Gainesville + Alachua???

[thehappysmith]

^That seems more likely than consolidation. Alachua is an enormous county, geographically, and I don't see the voters of the smaller towns leaping at the chance to consolidate with the county government so they can all be Gainesville. Someone mentioned Alachua town as a probably holdout; I can't imagine High Springs, Micanopy, or Waldo agreeing to give up their little slices of sovereignty, either. Waldo would have to listen to some consolidated government dominated by people from Gainesville tell them what to do with their speed limits, and that just wouldn't fly.

In Duval County, the Beach communities are sort of a special case. Not only did they avoid consolidation, they're relatively good sized towns on their own with healthy economies. In Baldwin, this is not the case at all; in years past Baldwin town leaders pressed Jacksonville city government to allow Baldwin to annex some land presently in Jacksonville--namely, the 301 strip and the businesses clustered around the 301 exit on I-10. The town struggles to provide services on its own and generally contracts with Jacksonville for most things.

As has happened in Virginia with the independent city thing they have, Baldwin has discovered that being an enclave of a larger city has significant disadvantages. Presently, Florida statutes prohibit enclave cities; this issue has come up most recently with the Midtown neighborhood in St. Pete trying to secede from the city. Midtown would, however, be an enclave, and the state legislature is forbidden from approving such things. It seems to me then that the state leg, which issues city charters, would have a problem with allowing four to six new enclave cities in Alachua County. It might demand the small towns' charters. That's not something that's guaranteed to happen, just a possibility. Certainly it would give residents of the smaller towns pause.

I don't always buy the idea that it would help prevent sprawl, either. Is Davidson County TN free of sprawl? Is Jacksonville free of sprawl? Is there no sprawl in Richmond County (Augusta) Georgia? What about Fayette County Kentucky? Did Carson City put a stop to sprawl when it merged with Kit Carson County? What about Virginia Beach? It certainly has experienced nothing but high-quality urban growth since it absorbed Princess Anne County...

It's a nice theory, but in practice the theory seems to break down an awful lot.

[Rock2uf]

thehappysmith,

I agree somewhat with your last statement. Although, I think Gainesville is a quite different city from many you mentioned. Consolidation will only control sprawl if the city is aggressive with its growth management. Jax, for example, does very little to control/manage growth. The same applies to many, if not all, of the consolidated cities you mentioned.

Gainesville has a pain in the ass development approval process. It has for the past 10-20 years. This has somewhat controlled growth within the city limites. But, the county, until recently, has approved any development that comes across the desk (I exaggerate, but it seemed that way for a long time). The county and city are finally starting to work together in planning the development of areas on the county/city border.

Bottom line, it doesn't look like Gainesville will ever be the only city in Alachua County. I'm not so convinced that consolidation is the perfect solution to growth management anyway. It certainly would not be right for a consolidated Gainesville/Alachua to have a population of 260K. That would be about as realistic as Jax having a population of a million.

[Florida]

^But Jax nearly does have a pop of 1 million.

[Rock2uf]

TaureanJ,

My point is, Jax's population is drastically overstated due to its city/county consolidation. I do think Jacksonville is a great city, but if it had not consolidated, I think its population would be WELL below 1 million.

A city/county consolidated Gainesville would have a population of about 260K, which would give Gainesville a population above both Tallahassee, Orlando, and Tampa. That's not very realistic if you have visited the these cities.

But, you are right, census statistics do show Jax being right at or over 1 million.

[Viper]

TaureanJ,

My point is, Jax's population is drastically overstated due to its city/county consolidation.  I do think Jacksonville is a great city, but if it had not consolidated, I think its population would be WELL below 1 million. 

A city/county consolidated Gainesville would have a population of about 260K, which would give Gainesville a population above both Tallahassee, Orlando, and Tampa.  That's not very realistic if you have visited the these cities. 

But, you are right, census statistics do show Jax being right at or over 1 million.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Urban population shows the city at over ~850,000. City itself is at ~800,000 and metro at ~1.3 million.

[dgreen]

Kind of like Augusta, GA having a pop. of 450K.

What is Gainesville's popualation? 125-150k?

[Rock2uf]

Gainesville's official population is right at 100K. Including immediate suburbs, 125-140K I'd guess.

[KendallKid]

Gainesville's official population is right at 100K. Including immediate suburbs, 125-140K I'd guess.

Exactly Correct including immidiate SubUrbs roughly 140,000. Thats why this place empties out durign football games.

[DavePaulk]

What is the population of Orlando, I find it hard to believe that it is less than 260,000. BTW, you better believe Jax is that big.