Gainesville Awards & Recognition

Gainesville is known as an innovative municipal government and an innovative city. Gainesville continues to receive national recognition as a top-rated city. Some of Gainesville's accolades are listed below

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2023

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2022

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2020

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2019

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2018

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2017

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2016

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2015

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2014 and Prior

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Gainesville ranks no. 12 "small metros" on the Milken Institute's Best Cities' for Successful Aging report, Nov. 2014
Gainesville ranks no. 37 on Bicycling magazine's list of the Top 50 Bike-Friendly Cities, Sept. 2014
Gainesville ranks no. 3 on Forbes' list of 10 Best and Worst Cities for Work-Life Balance, Aug. 2014
Gainesville ranks no. 12 on Bloomberg's list of Top 25 Bike-to-Work Cities, Aug. 2014
Gainesville ranks no. 14 on FiveThirtyEight.com's list of top public transit cities, July 2014
Gainesville listed on Kiplinger's list of 10 Great College Towns to Retire to, July 2014
Gainesville ranks no. 5 on Movoto.com's list of Top 10 Best Places to Live in Florida, May 2014
Gainesville ranks no. 35 on Livability.com's Top 100 Best Places to Live, Jan. 2014
Gainesville ranks no. 5 "small metros" in "The AIER College Destinations Index," Nov. 2013
Gainesville ranks no. 6 on NerdWallet.com's list of 10 Cities with the Fastest Growing Incomes in America, Oct. 2013
Gainesville ranks no. 34 on Livability.com's Top 100 Best Places to Live, Oct. 2013
Gainesville ranked no. 6 on the Milken Institute's Best Cities for Successful Aging (small metros), Aug. 2013
Gainesville ranked no. 4 on Sparefoot.com's list of America's Fastest Growing College Towns, Aug. 2013
Gainesville featured on SafeWise.com's list of Four Cities Taking Small Steps to Make Big Changes in the Environment, Aug. 2013
Gainesville ranked no. 1 on NerdWallet.com's Top 10 Cities on the Rise, Aug. 2013
Gainesville ranked no. 3 on Livability.com's Top 10 College Towns 2013, Aug. 2013
Gainesville ranked no. 2 on NerdWallet.com's list of America's Fastest Growing Cities, June 2013
Gainesville recognized on Forbes' list of 25 Best Places to Retire in 2013, Feb. 2013
Gainesville noted in Retirement Living: College Towns Lure Boomers, Jan. 2013
Gainesville recognized on list of Six Best Cities for Young Professionals to Start a Career, Sept. 2012
Gainesville recognized on MSN's list of Best College Towns for Adult Job-Seekers, Sept. 2012
Gainesville recognized as bronze level Walk Friendly Communities, Sept. 2012
Gainesville ranked on AARP's list of 10 Best Places to Live on $100 a Day, July 2012
Gainesville ranked no. 17 on The Atlantic Cities' America's Leading Creative Class Metros list, July 2012
Gainesville ranked no. 1 in Florida and no. 101 nationally on Forbes' list of The Best Places for Business and Careers, June 2012
Gainesville ranked no. 14 on The Atlantic Cities' America's Brainiest Cities list, June 2012
Gainesville ranked no. 13 on Huffington Post's list of Communities for Retirement, May 2012
Gainesville ranked no. 8 on Amazon's list of Well-Read Cities, May 2012
Gainesville ranked no. 6 on The Atlantic Cities' Best Places for New College Grads list, May 2012
Gainesville ranked no. 23 on The Daily Beast's list of America's Greenest Cities 2012, April 2012
Gainesville ranked no. 6 in nation of the hardest working cities in America by PARADE magazine in March 2012
Gainesville ranked no. 19 in nation (no. 1 in Florida) in best commute times in "American Community Survey," a report issued by the U.S. Census Bureau, Jan. 2012
Gainesville ranked high in book titled "For the Love of Cities," April 2011
Gainesville ranked no. 7 on the top 25 greenest cities in the U.S. by The Daily Beast, April 2011
Alachua County ranked no. 16 of healthiest counties in Florida, March 2011
Gainesville ranked no. 8 of mid-sized cities on the "2010 State of Well-Being" report by Gallup-Healthways, March 2011
Gainesville ranked no. 9 on the "Top Ten Best College Towns" by ParentsandColleges.com, Dec. 2010
Gainesville ranked no. 14 of "America's Top 25 Smartest Cities" by Portfolio.com, Dec. 2010
Gainesville named one of five cities "Where to Retire," Oct. 2010
Gainesville ranked on the 2010 Milken Institute Best-Performing Cities Index (ranked first in Florida and 86th nationally), Oct. 2010
Gainesville named on the "10 Amazing Local Farmers Markets" target="_blank" list, Livability.com, Sept. 2010
Alachua County named one of the nation's 100 Best Communities for Young People by America's Promise Alliance, Sept. 2010
Gainesville ranked no. 1 "Top 10 College Towns: Great Cities for School & Life After Graduation" by Livability.com, Sept. 2010
Four local high schools (three in Gainesville) ranked on Newsweek's Best High Schools list, June 2010
Gainesville ranked no. 16 of "America's Top 50 Bike-Friendly Cities" by Bicycling Magazine, May 2010
Gainesville named one of the "Best Places to Work Out" by Men's Health, March 2010
Gainesville ranked no. 11 "gayest city" in The Advocate, Feb. 2010
Gainesville ranked no. 4 "small metros" in "The AIER College Destinations Index," Sept. 2009
Gainesville named one of 13 of "America's Best College Towns," Sept. 2009
Gainesville named no. 10 "mighty micro" in "Next Cities: The 60 U.S. Hotspots for Young, Talented Workers," July 2009
Gainesville named nation's first Butterfly City, June 2009
Smithsonian Names Gainesville "Where to Live Next," 2008
Black Enterprise magazine ranks Gainesville 13th on their "Top 20 Best Places to Retire," 2008
Gainesville Ranks #1 in Cities Ranked and Rated, which studied more than 400 metropolitan areas in the U.S. and Canada, 2007
Named the "No. 1 Place to Retire During an Economic Downturn" by SmartMoney.com, 2008
Ranked 22 on Forbes.com's list of "America's Smartest Cities," 2008
Named one of the "50 Best Places to Live and Play" by National Geographic Adventure magazine, 2007
NuWire Investor ranked Gainesville #3 on their list of "Top 10 Small College Towns for Investment," 2007
Gainesville's Eastside High School Ranks Top Six in the Nation, Newsweek's Best High Schools rankings, 2006
Nineteen Gainesville Area Schools Receive Most Improved in FCAT writing scores, 2006
Top Ten Cities in the USA for Outdoor Activities, Sperling's Best Places, 2005
Most Technologically Advanced City in Florida (30th in the nation), 2005
Growth Management Pilot Community, 2005
Downtown Festival & Art Show ranked #40 in nation by Greg Lawler's Art Fair Sourcebook, 2005
Tree City USA, National Arbor Day Foundation, annually since 1984
Silver-Level Bicycle-Friendly Community Award, League of American Bicyclists, annually since 2004
#3 Mid-Market City, 100 Top Deals and Hot Markets, Southern Business & Development Magazine, 2004
#11 of the Top 15 Best Places to Reinvent Your Life, AARP Magazine, 2003
Gold Well City USA Award, Wellness Councils of America, 2003
#1 Best Place to Live in America, Money Magazine, 1995