That sucks :( My former office (in Pioneer Square, Seattle) has a pretty large homeless & drug-dealing population, but I rarely don't feel safe. Even when I leave work at 1am on a friday night, I just dodge a few intersections that are especially bad and I get home safe. But I'm also a guy-- I know that some of my female coworkers didn't like it, to the extent that we'd sometimes walk them to the parking garage.
Well, 1 am I might still feel okay. Downtown Gainesville is full of nightclubs, and they don't close until 2 am, so there's a large number of (drunk) pedestrians milling around up until about 2:30 am.
It's 3-4am that I don't feel safe. I can't change my route, any detours I could take would only take me through even less safe areas.
I've considered mace/pepper spray but quite honestly I'd rather just avoid the possibility altogether. About a year ago there was homeless woman killed in that area.
Have you considered getting mace?