Saturday, November 3, 2007

History
Tallahassee is located at 30°27′6″N, 84°16′22″W (30.451800, -84.272770). According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 254.5 km² (98.2 mi²). 247.9 km² (95.7 mi²) of it is land and 6.6 km² (2.5 mi²) of it (2.59%) is water.
Tallahassee is noted for its hilly terrain, and the state capitol is located on one of the highest hills in the city. The elevation varies from near sea level to just over 200 feet in places. The flora and fauna are more typical of that found in the mid-south and low country regions of South Carolina and North Carolina. Although some palm trees do grow in the city, they are limited to the more cold-hardy varieties such as the state tree, the Sabal Palmetto. Pines, magnolias and a variety of oaks are the dominant trees. Of the latter, the Southern Live Oak is perhaps the most emblematic of the city.
Summers in Tallahassee are typically hotter than in the Florida peninsula, and it is one of the few cities in the state to occasionally record temperatures above 100 degrees Fahrenheit (38°C). The summer weather is characterized by brief intense showers and thunderstorms that form along the afternoon sea breeze from the Gulf of Mexico. The average summertime high temperature is 92°F(32°C). Conversely, the city is much cooler in the winter. In December and January, the average high temperature is 64°F(18°C) and the average low is 42°F(6°C). On occasion, the temperatures fall into the 20s and 10s at night, and during some extreme occasions temperatures in the single digits have been recorded. Tallahassee recorded the state's lowest temperature of -2°F (-20°C), on February 13, 1899. Over the last 100 years, the city has also recorded several snowfalls, the heaviest of which was 3 inches on February 13, 1958. Historically, the city usually records at least observed flurries once every four years, but on average, measurable amounts of snow (1" or more) occur only once every 15 years. The natural snow line (regular yearly snow falls) ends 200 miles to the north at Macon, Georgia.

Geography and climate
Tallahassee is the 12th fastest growing metropolitan area in Florida. Tallahassee's 12.4-percent growth rate is higher than both Miami and Tampa and half that of Cape Coral-Fort Myers and Naples-Marco Island.
As of the census of 2000, there were 150,624 people, 63,217 households, and 29,459 families residing in the city. The population density was 607.6/km² (1,573.8/mi²). There were 68,417 housing units at an average density of 276.0/km² (714.8/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 60.42% White, 34.24% African American, 0.25% Native American, 2.40% Asian, 0.05% Pacific Islander, 0.97% from other races, and 1.67% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 4.19% of the population.
There were 63,217 households out of which 21.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 30.1% were married couples living together, 13.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 53.4% were non-families. 34.7% of all households were made up of individuals and 6.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.17 and the average family size was 2.86.
In the city, the population was spread out with 17.4% under the age of 18, 29.7% from 18 to 24, 27.9% from 25 to 44, 16.8% from 45 to 64, and 8.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 26 years. For every 100 females, there were 89.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 86.7 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $30,571, and the median income for a family was $49,359. Males had a median income of $32,428 versus $27,838 for females. The per capita income for the city was $18,981. About 12.6% of families and 24.7% of the population were below the poverty line, including 21.6% of those under age 18 and 8.4% of those age 65 or over.
Educationally, Leon County is the highest educated county in Florida with 49.9% of the population with either a Bachelor's, Master's, professional or doctorate degree. The Florida average is 22.4% and the national average is 24.4%.

Demographics
As of 2000, 91.99% of all residents spoke English as their first language, while 4.11% spoke Spanish, and 0.63% spoke French as their mother tongue. In total, 8.00% of the total population spoke languages other than English.

Languages

1988: Money Magazine's Southeast's three top medium size cities in which to live.
1992: Awarded Tree City USA by National Arbor Day Foundation
1999: Awarded All-America City Award by the National Civic League
2003: Awarded Tree Line USA by the National Arbor Day Foundation.
2006: Awarded "Best In America" Parks and Recreation by the National Recreation and Park Association.
2007: Recognized by Kiplinger's Personal Finance Magazine as one of the "Top Ten College Towns for Grownups" (ranking second, behind Chapel Hill, North Carolina) City accolades
Tallahassee has traditionally been a politically progressive city. It has voted Democratic throughout its history with a high voter-turnout. As of April 2007 there were 85,343 Democrats and 42,230 Republicans in Leon County. Other affilations accounted for 22,284 voters.

