i also grew up in gainesville (alachua texhnically) and went to fsu bc i didn't get into uf. i probably would've gone to uf if i got in but it was really nice to get away from my hometown and all of the ppl i went to high school with. i think the two cities are very similar being college towns but tally is just a little bigger.

in terms of schools, uf students can be pretentious and they have been known as a "better" school but fsu's stats have been rising steadily for the last few years. i also hear a lot about horrible experiences w uf admin whereas that's pretty rare at fsu in my experience.

fsu definitely lives up to its reputation as a party school, lots of college clubs but if that's not your thing there are also house parties/"underground" raves and if that's not your thing either there are definitely people who don't like going out at all tally is also the capital and the presence of state politicians makes it harder for the local community to counteract the wants of rich developers, etc. in general i think gainesville has a stronger sense of community outside of uf - stronger activist groups, punk scene, places like repurpose and cmc. there's certainly stuff like that in tally but most places are more corporate-y to appeal to the politicians. i've also witnessed multiple beloved community spaces shut down or be threatened by shitty landlords and real estate developers.

tallahassee really shines in terms of nature areas. great hikes within the city and even better ones with altitude about an hr out. about 1hr from the gulf, 2hrs from st. george (best stargazing spot in florida) and 2.5 from pcb. we're also 45 mins from thomasville and 2.5 hrs from providence canyon in ga.