Gainesville, FL

[cookad]

I will be attending University of Florida in the fall!!! A few weeks ago I put in an application with EFN properties and was approved for a 1BR at Center Point. Anyone from Gainesville have any insight on what the apartments there are like? They told me they go through pretty extensive background checks before they let anyone live there, which seems like it might be more low key?

 

I hate the idea of agreeing to the lease before seeing anything, but I might not have a chance to visit before August.

[Soleil ت]

Bump! When is everybody trickling into Gainesville? I get in July 31st, and orientation is the 14th, so two weeks to explore! Luckily my childhood hometown is an hour away so I will be visiting with family and old friends.

[SoycomoSoy]

Hi... I have been excepted into the MPH program at UF and I am trying to look for housing remotely till I can get time to go visit next week to apartment hunt. I will be looking to all the places everyone has suggested on-line but where has been everyone's favorite since living in Gainesville for Graduate School. Also is anyone familiar with the College of Public Health and its location?

 

Thanks!

[thepriorwalter]

The College of Public Health is located in the southern portion of UF's main campus, south of the student union but north of the hospital. I'm not sure if that's at all helpful. Something more specific about the location that I can answer? 

[darwingirl]

Reviving this thread. Anyone else considering UF?

 

For anyone familiar with the area, what are some good neighborhoods? I've heard the duck pond is where a lot of grad students live. Also, any areas (full of undergrads) to avoid?

[emmanuel goldstein]

ive been just using apartment rating websites and i stalked some old uf subreddit posts to see which ones should be ruled out. ill prolly take a day in the summer to do a few tours to figure it out

[EngineerGrad]

Who's going to Gainesville this year? I am trying to find a 1 or 2 bd apartment. I am moving with my SO, and we wish to live in Downtown Gville, because it's a cool area. Any suggestions?!

[darwingirl]

I'm 99% sure I'm heading to UF! 

 

Also would like to hear about housing. I'm looking for a house with a fenced yard in particular, and if not then at least a dog friendly, quiet apartment.

 

Any info on good neighborhoods or ones to avoid would be really useful!

[biochemaa]

visiting this W/E.  SO is apartment hunting.  Will post more next week. 

[biochemaa]

Looking for input for grad housing for Cazabella, Madison Pointe, Spyglass and the Downtown complex of Arlington Square.  Any first hand experience?  Pro's and Con's?  I will be based in the Northwest corner of campus.  Maybe will have another grad roommate and a 2BR 2B but a 1/1 is a possibility as well.  I require a W/D in the building and a cat has to be OK. 

[jmu]

I lived in Spyglass for two years. Never told them I had a cat and they never questioned it so I didn't have to pay the deposit. It was nice. The maintenance was quick, the neighborhood was quiet (and, for an apartment complex it was pretty picturesque), and we were able to get a deal where they furnished the living and paid for our internet. If I were to ever move back to Gainesville and need an apartment I wouldn't hesitate to live there again. I lived in the townhouse so I'm not sure if the apartments are the same but I seriously never had a single issue while living there.

 

There is a place right across the street that is run by the same management company that has pretty nice townhouses as well. It was between Spyglass and there and we chose Spyglass because the bedrooms were both fully enclosed. The one we looked at there, I thought, was way cooler because the upstairs bedroom was open to the livingroom below and it had a huge patio overlooking a water conservancy pond.

[ThisGuy]

Just decided on UF today. I'm looking into the Picadillys complex as well as Gatorview and maybe Continuum. Does anyone know about any of these places?

[jmu]

Been to Piccadilly twice, I would never live there. I know the area that Gator View is in and there are a lot of undergrads and parties around there. It can get kind of raucous on game days. I can't comment on the apartments themselves though.

[ThisGuy]

What didn't you like about Piccadillys? Also, and sorry to keep bothering you, but do you know anything about Campus Point?

Edited April 12, 2014 by ThisGuy

[jmu]

When I went looking for a place to live, the apartments were dirty and for $75 a month more we got a place with more usable space and a small yard (Hidden Lake, but I think the prices have gone up). The second time was helping a friend move, in a the middle of a weekday, and there was a huge party going on. He told me it was the reason he was moving out because it happened constantly. I didn't ask, but in retrospect he might have broken his lease to get out because it wasn't July or August that we were moving his stuff. He ended up living in a place that I think is called Sunrise Villas, which was tiny but actually kind of nice.

[biochemaa]

FYI the continuium is expensive, you HAVE to take the furniture, you will be matched with a roommate.  You are not guaranteed a single and they don't go to first time leasers for the most part.  If you like dorm living....

Thanks for the info on Spyglass!

[Ungericht]

Hi guys!

I am deciding between College Station TX (Tamu), Gainesville FL (UF) and Blacksburg. I married, 33 years, and have a dog. I am trying to getter all info I can get from the towns.

How do you guys feel about those towns, I am specially concern about my wife, not going crazy in some place with nothing to do... Any married grad student care to share any thoughts?

