[mybabyshai3]

I am moving to this area in a few months. I will likely be working at the new FL Memorial Hospital or Halifax Hospital. I am older (50) and I have family with kids also moving so looking for a safe place to live.
I was told to look in the Port Orange or S. Daytona area, but on Trulia it shows Port Orange with quite a bit of crime. I like Ormond area as well. It is important to me to walk my dogs on the beach and understand that Ponce Inlet has an area and then north of Ormond looks like a possibility as well for dogs on the beach.
So, my question is...Is Ormond safer than Port Orange? Should I look closer to 95? I would love to live close to the areas where I can walk my dogs at the beach, but probably cannot afford it, have a max budget of $200,000 for a home. Any advice is much appreciated.

[kyle19125]

Port Orange is probably the most desirable overall but I think your price range puts you out of the better areas of Port Orange which tends to be west of I-95 in what's known as the Spruce Creek area. If working at either of the hospitals mentioned you would do well maybe to consider the Seminole Woods area of Palm Coast, which sits west of I-95 just northwest of the town of Ormond Beach. It has a very low crime rate, good schools and is in a quiet area minutes to I-95.

[smarino]

Yes, Ormond is safer than most areas over there. We lived in South Daytona for four years before moving here to St. Pete, and most of the crime that occurred in South Daytona came from people fleeing from either Port Orange or Daytona. Seriously. Ridgewood Ave is a disaster wherever you go, but once you get away from it, South Daytona is small, rural and nice. Deadly boring too, which made it a quiet place to live. There's a very nice subdivision in back of the Publix on Ridgewood. Parts of it are better than others, and you can tell right away by the size of the homes and the lots where the best part is, but none of it is bad. $140,000 and up buys a nice place in the best part. You might like Ormond but I never saw the attraction. Lots of traffic over by Granada, and everything costs more there. But it's newer and mostly cleaner. Port Orange can feel very redneck in most places, and their city government is a running bad joke.

Walking your dogs can be a problem on the beaches, especially in Ormond. Once you get north of Ormond it may be doable, as you said. It's very nice between there and Flagler, and pricey unless you go to a small place. Very undeveloped (for now).

I hope you go to Florida Memorial to work. It's a nice facility w/ good doctors.

[Acilenti]

We are also moving hopefully in September to Ormond. We are in our early 50s and would also like to be able to walk our dog on the beach. We were only on ormond , daytona and new smyrna beach and dogs are not allowed. If you know of a beach you can please let me know. We have been looking for awhile and felt ormond was the right fit for us. Port orange is nice but hoa in spruce fly in was very expensive and drive to beach was farther then we would like. There are so many different communities in ormond, I'm looking at the new development by Dr. Horton, River Oaks and was wondering if anyone has info on this community. I'm so hesitant to use Dr. Horton I've heard nightmare stories involving them. We have them here in NJ and everyone likes them. Any help would be appreciated.

[Fredesch]

I believe pets are prohibited on the beach county wide. There are posted signs at the wood structures you use to cross the barrier dune. Some folks visit the beach everyday and will report you if you have a pet on the beach. The beach is the only draw for tourists and neither tourists or beachside residents want to find doggie droppings. A lot of my neighbors have dogs, but they don't take their pets on the beach.

I live in Ormond-by-the-sea which is beachside north of the city of Ormond Beach. It is quiet and family friendly. There are some nice areas in all the areas you mention. You should probably look at the schools. I doubt you can find an acceptable school in Volusia county.

[Acilenti]

Are there a lot of restaurants and stores in ormond by the lakes. I don't want to have to drive 30 minutes to get dinner. Do you know anything about Halfax Plantation. That seems to be a nice area. Unlike mybabyshai3, I don't need a good school. My kids are in college.

[Fredesch]

i am unfamiliar with Halfax Plantation.

