It’s great to be a Florida Gator – and to live in Gainesville.
Gainesville ranked No. 5 in the top 20 best small cities for college students, according to the ranking released Monday by The American Institute for Economic Research. Factors like student life, culture, economic health and opportunity were assessed from various small college cities nationwide.
UF spokesman Steve Orlando said one of the most important factors was how closely bound the university and community are.
“It’s hard for anybody to think of Gainesville without thinking about the University of Florida,” he said.
Orlando said the music scene and locally owned restaurants make for a vibrant and interesting city culture.
“Everything really centers around and caters to students,” he said.
Orlando said county public schools will be closed Friday along with UF for the Homecoming Parade, which shows how invested the Gainesville and Alachua communities are in UF.
Tallahassee ranked No. 19 on the list of 20 cities. Orlando said this could be because Florida’s capital has other major identifying factors, like state government.
Nicholas Smith, general manager of The Swamp Restaurant, said his business has been around for about 20 years.
“Gainesville has everything you need while still being a small town,” he said, “and we’re happy to be a part of it.”
Smith, who attended UF in 1997, said he moved away after college but couldn’t resist coming back. He said Gainesville is different from other small cities because it doesn’t feel clustered.
“You have a mix of outdoor things to do like Paynes Prairie and Lake Wauburg, a great university, great arts scene and, of course, great sports,” he said.
Simon Nash, a barista at Maude’s Café, said Gainesville is like a big city but with half the cost of living.
“It has lots of affordable, interesting restaurants, beautiful women, a great school and a great art scene,” he said.
Nash said Gainesville is different because it’s so diverse, including downtown. He said his favorite part of Gainesville is its high concentration of intelligent, progressive-minded young people.
“University of Florida people tend to be more my cup of tea,” he said.
Kelly Vidal, a 21-year-old UF political science senior, said she thinks Gainesville was ranked high because of the amount of students in the population. She said she also likes that everything she needs is by campus, unlike in Tallahassee.
“It makes sense that the best school in Florida is ranked so highly,” Vidal said.
Top 10 Best Small College Towns
1. Boulder, Colorado
2. Durham-Chapel Hill, North Carolina
3. Ann Arbor, Michigan
4. Madison, Wisconsin
5. Gainesville, Florida
6. Fort Collins-Loveland, Colorado
7. Lincoln, Nebraska (metro area)
8. Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk,
Connecticut
9. Trenton-Ewing, New Jersey
10. Huntsville, Alabama
(http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/10/13/small-cities-college-2014_n_5978302.html)
[A version of this story ran on page 3 on 10/16/2014]