Politics
Voters of Leon County have gone to the polls four times to vote on consolidation of Tallahassee and Leon County governments into one jurisdiction combining police and other city services with already shared (consolidated) Tallahassee Fire Department and Leon County Emergency Medical Services. Tallahassee's city limits would (at current size) increase from 98.2 square miles to 702 square miles. Roughly 36 percent of Leon County's 250,000 residents live outside the Tallahassee city limits.
The proponents of consolidation have stated that the new jurisdiction would attract business by its very size. Merging of governments would cut government waste, duplication of services, etc. However, Professor Richard Feiock states that no discernible relationship exists between consolidation and the local economy.

Consolidation
The first plan for the Capitol Center was the 1947 Taylor Plan, which consolidated several of the government buildings in one downtown area. In 1974, the Capitol Center Planning Commission for the City of Tallahassee, FL responded to the growth of its urban center with a conceptual plan for the expansion of its Capitol Center. Hisham Ashkouri, working for The Architects' Collaborative, led the urban planning and design effort. Estimating growth and related development for approximately the next 25 years, the program projected the need for 213,677 (2.3 million feet²) of new government facilities in the city core, with 3,500 dwelling units, 0.4 km² (100 acres) of new public open space, retail and private office space, and other ancillary spaces. Community participation was an integral part of the design review, welcoming Tallahassee residents to provide input as well as citizens' groups and government agencies, resulting in the creation of six separate Design Alternatives. The best elements of these various designs were combined to develop the final conceptual design, which was then incorporated into the existing Capitol area and adjacent areas.

Urban planning and expansion

Education
Also see Leon County for more details.

Amos P. Godby High School - website
Florida Agricultural And Mechanical University High School
Florida State University High School
James S. Rickards High School
John Paul II Catholic High School - website
Lawton Chiles High School - website
Leon High School
Lincoln High School
Maclay School - website
North Florida Christian High School - website
SAIL High School - website High schools

Barry University School of Adult and Continuing Education - Tallahassee Campus
Flagler College - Tallahassee Campus
Florida A&M University
Florida State University
Keiser University - Tallahassee
Lewis M. Lively Area Vocational-Technical School - website
Tallahassee Community College Universities and colleges
Law Enforcement Services are provided by the Tallahassee Police Department, the Leon County Sheriff's Office, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, Florida Capitol Police, Florida State University Police Department, Florida A&M University Police Department, the Tallahasse Community College Police Department, and the Florida Highway Patrol.
Fire and Rescue services are provided by the Tallahassee Fire Department and Leon County Emergency Medical Services.
Hospitals in the area include Tallahassee Memorial Healthcare and Capital Regional Medical Center.

Public safety
Located nearby are:

Alfred B. Maclay Gardens State Park
Challenger Learning Center
Florida State Capitol
Florida Supreme Court
Lake Ella
Lake Jackson
Lake Jackson Mounds Archaeological State Park
Lake Munson
Lake Talquin
Mary Brogan Museum of Art and Science (MOAS) website
Mission San Luis de Apalachee
Myers Park
National High Magnetic Field Laboratory
Railroad Square Art Park - website
Tallahassee Museum
Tom Brown Park
Young Actors Theatre
Natural Bridge Battlefield State Historic Site near Woodville
Wakulla Springs State Park near Crawfordville Points of interest

First Friday Festivals at Railroad Square (Every first Friday of each month)
Greek Food Festival
Red Hills Horse Trials
Springtime Tallahassee
Southern Shakespeare Festival
Tallahassee Wine and Food Festival
Winter Festival Festivals and events

The Tallahassee Tigers are an American Basketball Association team that will begin their inagural season in November 2007.
The Tallahassee Titans are an American Indoor Football Association team that began their inaugural season in February 2007.
The Florida State University Seminoles compete in the NCAA Division 1, and the Bowl Subdivision in football.
The Florida A&M University Rattlers compete in the NCAA Division 1, and the Playoff Subdivision in football.
Local public high schools and middle schools compete in athletics, and share Gene Cox Stadium for football. Sports

Transportation

Tallahassee Regional Airport (KTLH)
Tallahassee Commercial Airport (K68J) Aviation
StarMetro (formerly TalTran) provides bus service throughout the city.

