[RedWingsFan]

Originally Posted by ssg II

Pardon me, but do any of you live in Bunnell? I do.

If you read my post clearly you will see that I don't. I even said I wouldn't live there if someone paid me to. I live in Port Orange and have been to Bunnell several times.

[ssg II]

Originally Posted by RedWingsFan

If you read my post clearly you will see that I don't. I even said I wouldn't live there if someone paid me to. I live in Port Orange and have been to Bunnell several times.

It was a rhetorical question; I was being sarcastic. I KNOW you live in Port Orange, as you have stated many times how much you like it there. I couldn't live in Port Orange anymore or even worse, Palm Coast. Bunnell's an old Florida town, no cookie cutter homes that most transplants seem to want.
I can walk to the post office, library, grocery store, courthouse. I don't care if my neighbors have pit bulls, a boat in their driveway or don't keep their lawn pristine. What crime there is is centered in one small area, the rest of the town is very peaceful. It's still small-town America, a rare thing these days, especially in Florida. (AND it's 10 miles from the area the OP was asking about.)

BTW, the teenager across the street left for Julliard last year, yes Bunnell's a terrible environment for kids.

[RedWingsFan]

Your bragging about one kid in a town doing something?

I love cookie cutter homes. I like the neatness of it. Everything uniform and matching. I love rules that do things like keep boats out of driveways, pitt bulls out of the community, etc.

That's why it's GREAT that there are places like Port Orange and Bunnell. People like me can choose Port Orange and people like you can choose Bunnell. Works out perfectly! But it's important that someone considering Bunnell knows what it's like so they aren't the type like me that are actually looking for a Port Orange.

[PeteU]

Actually, I drove through Bunnell again this weekend. I came in from the east on Route 100, and it looks as though they are putting up a Target and some other chain stores on the eastern edge of town. So for those of you who equate civilization with large chain stores, there you go.

Bunnell is just one of those little rural Northeast Florida towns--i.e. Interlachen, Cresent City, Piersen, etc. They've got a couple of gas stations, convenience stores, maybe a Subway or a Huddle House; if they are lucky, a Winn Dixie. And that's about it. You can probably make a good argument as to why it isn't the best place to live, sure. And probably if you are looking to raise kids, it isn't the best place to live, because kids are constantly complaining about there being nothing to do. But I'm sure glad they are still there. It acts to counteract the Port Oranges of the state. And it's nice to find a place that's away from the miles upon miles of strip malls and chain stores and gated communities.

Let me tell you. Cookie cutter communities--and the developers who built them and the HOA control freaks who run them--are a scourge on this state. And I say this full knowing that I live in one of them. But of course, when you live in Boca Raton, it's just about impossible not to live in one of them. Zero lot lines, rows upon rows upon rows of the identical model house, clear cut lots with barely a tree in sight--anyone who thinks this is a utopia is sorely mistaken, if you ask me.

[acooper_79]

It's been about 3 years since any new posts about the Bunnell area. We are planning on relocating to the Daytona/Flagler/Ormond area next year. We have 2 children and schools are important to us. Can anyone shed some light on how Bunnell schools are and is this an area that is close enough to shopping and things to do for families? How is the crime in this area compared to Palm Coast, Flagler and Ormond? Thanks for any replies

[Jlopes26]

Bunnell is horrible please do not consider moving there you won't be happy.. I lived in palm coast for 3 years and i wouldn't step foot in bunnell it's small has nothing and alot of poverty...

[acooper_79]

would you suggest Palm Coast or Ormond Beach?

[Empidonax]

Bunnell isn't all that bad, but it is kind of representative of the Old Florida. The residents are mostly working class and retired folks with strong (sometimes multi-generational) links to the city. There are some families, but there's a strong presence of young, working class singles and older widows/widowers. Some people, particularly the African-Americans, suffer chronic unemployment or underemployment. Bunnell's retail scene and cultural ambience is downscale, with quite a few biker bars, diners, laundromats, and Dollar Stores. But it's also a very culturally rich place in many ways--most of the shops are privately owned, and you won't find a better butcher (Harris Meats), downhome cooking (Chicken Pantry), or Mexican food in the area. It wouldn't be my first choice for raising a family, but the city does have riches that other Flagler communities don't have.

