Stephen Foster runs from NW 23rd to NW 39th Avenue east of NW 13th Street, with about 1,000 homes and the Suncrest bungalows. ZIP code 32609.

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.

Stephen Foster is a neighborhood of mostly single-family streets in north-central Gainesville, between Northwest 23rd and 39th avenues. Northwest Sixth Street runs up the middle, and Northwest 13th Street, with its supermarkets, forms the west edge. The neighborhood shares its name with Stephen Foster Elementary, which is inside it.

What this means for you

  • Zoned high school: Gainesville High for every address, a B school in Florida’s 2026 grades. Check yours on the district’s Find My School page.
  • Home value: $220,470 in ZIP code 32609 in August 2026, according to the Zillow Home Value Index.
  • Nearest I-75 exit: exit 387, Newberry Road, or exit 390, Northwest 39th Avenue, each about 6.9 miles by road.

Part of our Gainesville neighborhoods guide.

Where it is

The city’s neighborhood layer draws Stephen Foster as about 421 acres running from Northwest 23rd Avenue north to Northwest 39th Avenue, from Northwest 13th Street east past Northwest Sixth Street to about Northwest Second Street.

The city’s address data lists 1,188 addresses inside that line, 1,004 of them homes. About one in five homes carries an apartment or unit number. Every address is in ZIP code 32609.

Suncrest

The largest subdivision in the city’s address data for the neighborhood is Sun Crest, with 155 homes. The city’s historic preservation element (PDF) places Suncrest between Northwest Sixth and 13th streets and Northwest 30th and 33rd avenues, on one of the older sections of the city north of downtown. It calls Suncrest one of the earliest Parrish family developments, built with small frame bungalows on piers, and says more work is needed to decide whether it could be a historic district. It is not one of the city’s five local historic districts.

Schools

How the neighborhood’s 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:

Level School Share of homes 2026 grade
Elementary Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings Elementary, 3500 NE 15th St. (report card) 100% F (28%)
Middle Howard W. Bishop Middle, 1901 NE Ninth St. (report card) 100% B (59%)
High Gainesville High, 1900 NW 13th St. (report card) 100% B (64%)

The percentage after each grade is the share of possible points the school earned. Rawlings is about 1.2 miles east of the neighborhood. Stephen Foster Elementary, 3800 NW Sixth St., is inside the neighborhood and earned a C (50%) in 2026 (report card), but the district’s 2026-27 elementary zone map has no attendance zone for it. Ask the district at 352-955-7300 how a child can enroll there, and check an address on the district’s Find My School page. More in our schools guide.

Home values

The typical home value in ZIP code 32609 was $220,470 in August 2026, down 2.8% from $226,888 in August 2025, according to the Zillow Home Value Index. That is the largest fall on the year of the nine Gainesville ZIP codes in Zillow’s file. 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, which runs east past Waldo Road. 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:

  • 29th Road Nature Park, 1502 NW 29th Road, about 6 acres with a nature trail, about 0.15 mile west across 13th Street.
  • Oak Hill Park, Northwest 42nd Avenue and Ninth Street, a small park with a playground, about 0.2 mile north.
  • Alfred A. Ring Park, 1801 NW 23rd Blvd., about half a mile southwest, with a nature trail, boardwalk and playground.
  • Greentree Park, 2101 NW 39th Ave., about half a mile west, with a ball field, basketball court and playground.
  • Hogtown Creek Headwaters Nature Park, 1500 NW 45th Ave., about two-thirds of a mile north, about 78 acres with trails and a playground.

More in our parks and trails guide.

Getting around

  • I-75: exit 387, Newberry Road, or exit 390, Northwest 39th Avenue, each about 6.9 miles by road.
  • City Hall: about 2.7 miles.
  • Gainesville Regional Airport: about 4.9 miles.
  • These are distances on the OpenStreetMap road network, measured with the OSRM routing engine, not drive times.
  • Bus: RTS routes 6, 15 and 55 stop in or at the edge of the neighborhood, in the RTS fall 2026 schedule data.

More in our getting around guide.

Groceries and everyday stores

From OpenStreetMap:

  • ALDI, 3773 NW 13th St., inside the neighborhood at its northwest corner
  • Publix, 3720 NW 13th St., across 13th Street
  • Ward’s Supermarket, 515 NW 23rd Ave., on the south edge
  • Winn-Dixie, 1459 NW 23rd Ave., about 0.1 mile southwest
  • Walgreens on NW 13th Street and CVS Pharmacy on NW 39th Avenue, both near the northwest corner

How we drew this area

This page uses the Stephen Foster 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. No Creative Commons photograph of the neighborhood itself was available, so this page uses our downtown photo.

Frequently asked questions

Where is the Stephen Foster neighborhood in Gainesville?

In north-central Gainesville. The city’s neighborhood map draws it from Northwest 23rd Avenue north to Northwest 39th Avenue, east of Northwest 13th Street and past Northwest Sixth Street. All of it is in ZIP code 32609.

Which elementary school is Stephen Foster zoned for?

Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings Elementary, for every home, on the district’s 2026-27 zone maps. Stephen Foster Elementary, 3800 NW Sixth St., is inside the neighborhood, but the 2026-27 elementary zone map has no zone for it.

What high school serves Stephen Foster?

Gainesville High, 1900 NW 13th St., for every home on the district’s 2026-27 zone maps. It earned a B in Florida’s 2026 school grades and sits about a third of a mile south of the neighborhood.

What is Suncrest in Gainesville?

A subdivision inside the Stephen Foster neighborhood, between Northwest Sixth and 13th streets and Northwest 30th and 33rd avenues. The city’s historic preservation plan calls it one of the earliest Parrish family developments, built with small frame bungalows on piers.