How do you guys accept the College students?

[fsubelch]

I have recently graduated from FSU and am sticking around and becoming an offical Tallahassee resident. This got me thinking. How does the community accept the college students in this town. Personally, now that I am out of school, and still living in a "college apartment" (until my lease is up) I find it really annoying. I am so ready to get out of the college atmosphere. From a community stand point how do you guys feel with having so many college students in your, now I can say "our" town?

[Monticello-1827]

I am a former FSU student who stuck around so I can identify with you. After I graduated I was tired of the "college scene" so my fiance and I moved to another part of Tallahassee. When we did that our view of the community changed. FSU and all that it entails, the strip etc., are pretty well contained and once you leave that area you may not have to go on that side of town for months... except for a game at Doak. Welcome to Tallahassee for the foreseable future!

[poonther]

FSU grad here who left for years and now has returned. FSU and what it has to offer is part of the reason for my return.

Both universities are pretty well contained on the west and south sides of town like Monti stated. I live pretty close to both those areas so I adventure in to both those sides of town. I enjoy having college students here in town and the life it brings w/it. I am glad to see the majority of the students go home for the summer just to give us all a little break, but I'm always happy to see them return in the fall.

I would not want to live in the student sections of town. I wish the mega apt. complexes for students would stay near the universities and not pop up all over town. I think Tenn. St. between Ocala and Blountstown Hwy. is a prime area for these type of mega developments. We do need to protect some of our single family residential neighborhoods from over-development and use by student housing, however I think COT made a mistake and should have just rezoned all of the P'cola street area around Rivoli and Chapel. I also wish students would take a little more pride in their surroundings and stop littering so much.

I realize that the student population is an economic engine for Tally and I'm very appreciative of that fact.

[Florida]

belch,

Like you I recently graduated and I'm kinda "stuck" in my apartment until my lease is up. Good news is I've recently signed a contract to purchase a home in another area of town with fewer college students. I don't think I'll ever be completely free of them simply because of my desire to stay near the center of town and that being the area where students are now congregating. That said, I have to second what monti, said from personal experience. Except mine was the other way around. I grew up in the Tallahassee that everyone desires, where the residents live in quiet, clean, safe neighborhoods and the schools are great. THEN I moved over to the west side for College and have experienced for the past 4 years a side of Tallahassee I never knew existed. You'll find it much nicer when you join the ranks of the residents in other areas of town.

I find some major problems of mine when it comes to college students:

1. They don't take good care of property if renting in a single family neighborhood, OR a community without Home Owners Associations which could also include certain apartments, and condos.

2. They are often inconsiderate when it comes to parties and noise

3. They are terrible in traffic. As if everywhere they go, they've got to drive like idiots.

Other than those three major problems, I think the community is accepting of them.

[missnic]

I avoid the entire area west of Monroe Street.

As a former student, I've always hated that side of town. It's crowded and nobody can drive. And don't get me started on game days.

[Florida]

I avoid the entire area west of Monroe Street.

As a former student, I've always hated that side of town. It's crowded and nobody can drive. And don't get me started on game days.

[SkyDave]

Out of sight ....out of mind!

I almost never venture to that side of town unless for business purposes. The COT has the student world self -contained. They see only one view of Tallahassee and we residents see and experience another Tallahassee.

However, I welcome all students and love it in the fall when they return and give Tallahassee renewed energy.

[Go Gators]

Out of sight out of mind sums it up well SD

I never thought I would stay in Tallahassee my first two years of school. But as I got older, the town grew on me. Ive been here, and love it. If you basically stay "east of Monroe" it is "too far" for students, and you dont see them as much. I havent been by campus much, except for when the Gators are in town, then I go watch them. But it really is like two seperate towns once you graduate. Congratulations!

[poonther]

I read what you guys are saying about enjoying FSU/FAM here, but staying away most of the time from the area of town where they are located and that makes me wonder.....Are we (myself included) correct in doing this? Is it really healthy for our town to have university areas that operate sort of like an island? Would it not be better for "town-n-gown" to mix a little more in our social activities? I'm not talking about a constant mixing of the two groups, but a little more than what we are doing now which is basically sporting activities only.

Would the mixing of the "Two Tallys" help improve the aesthetics of the areas around FSU? Would it help the locals take more ownership of FSU and the students take more ownership in the city? Would it help a tad more w/the brain drain? Yes I realize that 99.9% of that answer is high-paying jobs. Would this mixing make for a better city and better place to live?

It also makes me wonder if Gaines were ever built, would it function the way it should...locals and students there together or would the "Monroe Curtain" still be in effect and most would not cross it?

Finally is this just the way it should be and no matter what you do, it will always remain this way? The examples of Auburn and Athens (which of course are considerably smaller than us) make me think this isn't true.

[bahmo]

I spent six years in Gainesville and have now lived in Tallahassee for 8 of the last 10 years. The first 6 years I lived here, I lived among the students on Ocala Road. I used to think that anything on Apalachee was completely out of the way, and I rarely went anywhere further east than Governor's Square or further north than I-10. Now that I live on the east side (near Mahan and Cap Cir), I rarely go back to the student side for anything other than lunch (ride my scooter through campus to go to Arby's).

My experience in Gainesville was much different, and I always have felt that Gainesville had a much stronger sense of being one community than Tallahassee. However, I think that is because Gainesville is almost entirely a company town. Everything revolves around UF. Here, as big as FSU and FAMU are, there is an equally big (if not bigger) influence from the state government. It didn't matter what you did in Gainesville, UF was the central influence. Here, state government can keep your thoughts occupied enough so that you can forget all about the major universities here, and those universities are big enough for the staff and students to focus solely on university issues. It's almost like having two separate cities bordering each other.

