Whether you are a student looking for the best off campus housing near FSU or off campus housing at FAMU, a family who wants to be near good schools, or an office professional looking to limit your work commute, you will find all the information about neighborhoods in Tallahassee right here. Use our maps, tips, and neighborhood descriptions to find the perfect fit for your lifestyle.

Tips for Getting Around Tallahassee:

  • Tennessee Street and Monroe Street are main roads, but they have lots of traffic lights. While they may look like the most direct route on a map, they tend to take longer.
  • Tennessee Street is also called 90 or "Tenn Street", and Monroe Street is also known as 27.
  • Use I-10 to get across town and avoid surface street traffic lights.
  • Capital Circle is exactly what the name says – it circles the city. Make sure you pay attention to north-east/south-east and south-east/south-west designations or you may find yourself going in the wrong direction.
  • Tallahassee is known for its beautiful canopied roads, but they can be intimidating for drivers who aren't used to navigating them. The roads are narrow, covered by trees, and have little or no shoulder. New or insecure drivers may want to skip Old Bainbridge and other canopy roads until they feel more comfortable driving around town.

Get your bearings before you start searching for an apartment:

  • Tallahassee is not a large city, but the few main streets get very congested around rush hours and game days. You will find that certain routes are much quicker as different times of the day. When in doubt, avoid main arteries like Tennessee Street, Monroe Street, and Appalachia Parkway. They all have tons of lights and heavy traffic during peak drive times
  • If you live anywhere near the Florida State Stadium you will have to pay attention to the Seminole's football schedule. Tallahassee loves its college football, and traffic will be often diverted and very heavy on game days. Tennessee Street, Tharpe Street and Pensacola Street will all be very congested.
  • Downtown is not as much the heart of Tallahassee the way it can be in larger cities. Downtown consists of office buildings, the Capital, and a few small shops and restaurants that mostly cater to the business professionals that work downtown. It is home to the Downtown Get Down, a weekly tailgate during college football season. If you are looking for places to eat and shop you will find lots of options on Appalachia Parkway.
  • Tallahassee does not have as many easily defined sections of as some cities. Killiarn, Midtown, and Southside are a few areas of town, but you may also hear “near campus”, “off of Fred George and Monroe” or “off of Park” as opposed to Northside or Westside.
  • The actual city limits of Tallahassee covers a very small area, only about 100 square miles. Any land inside of Leon county as a whole is referred to as Tallahassee. Nearby cities and suburbs of Leon County include Crawfordville, Havana, Woodville, Midway, and Monticello. These areas are more rural and some residents choose to commute in favor of larger land plots.

Get to know…College Town

College Town is most popular for being known as the home of Florida State University. Go Noles! While this large state university is the anchor location in this Tallahassee region, neighboring educational institutions aren't too far, including Tallahassee State College (TSC) and Florida Agricultural Mechanical University (FAMU). This part of the city is über-focused on academic life and caters heavily to the student demographic & the educators and staff that support them. With easy access to a variety of shopping, dining, and recreational options within walking distance, College Town is the perfect fit for those that are looking to merge the convenience of living near campus with the undeniable perks of off-campus life. And for those non-student residents, you can't beat the convenience of living close to your place of employment! While there may be quieter neighborhoods for professionals, this area might appeal to you if you desire to be part of the energy of daily university life.

Perks of Living in College Town

With this region of Tallahassee being student-centric, this neighborhood's services and activities are targeted to meet the needs of the busy college student. Not only are you just a brisk walk or bus ride to FSU, but there are countless shopping and dining options for even the most budget conscious student. Here, you'll find a variety of student-friendly living options, whether you're looking for your own space or a place to share with friends. College Town neighborhood borders both Downtown and Midtown Tallahassee, allowing for quick and easy access to attractions like Florida's Historic Capitol, the Museum of Florida History, Downtown Tallahassee's Art District, and Governor's Square Mall.

Student Apartment Life

Often, one of the first decisions you'll want to make is to determine if you'd like to share your College Town apartment with roommates. Apartments in Tallahassee offer two types of leases: individual and joint. Many of the Tallahassee student apartments offer individual leases. Those that sign this type of lease are held individually responsible for their portion of the rent. If your roommate doesn't complete their semester or otherwise doesn't pay their portion of the rent, you aren't held liable. Conversely, a joint lease (or an entire apartment) will typically cost less per person and allows complete control over who lives in the apartment. With a joint lease, ALL residents of the apartment are held equally responsible for the rent due and upkeep of the home, making this type of lease the most popular for non-student apartments in Tallahassee.

Looking for roommates? Many student apartments offer great roommate matching services and they'll work to connect you with people who have similar interests and habits. Keep in mind, your apartment community will offer MANY ways to help you develop relationships and connect with your neighbors so take advantage of those opportunities! Perhaps a trip to the community pool, fitness center, or clubhouse for a game of pool will help break the ice.

Shopping and Dining Options

Whether you have a meal plan or not, the College Town area offers great dining options perfect for lunch with friends, a snack break during midterms, or dinner with the family when they come to visit. Luckily, there are a plethora of dining options in your immediate vicinity if you live in College Town. Head over to Gordo's for authentic Cuban cuisine, Pho 7 for delicious Vietnamese, Cancun's Sports Bar for $1 taco Tuesday, Gaines Street Pies for pizza until 3 a.m. and just about any restaurant on Madison Street for a deal of the day! If you find your refrigerator lacking groceries, there are also many stores to cater to your needs. Publix on Ocala Road, Greenwise down Gaines Street, Sunstop on Madison Street, and a CVS directly off Pensacola and Woodward. If you're in need of a great outfit for your first interview of internship, you're a short drive from Governor's Square Mall where you can find name brand stores like LOFT, Banana Republic, and Dillard's. Looking for some game day gear? Head over to the FSU Bookstore to stock up on your garnet & gold.

Recreation and Fitness

Though your apartment will likely have a fitness center on-site, another perk of living so close to campus is that you're just a hop-skip-and-a-jump from the campus fitness centers, as well as Leach and Fitness and Movement Clinic that are both free with a student ID. For a different approach to fitness, FSU's Reservation, located just four miles from campus, offers kayaking, paddle boarding, rock climbing, swimming and much more for free with an FSU ID. Do you prefer to get your steps in with your furry friend? There are loads of nearby walking and biking trails and plenty of pet-friendly apartments to choose from. Getting outdoors is a great way to get fit and relieve some stress after a tough test.

Nightlife

When it comes time to experience the nightlife of Tallahassee, it will not fall short of expectations! Whether you're looking for a chill evening at a local brewery or a night of dancing, College Town is a great location to be in. Budget-friendly bars like Township and Madison Social offer nightly deals and weekly happy hours. Proof, located off South Monroe, and Happy Motoring, located on South Adams, offer a sophisticated atmosphere for students looking to enjoy a more low-key night out on the town.

Getting Around Town

For students wanting to stay close to campus, there's no better location than an apartment in College Town. With that in mind, there are endless public transportation options to choose from when you're looking to stray further than the immediate perimeters of FSU. For example, the Seminole Express Bus Service provides free rides to and from campus through a variety of routes. To venture to other Tallahassee neighborhoods, students can jump on the Star Metro city bus for free with a student ID. Easily track both bus systems using MyFSU Mobile for the Seminole Express and Star Metro's TransLoc for the city bus. Some alternative modes of transportation that are also readily available at the touch of a button are Uber, Lyft and Lime Scooters. Download their apps to ride!

These are the opinions of writers and not the opinions of RentTally.com or any of our advertising partners.
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College Town