Gainesville is the largest city in, and the county seat of, Alachua County, Florida, United States as well as the principal city of the Gainesville, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA). The preliminary 2010 Census population count for Gainesville is 124,354.[6]Gainesville is home to the sixth largest campus in the USA, the University of Florida, as well as to Santa Fe College. The Gainesville MSA was ranked as the #1 place to live in the 2007 edition of Cities Ranked and Rated.[7] Gainesville was also ranked as one of the "best places to live and play" in 2007 by National Geographic Adventure.[8] Gainesville was additionally ranked as the 5th meanest city in the USA by the National Coalition for the Homeless twice in a row, in 2004 for its criminalization of homelessness[9] and in 2009 for its ordinance restricting soup kitchens to 130-meals a day.[10]
Reference: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gainesville%2C_Florida