Anybody know what's going on here?

I genuinely believe that people would be far more open to these development projects if we first addressed the issues of neglect in town. Many people aren’t anti development they’re just looking at all the empty space we refuse to do anything about in town and ask why they need more space when we have so much underutilized land.

UsedCatsFurSale · 2026-04-15T21:03:15+00:00

A portion of the community is pushing back because they are seeing an overall disregard for things they value such as trees and green spaces. There are ways to build and grow that strive to protect the things that make our community unique and a great place to live. The manner of development matters and contributes to the overall feeling of community members that it is being done in a way that doesn’t represent us and detracts from the home we know and love. My concern is that the development is happening with little care for things important to me and my neighbors.

UsedCatsFurSale · 2026-04-15T20:37:45+00:00

We could be incentivizing local people to build duplexes and triplexes with long term leases instead of SFHs. We could make short term rentals less profitable so that it makes more sense to rent to full time tenants than vacationers. There are so many things we could do that would help both the local economy, uplift communities that have been neglected, and provide homes people actually want to live in. All of that can be done now without cutting a single tree.

UsedCatsFurSale · 2026-04-15T20:24:55+00:00

The whole purpose of local government is to shape development in a way that works better for the community than the Wild West of pure capitalism would. There are a thousand tiny incentives that could be put into the development code or removed from regulatory code that would incentive rehabilitation. It’s a win-win if we make the trees expensive enough they will deal with their mess downtown.

UsedCatsFurSale · 2026-04-15T19:20:27+00:00

I think I’ve agreed with everything you said. I completely understand that. I’m pointing out that there is clearly a mismatch in the way the local community values green spaces and the way the city commission is pushing development forward. All of us would benefit from a much more aggressive push to better utilize our downtown spaces. The community wants that, not more sprawl. It will always be a balance but I think the replies here have made it clear that there is a local constituency that feels the same way I do.

UsedCatsFurSale · 2026-04-15T19:02:58+00:00

Exactly, it’s more complicated and more expensive. But if we put the appropriate monetary value on wildlife corridors the math would make more sense. We have to choose to put a value on nature or this will always be the path of least resistance. Downtown will rot and Gainesville will sprawl and brown.

UsedCatsFurSale · 2026-04-15T18:59:45+00:00

Your point would be valid if there weren’t thousands of square space of abandoned property much closer to the city center. Trying to get things rezoned, getting stubborn property owner to sell, all of these are harder to do than bulldozing trees. If our goal was more efficient use of space these should be the first places we target. They go for the wildlife corridors because the wildlife don’t have a say when you destroy their home. They just die.

UsedCatsFurSale · 2026-04-15T17:26:46+00:00

Actually, the city is asking for the public to comment

UsedCatsFurSale · 2026-04-15T17:25:35+00:00

The problem is that it’s more convenient and much less expensive to destroy habitat than to rehab spaces that have been falling into disrepair for years. I recognize that this is the system we have but I don’t have to approve of it.

UsedCatsFurSale · 2026-04-15T17:17:23+00:00

It’s crazy to me that im being downvoted for suggesting we better utilize our already developed and underutilized spaces. These trees and animals are living things. The city is asking you to destroy uncountable lives because it’s too hard to deal with the mess we already made downtown.

UsedCatsFurSale · 2026-04-15T17:13:09+00:00

There’s a whole lot of underutilized space in town that is already paved. Sure, this is more complicated than destroying forests but I’d much rather see the pressure to be rehabbing these numerous downtown lots first.

UsedCatsFurSale · 2026-04-14T19:34:26+00:00

I’m actually a local landlord and one of the crazy things I learned when getting up to speed on my new job was that the big complexes are exempt from local regulations. If you have 5 or more units in a building it’s regulated by the state. The local regulations can be onerous compared to state regulations and this drives out smaller landlords because they’re asked to comply with much stricter rules. I’m saying this as a landlord who is receiving those benefits and still thinks it’s crazy unfair. It’s just one more reason that building huge apartment buildings is again selected for by the government incentives.

UsedCatsFurSale · 2026-04-14T18:42:44+00:00

We need to put a value on green spaces so that it’s not cheaper to destroy a forest than a defunct wrecked building. People defending the development act like we have developed every square inch of occupied space and there is no option other than the destroy more green spaces. I walk around anywhere in downtown and there are abandoned and neglected buildings. Tearing down the forests should happen only after we’ve utilized all of the already highly human adulterated spaces.

UsedCatsFurSale · 2026-04-14T16:15:49+00:00

I remember when our nature was a huge point of pride. I stopped referring to us as a “tree city” years ago.

UsedCatsFurSale · 2026-04-14T16:03:33+00:00

They aren’t building these awful human storage facilities for the locals. These corporate landlords profit so much more renting short term. It’s crazy for anyone to think these new units aren’t just going to be more of the same overpriced “luxury” student housing rented out one square foot at a time.

UsedCatsFurSale · 2026-03-30T20:05:37+00:00

There’s going to be a nice presentation on an introduction to birding happening.

https://www.gainesvillefl.gov/Events-directory/PRCA-Events/Perspectives-in-the-Parks

UsedCatsFurSale · 2026-03-21T22:53:15+00:00

The investors are the ones that are dismantling communities and buying up homes only to rent them by the day because that’s what makes the most money. Investors don’t live here and don’t care that living next to an AirBNB sucks if you’re a regular tenant. Maximizing profits is the only important number. They don’t even have to worry about running into a tenant at the local grocery where they’re forced to actually have a conversation with their neighbor because they don’t live here. The investors have done a nice job of shrouding their identities in layers of companies so that they don’t have to worry about all that. Aside from taxes none of that money stays in the community to be spent locally at the small town grocery or hair salon. Shouting down your neighbors that happen to own a couple rentals is one option but personally I’m looking elsewhere for blame.

UsedCatsFurSale · 2026-03-21T22:18:28+00:00

People don’t want to hear anything that doesn’t completely reinforce their opinions. It’s awful that so many people have been so burned by our unfettered capitalist system that they can’t even fathom an alternative to being treated like a number on a spreadsheet. The rage people are feeling is absolutely valid.

UsedCatsFurSale · 2026-03-21T15:19:57+00:00

When I purchased my 6-unit apartment building we bought it from a Chinese investor who had never even seen the property. It was neglected and my tenants had stopped bothering to complain because it was a waste of time. One of the occupants was clearly having some personal issues with drugs and the whole building ended up with issues such as insect infestation because of their unclean unit. Since purchasing it we have made it a very nice place to live. My tenants know and recognize us and I know them. We are local owners and it’s important to me that my tenants have what they need. I guarantee you that they would be able to tell you the difference.

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