[convulso]

My experience in Gainesville was much different, and I always have felt that Gainesville had a much stronger sense of being one community than Tallahassee. However, I think that is because Gainesville is almost entirely a company town. Everything revolves around UF. Here, as big as FSU and FAMU are, there is an equally big (if not bigger) influence from the state government.

[josefk]

I read what you guys are saying about enjoying FSU/FAM here, but staying away most of the time from the area of town where they are located and that makes me wonder.....Are we (myself included) correct in doing this? Is it really healthy for our town to have university areas that operate sort of like an island? Would it not be better for "town-n-gown" to mix a little more in our social activities? I'm not talking about a constant mixing of the two groups, but a little more than what we are doing now which is basically sporting activities only.

Would the mixing of the "Two Tallys" help improve the aesthetics of the areas around FSU? Would it help the locals take more ownership of FSU and the students take more ownership in the city? Would it help a tad more w/the brain drain? Yes I realize that 99.9% of that answer is high-paying jobs. Would this mixing make for a better city and better place to live?

It also makes me wonder if Gaines were ever built, would it function the way it should...locals and students there together or would the "Monroe Curtain" still be in effect and most would not cross it?

Finally is this just the way it should be and no matter what you do, it will always remain this way? The examples of Auburn and Athens (which of course are considerably smaller than us) make me think this isn't true.

Poonther, I think the point you're making is incredibly important and very relevant. With programs like the Knight Creative Communities Initiative and the Chamber's Access Tallahassee for young professionals, it's clear that Tallahassee is moving in the right direction and that (at least some) of our community leaders are dedicated to making concerted efforts to recruit and retain some of these individuals after graduation notwithstanding the pay-related issues. That notwithstanding, I believe that in order to better realize the goals of programs like these, we should focus more efforts on reaching out to, and yes- socializing with, these talented individuals earlier on and throughout their college careers. If we can successfully integrate more of these individuals into the discussions important to the future and direction of Tallahassee and truly make them feel like a vital part of our community through socializing, mentoring and programming with interested people like those on this board and some of our more motivated, energetic, creative community leaders throughout their undergraduate and graduate years, I believe we can help more of them appreciate not only the wonderful city that Tallahassee is, but also that they can become a vital part of a shared vision of what Tallahassee and the surrounding areas have the ability and potential to become.

I know this all sounds a little rah-rah (okay, a lot), but if we want to attract more of these individuals to stay, become a part of our community and provide more ideas and initiative to our local economy, we've got to start working at it beginning in their first or second year on campus, and not wait until a few months before graduation to show them that Tallahassee is a lot more than the small radius that most of us who went to school here experienced day-to-day.

[Florida]

you guys are shattering some of my long-held ideals of tally's near-perfection. thanks a lot!

[poonther]

josefk good post. While your post may seem like cheerleading, there is a ton of truth in what you've said. I remember reading Stacey Getz's blog "Let's Talk Tally" about trying to recruit students over at FSU. She stated that almost no local companies were there. She also stated that many students over there are just dying for internships in their chosen fields and will work for free or very little money and that no one or no structure is set up between FSU/FAM and COT businesses to help this happen.

Wow TJ very surprising post from you buddy. I agree w/you 100% Do you know if code enforcement is being stepped up in that area? I've heard it from COT, but I was wondering if that was just good P/R lip service?

convulso Tally is a little different in its make-up than the other college towns you mentioned, specifically Auburn, Oxford, Statesville and even Tuscaloosa, Gainesville and Athens (which soon will be swallowed whole by the beast that is ATL.) Those cities like bahmo stated are one-company towns or almost one company towns. We are not. We have two big universities FSU which is bigger than any SEC school besides UF and FAMU which is bigger than the smaller ACC and SEC schools. So right there our allegiances are divided. Then we have that other big gorilla in town: State Government of the 4th largest state and that brings in folks from all over that have no allegiance to either school. So because of this different make-up, we are not as unified towards the one-school like the other towns you mentioned. Heck as you can tell from this board, we even let Gators live, work and walk in the daylight here.

I know this would not work in Auburn b/c I come from a long line of War Eagle/Tigers. On a quick count in my head, I can think of over 20 folks in my family that graduated from AU since 1945 and many before that in it's days of being API. Anyway I know that Bama folks can't be as vocal or open in Auburn as Gators can here. Same goes for the other very small college towns. Bttm line: City of Auburn IS AU and AU IS City of Auburn. That's really not the case here. We are more in line w/cities like Knoxville, Columbia, and Nashville.

Also based on your post and my knowledge of Auburn, I'd say you and your son live either on College or Magnolia or very close to that area (Toomer's Corner.)

War Eagle!

Go Noles!

[convulso]

^ lol - directly above the new 17-16 bar on magnolia.

thanks for the responses, fellas.

[poonther]

17-16 bar

[EbonyGardens]

I graduated from Flagler College-Tallahassee and I feel the community is pretty accepting of college students. From an economic standpoint it would be foolish not to. Yes they drive like morons but so does most of Tallahassee (excluding myself). I was never into the college atmosphere, it gets old quickly.

[fivesfella]

good explanation. i am curious, being pretty familiar with some parts of tallahasse but not others: do ALL the FSU students live in the newish multistory apartment megacomplexes (i.e., the kind you see only in apartment guide booklets)? is there literally no one living in some of the older, sorta crummy upstairs areas above businesses nearby? in cheap little houses that haven't yet been sold to a developer? mini-complexes or duplexes formed by walling off a large older house / mansion? i can't imagine that tallahassee has no students living this way near campus.