"Cause we're two truck stops off the interstate, promised land with a twist of fame, we're a town for all the lost and found, so sleep tight in this smoky room, still buzzed from this afternoon, and I may be going broke but I'm never broken down."
These immortal words, from Gainesville's own Less Than Jake, ring true with a majority of Gainesville's 66,000 UF and SFC students.
Famed for its football and academics, UF brings a glow to the city of Gainesville. Despite how deeply Less Than Jake's lyrics may resonate within us as we throw back a couple cold ones and search for ourselves, they don't capture the true essence of the city.
Beyond the corridors of 13th and 34th streets, the glow of UF rapidly fades away to a much darker and destitute reality.
For the remaining residents of Gainesville not supported by their parents or student loans, the light of UF fails to brighten their lives.
According to the National Coalition for the Homeless, Gainesville is one of the 20 meanest cities for the homeless, beating out metropolises such as New York City and Los Angeles.
The city has done little to actually solve the problem. Criminalizing panhandling, issuing brochures that explain why giving to beggars is bad and effectively making it illegal to sleep are all crimes the city is guilty of. Being homeless is not a crime; it's a human reality.
Even though students' plans do not usually include homelessness, and, as Less Than Jake aptly points out, "we have our master plan bottled and canned, living in the 352," Alachua County has another problem UF students can relate to.
According to the most recent census data, Alachua County is the most impoverished county in Florida.
To be fair, about 11 percent of the impoverished people in the county are students. Still, when students are removed from this data set, Alachua County's rate of homelessness still exceeds the national average.It is difficult for us, UF's privileged students, to consider and understand just how dire the situation is for those forced to sit outside the golden gates of UF.
By any measure, Gainesville is way behind the curve in terms of fighting homelessness and poverty, but most students fail to realize this city is much more than a college town.
The next time you navigate through campus on your scooter or post up in Club West to buckle down for finals, take a moment to burst your UF bubble.
Think about those who comprise the fabric of our temporary home just as much as you and me, if not more.
We need to peer through the glamour of ESPN coverage and ego-boosting rankings from the Princeton Review and look deeper into what Gainesville does and doesn't have to offer.
We know we can change the world around us, which I hope is why we're all here in the first place.
What better place to start than right in our own backyard? After all, Gainesville is a town for all the lost - not just the found.
Kyle Robisch is a political science and economics sophomore.
