more than 85,000.
Travel to and from Gainesville is easy. The main highways are Interstate
75, U.S. 441, and U.S. 301. The Gainesville Regional Airport is served
by five airlines - Delta, USAir, USAir Express, Comair, and Atlantic Southeast.
There is an Amtrack rail depot close by, at Waldo. Intercity bus service
is provided by Greyhound. Within the city a 10-route, half-hourly bus service
operates on weekdays, with hourly service on Saturdays.
Because of its hospitals and the University, Gainesville
is the state's main center for medical research and treatment. It has four
hospitals: Shands Teaching Hospital, the Veterans Administration Hospital,
Alachua General Hospital, and North Florida Regional Medical Center. There
are also clinics and nursing homes, and over 450 physicians and surgeons
and 100 dentists in private practice.
There are about 100 churches in Gainesville and 15
student chapels and religious centers near campus. The largest educational
institutions in Gainesville are the University, with an enrollment of 35,000,
and Santa Fe Community College, with four campuses and an enrollment of
more than 12,000. The Alachua County School Board is responsible for 23
elementary, 6 middle, and 6 high schools. There are also more than a dozen
private schools and the P. K. Yonge Laboratory School (K-12), which operated
in association with the University's College of Education.
Many of the pleasures of living in the Gainesville
area are water-related. The beaches of both coasts (quite different) are
easily accessible. But it is not necessary to leave Alachua County to enjoy
great golf, fishing, swimming, sailing, and similar sports. Of its 965
square miles, more than one in twenty is covered in water.
There is plenty of opportunity for doing as well as
looking. The county and the community college cooperate in offering noncredit
courses, held in locations all over the city, many of them in the evening.
There are a number of public golf courses and tennis and racquetball courts
in Gainesville, as well as those on the UF campus. The city is well supplied
with restaurants and movie theaters. The University provides Gainesville
with major collegiate spectator sports, and the Gatornational drag races
held each spring draw large crowds.
Gainesville is served by more than 15 radio stations,
including WUFT-FM, a classical music station. There are two local commercial
television channels, and WUFT is the University-owned public television
channel. Cable television gives access to over 30 channels. The Gainesville
Sun is the local newspaper, and there are several student newspapers, the
main one being the Independent Florida Alligator. |
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