Palm Coast is much larger and more socio-economically diverse, with a variety of working-class, middle-class, and nouveau-riche neighborhoods. Overall, PC is more like the "New Florida"--suburban-looking developments with new construction, lots of transplants from New York and New Jersey, lots of chain restaurants and shops. A high percentage of families have settled in PC, and many neighborhoods are cookie-cutter and have lots of kids running around. Other neighborhoods, particularly those along the canals and Intracoastal, have more retirees. The schools are fine, but not as good as the locals think they are. The city has an upscale look to it, as newly constructed strip malls and well-manicured parkways have been built alongside the area's natural forest groves. Overall, though, in spite of PC's more genteel appearance, the retail and restaurant scene is very middle class--fast food, Ruby Tuesdays, Perkins, Walmart, Home Depot, etc. It isn't upscale in the way Vero Beach or Sarasota are upscale.

Flagler Beach is a nice area with a few family neighborhoods and some cookie-cutter development on the western side of the Intracoastal, but overall it's a semi-downscale beach town with lots of retired and working class singles and couples. I like it, though--it has more character than PC: some nice restaurants, a cute bookstore, a few knick-knack shops, and the usual Dollar Stores and other low-end shops.

Personally, if I had a family and wanted to settle in a place along the Volusia-Flagler corridor, I would pick Ormond-by-the-Sea or Ormond Beach. Both are rather upscale (but not obnoxiously so), have nice homes, are near the beach, and have a blend of the typical chains and privately-owned businesses. The Ormonds are close enough to Daytona for quick, easy visits. The only downside is schools--they're not bad, but not great, either. Still, whereas Palm Coast is a very comfortable and predictable place, I find it kind of boring and culturally stifling; Ormond is a bit more interesting, though not by leaps and bounds.

Edit: As far as schools go: Even though Bunnell has its own elementary school, most of the other schools in Flagler County are located in Palm Coast. (Palm Coast is geographically quite large.) Of the two high schools (Flagler-Palm Coast and Matanzas), F-PC is the most mixed, with students from Bunnell, Flagler Beach, parts of PC, and other communities. (Almost all of the Matanzas kids are from Palm Coast and communities north.) Matanzas has shown better test scores than F-PC, for what it's worth.

http://www.flagler.k12.fl.us/

[acooper_79]

Wow thank you so much for all of the info. We have family in Flagler, Ormond and Vero. We're just trying to decide the areas of Flagler, Ormond and Palm Coast. Palm Coast is a little further from Daytona for work, but it seems there are alot of homes in that area. I would love to live in the Ormond area. For the most part, are most of the neighborhoods nice?

[Empidonax]

Most of the neighborhoods in Ormond are nice, though there's more crime inland and closer to the retail strips. Palm Coast has very pleasant, low-crime neighborhoods as well as unpleasant ones. A big problem with PC is that the population more than doubled over the past 10+ years (from around 30,000 or so to over 70,000), so parts of it are overdeveloped and the infrastructure cannot handle the increased traffic very well. It gets a bit worse in the winter when the snowbirds get to town.

PC rode the real estate bubble full force, so now there are many vacant homes, homes in/nearing foreclosure, and homes that were built for owners but that now house renters. It was a boom town a few years ago, but now unemployment is around 17%. If you decide on PC, you can get a very good deal on a nice house, but look over the neighborhood carefully for signs of stability. PC is ideally poised for a comeback, but it will be some time for it to happen.

Ormond also has had its problems with unemployment and foreclosures, but not at the level of PC. Overall, Ormond is much more stable and prosperous; it's the suburb of choice for many of Daytona's white-collar workers, yet parts of it have a pleasant urban feel.