Whether you’ve been here in Gainesville for a few days or a few decades, whether you’re already looking for the exits or trying to put down roots, whether you’re a casual bystander or hip deep in local culture, you are a part of Gainesville’s story, and Gainesville is a part of yours.
Harvey Ward welcomes students to Gainesville.
Welcome back to fall in Gainesville! Yes, I know it’s technically still summer, and I know it’s still hot. It’s going to be this way for a bit, but I promise you there’s no better place to be than right here in Gator Country right now.
Over the course of the past few weeks, it became obvious to anyone paying attention that the national crisis in chronic homelessness was manifesting itself in a couple of new tent camps, including one downtown on SE Fourth Place — literally on the street itself. As mayor, I knew my colleagues on the Gainesville City Commission and I had to act, but I also knew we were fiscally restrained, in the middle of an unusually challenging budget year.
More than 40 years ago, private investment abandoned East Gainesville. But in 2023, after years of planning, dreaming and negotiating, we said “enough,” and we’re seeing the fruits of collaboration bloom to serve our “out East” neighbors.
This past week the City of Gainesville, along with many other cities and counties across the coastal south, dealt with the effects of Hurricane Idalia. Gainesville and Alachua County were fortunate to miss the worst of the storm, but the sound of chainsaws could be heard across the city as fallen trees and limbs were cleared from roads, lawns and, yes, homes.
When it comes to climate change here in Gainesville, it often seems like we’re whistling past the graveyard.
Solutions by The State News
