Hi, just wondering because I have not toured FSU yet but have toured schools like Penn State, and Indiana if FSU has a great college town(similar to those two). Good sports bars, coffee shops, safe city, and the overall vibe of Tallahassee. North Florida compared to South Florida, just an overall rundown of what to expect in the college town!
Thanks
I’ve visited Tally a couple times and it is amazing. it’s basically a town full of college kids with an amazing campus and great vibe. I might be a little biased but I’m sure that’s what most people will tell you, FSU fans or not.
I have to say the campus is fantastic.
It really depends on what you mean by a college town. Going off your definition, yes and no.
There are a lot of sports bars, especially for a town the size of Tallahassee. There’s a ton of coffee shops. FSU’s campus alone has a bunch of Starbucks, plus an Einstein Bagels, and there are two Dunkin Donuts just off both the east and west side of campus. Plus there’s other coffee places around campus, such as the Sweet Shop on the south side of campus.
Safe? Certain parts of town are and certain really are not. The neighborhood to the north of campus (Frenchtown) is a rough neighborhood. A lot of the neighborhoods along Mission Road are the same (with the exception of The Timbers). Is it any worse than any other town? It really depends. To me the crime rates are high, but I came from a small town.
The City of Tallahassee is very much college-centric, I will say that. This is evident with Friday Night Block Party, the number of people that come to FSU/FAMU games, and with how dead the city can be when the colleges aren’t going, etc. The government is also huge here being the state capital. But really, football is the life of Tallahassee, and FSU is the football team that seemingly everybody roots for.
The campus is very nice and pleasant. The movement in recent years to tear down a number of buildings that don’t fit the style of the campus (Kellum and Smith Halls, the Carraway [Geology] Building) is lending itself to the campus looking more modern. I will say that the student union is small, and can honestly be quite disappointing. A number of the dorms that are on the east side of campus were renovated about 10-12 years ago, and were updated to be more modern while keeping the brick building. New dorm buildings have tried to keep the brick, and it makes things just look more uniform.
One thing I will say, the campus being small and compact is great if you don’t have a car, but if you do have a car, it’s a colossal pain to find parking between like 7:45am and about 4:30pm, so if you have to run errands it’s best to do them outside of the normal class times.
I will say, if you’re from a small town, Tallahassee as a whole will probably feel like a huge upgrade. If you are from a larger city like Orlando, Tampa, or Miami, you’re probably going to feel like you’ve taken a step back. Tallahassee still maintains a lot of the small town feel to it, which I think is because for 4 months out of the year when the colleges are out, the population in town plummets and really makes things feel less crowded.
Oh, and North Florida is way more Southern than South Florida. The saying is that in Florida, to go South (culturally), you have to go North. You’re not very far from the Georgia border or the Gulf Coast. There’s a number of nature spots not only throughout town but in the surrounding areas.
Great run down from Pasbal. Tallahassee is hilly with a scattering of old plantation homes along the 30 min. drive to Georgia. South Florida is flat, sparkly and Caribbean. I like both areas for different reasons.
@Pasbal @TQfromtheU thank you so much for your input, it really helps and appreciated!