Porters, Gainesville: homes, schools, parks and commute

Last checked Oct. 8, 2026. Sources: the City of Gainesville’s neighborhood layer, address points and parks layer; the city’s historic preservation element (PDF); Alachua County Public Schools’ 2026-27 zone maps; the Florida Department of Education’s 2026 school grades; Zillow Research; the Regional Transit System’s fall 2026 schedule data; and OpenStreetMap.

Porters is a small neighborhood on the southwest edge of downtown Gainesville, between Southwest Fourth Avenue and Depot Avenue. Depot Park, the RTS downtown bus station and the Depot Avenue trail are all just across its southern edge. The city’s historic preservation element calls it the Porters Quarters neighborhood.

What this means for you

• Zoned high school: Gainesville High for almost every address, a B school in Florida’s 2026 grades. Check yours on the district’s Find My School page.
• Home value: $261,658 in ZIP code 32601 in August 2026, according to the Zillow Home Value Index.
• Nearest I-75 exit: exit 384, Archer Road, about 4.2 miles by road.

Part of our Gainesville neighborhoods guide.

Where it is

The city’s neighborhood layer draws Porters as about 71 acres bounded by Southwest Fourth Avenue on the north, South Main Street on the east, Southwest Depot Avenue on the south and Southwest Sixth Street on the west. Downtown is across Fourth Avenue to the north and east.

The city’s address data lists 273 addresses inside that line, 219 of them homes; only nine homes carry an apartment or unit number, so almost all are houses. Every address is in ZIP code 32601.

History

According to the city’s historic preservation element (PDF), the neighborhood has undergone substantial redevelopment involving demolition since a 1982 survey, including parts of Southwest Second Terrace, Southwest Seventh Place, Southwest Fifth Avenue and Depot Avenue. Staff did not plan a resurvey for historic district status, and the plan records the neighborhood’s concerns about the loss of its history and about redevelopment pressure from sitting between the University of Florida and Depot Park. The city’s future land use analysis (PDF), dated 2001, names Porters among the older neighborhoods near downtown where new housing had been built.

The Old Gainesville Depot at 203 Depot Ave., across from the neighborhood, is on the National Register of Historic Places, the same plan says.

Schools

How Porters’ homes fall in Alachua County Public Schools’ attendance zones for the 2026-27 school year, with each school’s 2026 grade from the Florida Department of Education:

The percentage after each grade is the share of possible points the school earned. A sliver of land on the east edge falls in the Eastside High zone, but no homes are in it. The district drew new zones for 2026-27, so check an address on its Find My School page. More in our schools guide.

Home values

The typical home value in ZIP code 32601 was $261,658 in August 2026, up 0.4% from $260,732 in August 2025, according to the Zillow Home Value Index. The index is a modeled typical value for the middle third of homes, single-family homes and condos together, not a sale price, and it covers the whole ZIP code. Zillow’s figure for the city as a whole was $295,760, down 1.2%. More in our home prices guide.

Parks and trails

From the city’s parks layer:

• Porters Community Center, 512 SW Sixth Ave., inside the neighborhood, with a playground, picnic shelter, restrooms and a basketball court.
• Mother Lucille Perkins Tot Lot, 318 SW Seventh Place, inside the neighborhood.
• Haisley Lynch Park, 500 block of South Main Street, a dog park on the east edge.
• Tumblin’ Creek Park, 600 SW Sixth St., just west, with a playground and a lighted basketball court.
• Depot Park, 200 SE Depot Ave., about a tenth of a mile south, with a playground, splash pad, boardwalk and paved trails, and the Depot Avenue Trail along it.

More in our parks and trails guide.

Getting around

• I-75: exit 384, Archer Road, about 4.2 miles by road, or exit 382, Williston Road, about 5 miles.
• City Hall: about 0.7 mile.
• Gainesville Regional Airport: about 5.6 miles.
• These are distances on the OpenStreetMap road network, measured with the OSRM routing engine, not drive times.
• Bus: RTS route 6 stops in the neighborhood, and the Rosa Parks RTS Downtown Station on Southeast Third Street, where many RTS routes start, is about 0.15 mile east of the neighborhood, in the RTS fall 2026 schedule data.

More in our getting around guide.

Groceries and everyday stores

From OpenStreetMap:

• GNV Market, 619 S. Main St., at the southeast corner
• Wise’s Pharmacy, 708 SW Fourth Ave., on the north edge
• Aldi, 300 SW 16th Ave., about four-tenths of a mile south

How we drew this area

This page uses the Porters outline in the City of Gainesville’s neighborhood layer, which the city says is not an official boundary. Address counts come from the city’s address points inside it, matched to the district’s 2026-27 zone maps on Oct. 8, 2026. Store and road locations are © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Frequently asked questions

Where is the Porters neighborhood in Gainesville?

Just southwest of downtown. The city’s neighborhood map draws it between Southwest Fourth Avenue and Southwest Depot Avenue, from Southwest Sixth Street east to South Main Street. Depot Park is across Depot Avenue.

Is Porters a historic district?

No. The city’s historic preservation element says the neighborhood has seen substantial redevelopment and demolition since a 1982 survey, and city staff did not plan a resurvey for historic district status.

What schools serve Porters?

Almost every home is zoned for Parker Elementary, Lincoln Middle and Gainesville High on the district’s 2026-27 zone maps. In Florida’s 2026 grades Parker earned a B, Lincoln an A and Gainesville High a B.

How far is Porters from Depot Park?

Depot Park, 200 SE Depot Ave., is across Depot Avenue from the neighborhood’s south edge, about a tenth of a mile away.