Mass transit
CSX operates two rail lines in the city. Amtrak's Sunset Limited historically served the city, but has been suspended since Hurricane Katrina.

Railroads
See also History of Tallahassee, Florida

The Tallahassee-St. Marks Railroad, now a state trail.
The Carrabelle, Tallahassee and Georgia Railroad. Tallahassee, Florida Defunct railroads

Interstate 10
U.S. Route 27
U.S. Route 90
U.S. Route 319
State Road 20
State Road 61
State Road 363
Apalachee Parkway
Blair Stone Road
Capital Circle Major highways

Media
W03AO 3 / WACX-LP 9 (Ind/Rel) - WCTV 6/WSWG 44 (CBS) (MNTV on DT2) - WFSU 11 (PBS) - W21BK 21 (Ind) - WTLF 24 / WFXU 57 (The CW) - W25CP 25 / W38CM 38 (TBN) - WTXL 27 (ABC) - WTWC 40 (NBC) - WBXT-CA 43 (MTV2) - WVUP-CA 45 (CTN) - WTLH 49 / WBVJ-LP 35 (Fox) (The CW on DT2) - WTBC-LP 65 (FN)
4FSU - The Florida Channel - WCOT - Sun Sports - Comcast Sports Southeast - SportSouth - FSN South - FSN Florida
Florida's News Channel
Significantly Viewed Out-of-Market Broadcast Stations Reception may vary by geographical location Albany: WALB 10 (NBC) - WABW 14 (PBS/GPB) | Panama City: WJHG 7 (NBC) - WMBB 13 (ABC) | Dothan: WTVY 4 (CBS) | Jacksonville: WJXT 4 (Ind.) - WJCT 7 (PBS) - WXGA 8 (PBS/GPB) | Gainesville: WUFT 5 (PBS) - WCJB 20 (ABC) | Atlanta: WSB 2 (ABC)

Television
By frequency: 88.1 | 88.9 | 89.7 | 90.5 | 91.1 | 91.5 | 91.9 | 92.1 | 93.3 | 94.1 | 94.9 | 96.1 | 97.3 | 97.9 | 98.9 | 99.9 | 100.7 | 101.5 | 101.9 | 102.3 | 103.1 | 104.1 | 104.9 | 105.7 | 106.1 | 106.3 | 107.1 | 107.9
By callsign: WAIB | WAKU | WANM | WAYT | WBGE | WBZE | WEGT | WFLA | WFRF | WFSD | WFSQ | WFSU | WGLF | WGWD | WHBX | WHTF | WJZT | WKVH | WNFK | WRAK | WTLY | WTNT | WTUF | WUJC | WUTL | WVFS | WWLD | WXSR
Daytona Beach · Fort Myers-Naples-Marco Island · Ft. Pierce-Stuart-Vero Beach · Ft. Walton Beach · Gainesville-Ocala · Jacksonville AM/FM · Lakeland-Winter Haven · Melbourne-Titusville-Cocoa · Miami-Ft. Lauderdale AM/FM · Orlando AM/FM · Panama City · Pensacola AM/FM · Sarasota-Bradenton · Sebring · Tallahassee AM/FM · Tampa-St.Petersburg-Clearwater AM/FM · The Florida Keys · West Palm Beach-Boca Raton AM/FM
See also: List of radio stations in Florida and List of United States radio markets
By frequency: 730 | 790 | 840 | 930 | 1020 | 1070 | 1100 | 1230 | 1240 | 1270 | 1330 | 1400 | 1410 | 1450 |1580
By callsign: WCGA | WCVC | WFRF | WGRA | WHBT | WHGH | WJEP | WMGR | WNLS | WPAX | WPRY | WSTT | WTAL | WTCL | WWSD
Daytona Beach · Fort Myers-Naples-Marco Island · Ft. Pierce-Stuart-Vero Beach · Ft. Walton Beach · Gainesville-Ocala · Jacksonville AM/FM · Lakeland-Winter Haven · Melbourne-Titusville-Cocoa · Miami-Ft. Lauderdale AM/FM · Orlando AM/FM · Panama City · Pensacola AM/FM · Sarasota-Bradenton · Sebring · Tallahassee AM/FM · Tampa-St.Petersburg-Clearwater AM/FM · The Florida Keys · West Palm Beach-Boca Raton AM/FM
See also: List of radio stations in Florida and List of United States radio markets

