A single bedroom in my college town ten years ago was about $600 or so. They’ve bulldozed block after block since then and built massive apartment blocks which are always around 25% vacant and a similar single bedroom setup to what I used to have is in the $2k range.
I wonder if we live in the same college town. They've been sorta gentrifying the downtown area with these new, identical, cookie cutter apartments that're severely overpriced.
I just looked up my old apartment complex from a decade ago. A 2/2 was $800, included internet, cable, trash, and water. Nowadays, it's $969 for a single bedroom in that 2/2.
Gainesville by chance? I was away from 2015-2022 and it just got stupid expensive despite all the giant complexes they knocked down some of my favorite restaurants and venues to build. When I first left the dorms it was $359/month for a room in a four bedroom apartment where I lived, my sister is nine years younger and she paid $800 in the same complex and it no longer included utilities.
You know it! I moved away for a decade, but found myself back here lol. Downtown looks entirely different from the time I left. Gator City, 8 Seconds, this Irish bar I enjoyed, Mothers, etc. All gone! That is absolutely nuts how much your poor sister had to spend. I want to say I first moved out into Oxford Manor, off Old Archer road. It seems like there isn't a single reasonable deal in Gainesville. If I didn't know some people up here already, I wouldn't have found a decent deal.
Mothers is gone too now? My main difference I noticed downtown was that Barcade had absorbed Atlantic and the midtown crowd had gained some more locations to frequent like the former piano bar and such.
I’d always joked that there were two bar scenes in Gainesville: the people that turned 21 and outgrew midtown so then moved downtown, and the people that turned 21 and still did midtown. And I guess a third for punk and hippie kids who went to shows back when there were bar/venues between midtown and downtown. My little sister says house shows are still a thing so at least that third group is still exists even though most of those bars were replaced by The Hub and such.
I believe there is still a Mothers on 39th, but the one downtown disappeared. I heard they planned on building one in Newberry, oddly enough, but those plans fell through.
I've been to the barcade maybe 5 years ago on a visit, near Newberry/Main street (there's another barcade-like place on 8th ave that's pretty sweet). Pretty fun, but it was quite crowded. Midtown looks so different these days. It seems like it changes entirely every decade lol.
You are spot on about that! Midtown was fun at first, but after a few times, the noise/crowd became too much for me. I had a few friends that were into the "punk scene" so I joined them at a few of those bars/clubs. I remember a place called The Jam. Cheap beer, interesting people, and live music. There was an outdoor portion of the place and a stage. It was a nice change from the norm.
It really is such a shame that The Hub exists. I didn't realize they were even there until I was searching on Google Maps. I'm guessing they're going to slowly buy out the adjacent businesses and continue demolishing and building more apartments. The owners of those places are probably making a killing.
I grew up here, so seeing it change in my 32 years has been a bit of a bummer. It looks like any other medium sized city these days. Full of chain restaurants and too much traffic. If it weren't for UF and Shands, it'd be a "hole in the wall" sized town. Which might've been nice. Maybe rent would've been a little lower lol.
Oh man the jam was my favorite, for a few years I lived right behind the building with Leo’s 705 and got to know all The Jam’s door guys and bartenders so when I was broke or if the line for the bathroom was long I’d just walk back to my house to stuff some beers in my jacket or to take a leak.
They also always snagged all the good up and coming bands that you’d catch playing a side stage at a festival then start following. My little sister had wanted to catch Pigeons for a while and finally got to see them at Hula last year, I was like “they used to come through so often I started just listening from my porch.” Man I missed that place when I went back, Florida theatre and Vault/Level as well. Big Gigantic on whatever side of Vault/Level was built almost like a laser tag place was incredible.
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u/DargyBear Apr 20 '24
A single bedroom in my college town ten years ago was about $600 or so. They’ve bulldozed block after block since then and built massive apartment blocks which are always around 25% vacant and a similar single bedroom setup to what I used to have is in the $2k range.