Sorry if this sounds repetitive, but I could not found much info about these kind of situations!

Thanks

[ligong]

Hello! I am a new student in the University of Florida. I am looking for apartment recently. How about Campus Lodge Apartments? Does anyone familiar with that place? Is it recommended? Thanks!

[Hopeful0914]

Hello ligong!

 

I went to UF for my undergrad and I lived in Campus Lodge (a 4/4) for 3 years and I loved it. The rent was cheap and I had random roommates each year and I was fine. If I had to do it over, however, I would spend the extra money and get a 2/2 instead of a 4/4 as a grad student. I liked the apartment complex. Fully furnished with everything included, the maintenance staff was great, and each apartment has huge flat screen TVs. 

 

I would suggest staying in the apartments towards the front of the complex near the bus stop for the 35. It is relatively quiet there, great for visitor parking, and close to the bus stop that takes you directly to UF. I had a car but I never really drove it since the Gainesville transportation was good. Campus Lodge is also down the street from a grocery store (Publix) and lots of food places. And it is only about 3 to 5 minutes away from Archer Road which has Walmart, Target, Trader Joe's and most of the restaurants, electronic stores, and clothing stores that are located in Gainesville. It is not close to midtown where all the bars are though so if you are looking for that type of scene then Campus Lodge is not the place. 

 

Overall though, Campus Lodge, in my opinion, isn't that expensive and the apartments are pretty nice for students. I wish they had a complex where I am going for school!

[ligong]

Thank you very much for your kind help, Decaf.  

 

According to the information you provided, Campus Lodge is exactly the place I am looking for, a quiet, safe and convenient place to live in. I have emailed for availability info through the Gainesville Apartment & Condo Guide's website yesterday, but haven't got any response yet. I am a little bit worried that there may not be any available choices left in the apartments near the 35 bus stop...

[Hopeful0914]

I would definitely call. There are lots of apartments by the 35 so they shouldn't have ran out. But most leases aren't up until July 31st so are you won't be able to move in until sometime in mid August. There is also apartments by the 9 bus stop but the visitors parking back there is terrible. If you don't mind sacrificing that then you can request that too (the 9 bus comes faster than the 35 because it has a shorter route).

[Ungericht]

Hi y'all!

I'll be moving to Gainesville in August, starting my PhD at the DCP school. It will be me, my wife and our dog.

We've decided to rent when we arrive at Gainesville, so we are trying to short list our options. Something with 2/2, safe, until 1,500/month. I will have a car, but I would prefer something not isolated from nearby activity.

Well, so far some options called our attention:

Arlington Square in downtown;

Jackson Square in University park/midtown;

Campus Lodge and The Windmeadows in the SW area.

Haile plantations seems pretty interesting, especially near that 'little downtown' they have.

So, anyone could help on this? Opinions/insights about this options?

Thanks for any advice!

[TonyB]

I read somewhere that Gainesville was voted one of the "meanest cities in America" after passing some sort of law restricting soup kitchens or something. What about that? Is it a real conservative/tight-***ed sort of place, or is there another side to the story? Just curious, as I'm considering applying to UF for next fall.

[Soleil ت]

Hi y'all!

I'll be moving to Gainesville in August, starting my PhD at the DCP school. It will be me, my wife and our dog.

We've decided to rent when we arrive at Gainesville, so we are trying to short list our options. Something with 2/2, safe, until 1,500/month. I will have a car, but I would prefer something not isolated from nearby activity.

Well, so far some options called our attention:

Arlington Square in downtown;

Jackson Square in University park/midtown;

Campus Lodge and The Windmeadows in the SW area.

Haile plantations seems pretty interesting, especially near that 'little downtown' they have.

So, anyone could help on this? Opinions/insights about this options?

Thanks for any advice!

 

Ack, sorry that nobody responded to your question. Where did you end up? Welcome to Gainesville! I didn't expect to love it here as much as I do when I moved here in Fall 2013.

 

 

I read somewhere that Gainesville was voted one of the "meanest cities in America" after passing some sort of law restricting soup kitchens or something. What about that? Is it a real conservative/tight-***ed sort of place, or is there another side to the story? Just curious, as I'm considering applying to UF for next fall.

 

Hi TonyB, I haven't heard that story about Gainesville being voted as one of the "meanest cities". In fact, my experiences with Gainesville have been very, very positive. People are very friendly here (until you get on the road, in which case everybody drives like a psychopath -- natives of Gainesville have sworn to me it's because of the students who come from Miami, haha). Anyway, not sure how Florida compares to Ohio, but we do tend to be quite conservative in the STATE but far less so in the CITY. Gainesville is a huge melting pot of all different views, but from what I've seen, it's rather more liberal than the traditional Floridian city. I see you're no longer applying to Florida, but maybe this well help another.

[emmanuel goldstein]

I'm primarily looking at places in the north west, couple in the southwest