- Traffic sucks, Especially for such a small town.
- There are a few good restaurants but overall nothing special. Too many chains.
- The ghetto is huge, and there is a major ghetto effect.
- Schools mostly suck (I realize some are good)
- To counter the ghetto side, there are equally as many slack jawed yokels.
- Air travel is expensive and sparse.
- With the exception of the redneck rivera the close travel options don't interest me much.
- The proximity to decently large cities is less than optimal.
I have to disagree with some of your points. In fact, I’d say that many of your negative comments apply to the area near the FSU campus, not the balance of Tallahassee.
Traffic is not bad. It totally depends on where you live and are employed. If you live in any of the several neighborhoods off Thomasville road south of I-10, then your downtown commute is 5 minutes. People live in the high rise condos downtown these days too. Even if you live northeast of town, traffic still moves quickly. Every single big city in Florida is 10x worse than Tally, IMO. I’ve driven in them.
I agree on the restaurants somewhat, but it has gotten better the last few years. There are several good local restaurants around town serving local fare these days. Most are casual-ish. Most are smallish. But the food is good. I agree that there are not many any real upscale fine dining restaurants. Heck, are there any?
I agree that Tallahassee has some ghetto, especially near FSU’s campus, but it’s like any other town. You typically stay away from the bad areas. Lots of great, safe areas around town, especially on the northeast part of town.
I disagree on schools. They actually have rep for being very good. Leon county teachers are often some of the most overqualified teachers in the business in terms of education level. There are some really good private options as well.
There’s a lot of necks in surrounding counties. Tally is like an island in that regard.
Agreed that the airport stinks. Might be the worst part about Tally. Nothing else needs to be said.
In terms of local, travel, I love the forgotten coast. Apalachicola has some great charm. Little charming old Florida town with a long history. Great seafood. I’m afraid that people are going to really discover it one day. Fishing out of Carabelle is excellent. Dog Island is unspoiled beautiful. St. George is nice. St. Marks is easy to access to get to the water quickly if you like boating,
New Orleans and Atlanta are all less than a 6 hour drive. Get in the car early morning, you are there by afternoon. Tampa, Orlando and Jax are all less than 4 hour drive. Destin and 30-A are easily accessible.
Great place to live if you are into anything outdoors. Hunting, fishing, camping, boating, biking, hiking, kayaking are all great. The City parks, including new Cascades, are great. Plenty of green space. The nearby rivers and springs are also beautiful.
The Red Hills plantations are really cool.
Hills, canopy roads, and some history.
The nightlife has improved significantly over the last 10 years. FSU provides a great amount of sports, musical and theater entertainment for a midsize town. The Midtown and Gaines areas have a lot going on in terms of varied destinations. There are now some great local breweries, like Proof, Ology and Deep. Plenty of live music venues these days, including Bradfordvlle Blues Club, Cascades, Fifth and Thomas, and several other small venues near campus. Not a great place for mega acts though.
Hot as hades in August and September. Sucks. Nice in the winter if you like a little change of seasons,
Overall great place to live and raise a family.
) years ago and maybe 100,000 people lived there. Health care was very sketchy and there were few places to shop. Tally is SO different now.
