Well, I've lived in Gainesville for 16 years, maybe I can help.

And yes, there have been a lot of good bands started here, they all went to my High School in fact...

Anyway, its a pretty... interesting place.

You have downtown, along University Ave., which is the most interesting place. Lot of thrift shops, LOT of bike shops. Archer Rd. has a lot of shopping place like Best Buy and whatnot. NW Newberry Rd. is where the mall is, a cool place to go.

For biking you have craploads of extra-wide bike lanes and concrete. You also have the Gainesville-Hawthorne trail. 16 miles of sweet 10' wide concrete.

The best cycling club in the Southeast, The Gainesville Cycling Club is here. Weekly events pretty much. Club fee is $15 a year, so nice. They also host a Brevet Series, and 4-5 century rides a year. www.gainesvillecyclingclub.org

If you are a student at UF, you can join the national-championship cycling team. They have rides twice a day, seven days a week. A very good team to be on. http://grove.ufl.edu/~cycling/

Hope I have been informal enough!

~Scott