Is Daytona Beach a nice place to live?

[GobBluth]

We have a timeshare there, and every time I go it seems like the housing market is pretty cheap in comparison to other sea side communities. It isn't horrible to get around traffic wise, and it is very pretty. I haven't noticed much crime, although the numbers can argue that point.

Anyone know anything about living there?

 

[minendo]

It's a shit hole that is well past its prime.

 

[Drekce]

I live in Orlando and would never consider living in Daytona. If you like the area and want to live by the beach look into New Smyrna Beach.

 

[malbojah]

I lived there back in 05 for 6 months. Nice to drive through, not to stop and stay.

 

[CraKaJaX]

My grandparents lived ~20 mins from Daytona when I was growing up. It was fun as a kid (especially being from NY) to hit the beaches, go fishing on the pier (that once was), bucket ride, surrounding restaurants, etc. To do that now would be a complete waste of time and money. The pier is shit since they rebuilt it. The neighborhood is just falling apart - vacant houses, boarded up buildings, trash flying around. My dad had a timeshare on A1A ... I can't recall the name of it but I do remember it was right near an ABC liquor. He moved it a few years back just for this reason. As previously stated - well past its prime.

 

[unokitty]

We have a timeshare there, and every time I go it seems like the housing market is pretty cheap in comparison to other sea side communities. It isn't horrible to get around traffic wise, and it is very pretty. I haven't noticed much crime, although the numbers can argue that point.

Anyone know anything about living there?

I lived there for a few years and enjoyed it... Lots of outdoor recreational activities.

Being originally from Chicago, being able to walk, or drive, on the beach was fun... Weather this time of year isn't bad.

Economy seemed a bit oblique. Seemed to have a lot of conflicts between people that want to make a quick buck selling trinkets to tourists and people that want a nice place to live. (Unlike, for example, Fort Lauderdale where they made a conscious decision to cater to European tourists rather than to college students on spring break.)

Then again, a substantial part of the Florida economy seems to be focused on selling things either to tourists or to retired people.

When I lived there, largest employer in Volusia County was Volusia County Schools....

Cultural Attractions are limited. LSO used to come every other year. Though, it looks like they don't do that anymore...

Crime was pretty localized. I never worried about it. But they did murder a Canadian Spring Breaker 3 or 4 blocks from where I lived...

My experiences in Daytona were all about 20 years ago. Whether of not you would like living in Daytona would depend a lot on what your are looking for and what your financial situation is...

If I were to consider going back, I'd probably look a little further south, NSB or Coco, or a little further north Flagler or St. Augustine.

Best of luck!
Uno

 

[child of wonder]

I live in Orlando and would never consider living in Daytona. If you like the area and want to live by the beach look into New Smyrna Beach.

Just vacationed in New Smyrna Beach 2 months ago so I can't speak to how it is to live there but we thoroughly enjoyed the 8 days we visited. Hope to have another stay there in the future.

 

[GobBluth]

My grandparents lived ~20 mins from Daytona when I was growing up. It was fun as a kid (especially being from NY) to hit the beaches, go fishing on the pier (that once was), bucket ride, surrounding restaurants, etc. To do that now would be a complete waste of time and money. The pier is shit since they rebuilt it. The neighborhood is just falling apart - vacant houses, boarded up buildings, trash flying around. My dad had a timeshare on A1A ... I can't recall the name of it but I do remember it was right near an ABC liquor. He moved it a few years back just for this reason. As previously stated - well past its prime.

Wasn't the Turtle Inn, was it?

 

[GobBluth]

Good insight from everyone. Thanks guys. We've been going there since I was a kid, and I can see that the area has gone downhill, but I didn't realize to what extent. I like the beach there, but I'm looking for a stable economy, good job market, and decent recreation. Sounds like Daytona isn't the fit anymore. I'd like to live near the ocean, the In-Laws live in Orange Co., California, but that is way to expensive, so I was considering Florida.

Thanks again

 

[CraKaJaX]

Wasn't the Turtle Inn, was it?

Nope. I wanna say it was _____ tower(s)? Something tropical sounding ... but not so tropical - LOL. It was right next to the two black & white buildings that matched... and one of them had a catastrophic water leak many years ago and they had to shut that building down for major renovations.

 

[Brian Stirling]

I don't know that I'd recommend Daytona but there are worse places.

In early March the town will be taken over by several hundred thousand Spring Breakers and as many as half a million bikers -- a strange combination. The end result for locals is that it's no fun to drive as the traffic is terrible. OTH, if you have land and chose to rent space to campers you could make a killing in a couple weeks.

I was walking along a beach side street during this time and a guy got on a crotch rocket followed, shortly thereafter, by a 20 year old blonde wearing a thong bikini -- when she got on the back of the bike it was like, heaven...

There's a bar outside of town called "Sopotnick's Cabbage Patch" that is a bike week staple. They house thousands of camping bikers on there property and host the annual Cabbage Wrestling show (see link). The word is you do not want to eat Cole Slaw in Daytona after the wrestling show.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P0IHRlS-a0o


Brian

 

[zinfamous]

From what I know of Daytona, it's basically motorcycles, Alkemyst, and seaweed.

 

[zinfamous]

I live in Orlando and would never consider living in Daytona. If you like the area and want to live by the beach look into New Smyrna Beach.

New Smyrna is nice and slow--pretty much what I prefer in a beach environment.

Dad lives in Jacksonville and has various projects in and near NS: park work, clam lease, aquaculture, etc...It's a fun visit.