Radio

Wally Amos — founder of the "Famous Amos" chocolate chip cookie brand; actor
Red Barber — sportscaster
Gene Cox - Hall of Fame [High School Football Coach][2]
Matt Battaglia — actor
Robert "Bobby" C. Bowden - college football coach
Jim Butterworth — documentary filmmaker
Ricky CarmichaelMotocross/Supercross Champion
George Clinton — musician
Jim Cramer — host of CNBC's Mad Money
Kim CrosbyNASCAR driver
Paul DiracNobel Prize-winning physicist whose theories predicted antimatter
Cathy Jenéen Doe — actress
Ernst von Dohnányi — composer and pianist
Kyan Douglas –- the "grooming expert" from "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy"
Faye Dunaway — actress
Faith Eidse — author
Carlisle Floyd — opera composer
Michael Gaines - Swift TE for the Carolina Panthers
Cheryl Hines — actress
Reggie Jefferson - former MLB player
Will KirbyBig Brother 2 (2001) winner
Sir Harold Kroto — Nobel Prize-winning chemist who helped discover fullerenes
Allison Miller — actress
Jerrie Mock — aviator and first woman to fly around the world solo
Jim Morrison — musician
Catherine Willis Gray Murat — great-grandniece of George Washington
Prince Achille Murat — nephew of Napoleon Bonaparte
Gabrielle Reece — professional volleyball player, model
Burt Reynolds — actor
Marcus Roberts-- jazz pianist, composer and music professor at Florida State University
Robert SchriefferNobel Laureate, BCS Theory of Superconductivity
Richard Simmons - fitness expert
Ernest I. Thomas — raiser of the original flag at Iwo Jima
Craig Waters — spokesman for the Florida Supreme Court
T-Pain — rapper
Devin Thomas - Future Oscar winning actor.
No Address — Music Group
Mayday Parade — Music Group
Creed — Music Group
Mira — Music Group
Dead Prez — alt hip hop duo
Taylor Jacobs — NFL professional athlete
Tahesia Harrigan — Professional sprinter (BVI)
Cealey Godwin — Winner of Endurance 5
Yngwie Malmsteen — musician
Jeff VanderMeer — World Fantasy Award-winning author Notable residents (past and present)

CSS Tallahassee - 1864 Confederate cruiser
USS Tallahassee - 1908 United States Navy monitor originally named USS Florida
USS Tallahassee - 1941 United States Navy aircraft carrier renamed USS Princeton
USS Tallahassee (CL-116) - 1944 United States Navy light cruiser
Tallahassee Community School, Eastern Passage, Nova Scotia - website Tallahassee in popular culture
See also: List of sister cities in Florida
Tallahassee has five sister cities, as designated by Sister Cities International, Inc. (SCI):

Flag of Russia Krasnodar, Russia
Flag of Ghana Konongo-Odumase, Ghana
Flag of Sint Maarten St. Maarten, Netherlands Antilles
Flag of Ireland Sligo, Ireland
Flag of Israel Ramat HaSharon, Israel

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