Gainesville has come a long way from the depths of the Great Recession when the economy tanked and projects screeched to a halt for lack of money, Mayor Danny Dunagan said during his State of the City message at Tuesday’s City Council meeting. Dunagan reported that the city’s finances are on sound footing. He attributed the gains to a “conservative approach” to budgeting and revenue forecasting that has fueled an ambitious capital improvement program for construction and engineering projects.