I've been "questioned" about my choice to live in Haile Plantation. My realtor would tell you (in her beautiful Southern accent that fits her size 6 dress and poofy hair) "In the end, everybody will go to Haile." She believes it!
Haile is huge. Haile is outside the city limits. (We shouldn't be, but that's another issue.)
And Haile is considered elitist. When you think of Southwest Gainesville, you think of Haile, wealth, snobs, and Doctors driving sport utility vehicles. Nobody rides the bus, nobody hangs their laundry out, and certainly nobody wears second-hand clothing!
Let me set a few facts straight. I need new shoes, my house is a mess, and I have weeds (well, native plants) in my back yard. Haile residents don't stand out with clean or new cars.
Haile covers 1700 acres, only .3% of Alachua County. Haile has 1800 homes with maybe 1,000 yet to come. Lots average four per acre with 300 townhomes, 30 apartments above businesses, and 200 other zero-lot-line homes. Homes start at $60,000 and average $125,000. Haile contributes only 4% to Alachua County's property tax value.
Trails, greenways, commons, and trees are a priority throughout, and groups of neighbors regularly walk, jog, or blade the 3-mile loop.
Haile Village Center hosts lots of businesses within convenient walking distance of all homes. We have street parties, restaurants, Farmers' Markets, and other events that keep our families from automatically jumping into their car to find things to do. You don't have to live here to join the country club, which hosts the only "public" pools within 20 minutes' drive.
Haile has consistently developed in accordance to the latest community standards. The new section hosts interconnecting roads, bike paths, and smaller lots with adjacent park space. In fact, Haile holds numerous awards for it's environmentally sound practices from such places as 1000 friends of Florida, the International Congress for the New Urbanism, and the Florida Association of Realtors. Lt. Governor Buddy McKay recognized Haile for its balance of business, environment, and residential needs.
My point is we are not all that ignorant of urban sprawl, even if we didn't understand that term when we bought our homes. We live here because we value recreation, greenspace, and the strong sense of community inherent in walking, parties, and other outdoor activities. Other neighborhoods echo some of the same themes-We're not alone.
What is negligent is Alachua County allowing continued residential and business construction without the proper supporting infrastructure in place. Infrastructure includes roads, parks, and schools. It also includes utilities, sewer, and other important things, but GRU can charge enough to cover it's own expansion.
Alachua County's Comprehensive Plan requires 3 developed park acres per 1,000 residents, which we have with Poe Springs and Paines Prairie. This standard is ridiculously loose. At our current rate of growth and annexation, we will never add a new park. Ever. We should require 3 acres "within the vicinity of" every 1,000 residents, instead. More than that, we need a comprehensive, countywide recreational system based on rational, non-political principals. Our kids don't care where they live. They just want to bike to a park.
Developers see new schools as a draw for development. We add more kids. We need more money (that we don't have) to build more schools but we haven't built the new school we needed 6 years ago. We're way behind. It's a growth/pinch cycle we have to break for the sake of our children.
("Elementary E" and Wiles Elementary both border Haile Plantation, and re-zoning will be a problem. I hope we don't divide any community in half. One possible solution would be to send grades 3-4-5 to Wiles and K-1-2 to the new school, creating a lower elementary school. (We have enough kids squished into neighboring schools to fill the new school.) That new school might be Haile Lower Elementary, or to shorten it: "Haile's L.ement." But these decisions are yet to be made.)
Plans to widen Tower Road have been on the "5-year plan" since I moved to Florida. The latest raw traffic count puts Tower at 130% of capacity, unless somebody juggled the "capacity" numbers again. Each time you increase the capacity of an intersection, you increase the capacity of the road. The problem is that Tower Road is two lanes wide at most of the subdivision entrances. Frustrated drivers pass on the shoulder, try to cut across school grounds, and other stupid things.
Imagine a beautiful three-lane parkway with landscaped medians, left turn lanes, off-street bicycle lanes, wide pedestrian paths, and carefully planned lighting. Include all the latest transportation techniques to encourage calm, efficient traffic flow. We can't do it. We limit work on Tower Road to drainage and stoplights because we don't have the dollars in the county budget. Further more, we've replaced the traffic light on 24th with a bigger and better one 3 times because we can't afford to do it right the first time.
Each new home adds a need for $2,200 in new roads, parks, and schools. (Some studies go as high as $22,000.) We add new homes per year in Alachua County with no up-front fee of any sort to cover the costs of new services we need. Every one of us pays for each new home.
I've heard, "If you don't want crowds, don't move to Tower Road." I've got news for you! This mess is coming your way! Spring Hills and all the construction North of town is happening. Even you that smugly walk or bike to your job will notice the traffic. And your tax dollars to fix your pet pothole are siphoned off for other projects.
Alachua County doesn't plan beyond the next year. We have no control over how and where we grow, and we cannot provide the infrastructure new growth demands. The comprehensive plan the state requires is negligently tossed aside along with recommendations from staff, volunteer boards, and citizens alike. Mr. Summers had no clue as to why he was ousted. I do.
I'm blaming the problems on Alachua County's failure to control growth, but life in Haile isn't perfect. The covenants prohibit clotheslines. This isn't very progressive, but my laundry molds before it dries, anyway.
And Haile residents don't ride the bus. Unless you are a student, your neighbors don't, either. More of us will ride as bus service continues to improve, and as driving and parking on campus become less attractive.
Haile is not the evil, cancerous blight on the countryside you may want to believe. It's a tight, well-planned community that needs the support of the county around it. It seems close to heaven, but it sure is Haile. (Sorry. I couldn't resist.)
Besides, where else in Gainesville would you put these homes, and the 4,000 new residents we add every year?
We'll have to face that question often enough as Alachua County grows.