Many urban areas face an issue of overpopulation and limited parking. Residents often use other methods of transportation such as biking and public buses if they don’t have access to a parking spot. Consider the opportunity to use a wide array of transportation options as attractive amenities for your properties. Here at Trimark Properties, we know that Gainesville is a small area, and easily accessible by walking, biking, or a motor vehicle. Since our apartments are all close to campus, the accessible location affords many options for students who may not have a car, or want to bike to class. A significant amount of transportation choices in the UF Sorority Row area makes our apartments very appealing to potential residents who have mobile lifestyles.

According to the American Public Transportation Association, “Communities that attract Millennials have a multitude of transportation choices.”

Tip 1: Provide secure bike parking. Include areas on your property that are readily available for residents to store bikes. A lack of bike storage means residents either must leave their bike unattended and unsecured, or bring the bike into their apartment. A lack of bike storage poses a big problem, especially if bike theft in the neighborhood is an issue. Residents will feel better about their choice for a healthy lifestyle using biking if they also have a safe place to store their new rides. A few options for secure bike storage include innovative ideas such as bike lockers, or traditional bike racks in upside-down U shapes. Advise residents to lock both their wheel and the bike frame onto the rack together to increase bicycle safety.

Tip 2: Consider providing a parking lot on location. Finding parking can prove to be a tough task, especially in popular areas near Sorority Row UF here in Gainesville, Florida. There is a limited amount of neighborhood parking spots offered by the City of Gainesville. Additionally, many Gainesville apartments near the UF campus don’t have parking available on the property. Trimark’s University Heights is a property which has free decal parking on the lot. University Height’s parking lot gives our residents another option for transportation if they want to drive themselves to get groceries or want to visit their parents often. University Heights is a rare phenomenon in Gainesville, so we use our lot as a coveted amenity.

Tip 3: Play up the ease of bus transportation. Buses are a cheap and easy way to get from place to place. Our Gainesville apartments are located near many bus stops that provide free options for UF students. Students simply show their Gator ID to the bus driver and can have free passage to the destination of their choice. More and more young people are choosing to take the bus if they don’t have a car, especially in Florida where biking is a sweaty option in the summer heat. Trimark’s apartments near UF have the bonus of campus buses coming by the neighborhoods in addition to city buses since the UF sorority row area directly adjacent to campus is included in the route system. As a result, residents of our apartments like University Heights that are close to UF Sorority row can enjoy a bus coming to their stop about every ten or fifteen minutes.

Tip 4: Location is important for walkability. Similar to biking, walking is a transportation option that young and active individuals often choose to use. The close proximity of your properties to residents’ workplaces, universities, and even shopping areas makes a huge difference in those properties’ popularities. The closer your property to the locations mentioned above, the more likely a resident will want to walk to his or her destination. In Gainesville, we focus on marketing the close location of our apartments to the UF campus. Since many of our residents are University of Florida students, they want the option to walk to class, so apartments near UF are in high demand. Trimark’s University Heights is only five minutes walking distance from campus, so many of the students live there choose to walk instead of taking a car or bus. Many neighborhood studies have shown that increased walkability is directly linked to higher property values. Better yet, the area will become more pedestrian friendly and develop a close-knit community.

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