After coming back to Gainesville for spring semester, it's hard not to draw comparisons between your time at home over Christmas and the last couple of weeks spent in the Swamp. On lists of "Great Places to Live" or "Most Desirable Places to Visit," Gainesville rarely makes an appearance. But Gainesville is actually a pretty fantastic place to live, even if it's not always picture-perfect or where many of us have called home for more than a couple of years.  Here's why ...

1. Size

Gainesville is what I would consider a small town — there's not much within a 2-mile radius of campus that one would actually consider civilization. While some find that undesirable, I think it's great.  It's nice to be able to walk to midtown, rather than worrying about taking a cab or appointing a designated driver like you would in some of the "big" nightlife cities. Another thing that's great is being able to drive to Taco Bell and back home in a matter of minutes.  Gainesville packs a lot of great stuff in its small area, and it makes for a pretty convenient lifestyle.

2. Location

Florida can be pretty much divided into three separate states; South Florida, Central Florida and North Florida.  While South Florida is largely South American in its influences and North Florida is tied to the American South (with Central Florida having a decidedly more West Coast-flair), Gainesville doesn't really fall into any of these categories. It's far enough from Central Florida that it feels distinctly different, but well-developed enough to distinguish itself from the surrounding North Florida towns. No matter where you come from, Gainesville has a unique feel that gives you enough of a feeling of being away from home without actually being too far from most places in Florida.  

3. UF

Obviously this seems like a no-brainer, but the University's benefit extends from just campus' jurisdiction. Being a college town, there are  plenty of places to go in Gainesville that are open past 9 o'clock. (It was tough getting used to not having pizza readily available by the slice at three in the morning back home.) But even more important is that there's a sense of unity everywhere you go. The major Florida cities (Jacksonville, Tallahassee, Orlando, Miami, etc.) are so big and diverse that it's hard to find a common unifying theme among the people that live there. But in Gainesville, the Gators are everywhere — everyone is rooting for the same side and almost everyone can connect with the experience of being a UF fan. You can walk into any store, restaurant, club, bar, or home in Gainesville and automatically have something to talk about with anyone who's in there. UF defines this town unlike anything defines any other place in the nation, which makes for another reason to love living here.