[SES]

Although I am a Miami native I have decided to retire (after a successful career with the Army) in the central Florida area as my entire family is throughout the state. I have decided upon the area in which you are looking. Parts of Daytona/Daytona Beach are really badly crime ridden and you have to be really diligent. Holly Hills is another area that I would avoid. Years ago this might have been different, however today I would really look at each area carefully. The LGPA area in Daytona Beach is really nice and housing prices are all across the board in the development. DeLand is not a bad area either and housing prices are pretty reasonable. although about 15-20 minute drive down 92.

I have recently found out that Volusia country has the 3rd highest property tax rate in the state of Florida. who knew? I discovered this when I was looking at a house in the LGPA area and taxes on a 259K house were over $5,000. The reason is that evidently the governor decreased the amount of money given to the schools, so therefore it had to be made up somewhere. Almost $2,000 of that 5K is for school.

I am looking at houses in Port Orange and Ormond Beach (Plantation bay to be specific). Now some of the ormond beach houses are in flagler county which although they charge a CDD (which can be taken off your taxes), the property tax is less than Volusia.

Another issue you may find the closer you are to the ocean. My ex BIL has a house on the beach. He has had to get insurance from what I call 'fly by night' companies because as soon as a hurricane approaches they drop him. In 2003 they had four hurricanes right after the other and soon after that some of the larger insurance companies dropped their clients and fled the state. So you will find some off the wall names.

It boils down to how much money you wish to spend. I consider taxes and insurance and of course HOA fees in my final tally. Although the market has recovered some, it still isn't like it used to be. There are some good foreclosures out there if you are willing to fix it up. Another good thing to know. In Florida they will include the garage and sometimes the pool in the square footage. So make sure you check the public records on any site you are on, or make sure your realtor does their due diligence. I looked at a house that was supposedly 2800 sq ft and was about 1850 LSF (living square feet). I find that divisive.

Before I forget, the closer you get to I4/I95 the price increases. Good luck. It is always good to have a little bit of knowledge under your belt when you start looking because you won't always get the truth from your realtor.

[blackroldo]

I'm new to this forum, but after reading it can't help but notice that daytona beach is not a good place to be, I was looking at some properties down by the beach and some of them look really nice and prices are affordable, /i almost thought : condo on the beach in florida for around 40 - 50 k is a great deal!!!
can someone advise me before i make the decision, after all there are some nice places in daytona beach

[smarino]

The first advice is to never buy anywhere that you haven't visited for at least 3-4 weeks straight. The issues w/ Daytona make for an awfully long list, so I'll attempt to be brief: The city and county government is both unresponsive, incompetent, and crooked. The France family, the division of tourism, and the real estate developers formed a very strong cartel ages ago, and nothing, I mean nothing, happens w/o their say so. Which is why you see miles and miles of mega hotels on the beach, all built w/ the promise that this one, this time, will put Daytona on the map. Drive a little from that on the mainland and you will see mile after mile of ghettos. That whole run from Ormond to New Smyrna Beach on Nova Road is like something out of Dickens, except worse.

What usually grabs your attention if you have the misfortune to live there is usually the crack head murders, the prostitution, the armed robberies, the good 'ol boys shooting up people w/ their beloved guns (the owner of an infamous Daytona biker bar was recently disappointed because he failed to buy Zimmerman's murder weapon at auction), the horrid black ghettos that foster so much crime because the city refuses to invest anything in people of color that might help them, the draconian rules and regulations that prevent people of lesser means in getting even food stamps to survive, and the fact that there are NO free clinics for people that are down on their luck unless they have a JOB. That's what puts Daytona on the map. Yes, if you fall on hard times and are not paying your taxes, you can die because there is no medical assistance. If you have a job, the Jesus Clinic will help you. It is to laugh, isn't it? To name such an affront to humanity w/ such a name. Jesus was a homeless person by the way. The disparity between the haves and have nots is off the scale.

That mean, vicious attitude is is basically the philosophy of many people there, and is reflected in the actions of it's county government. Oh, I somehow forget all those festive times w/ scowling bikers w/ uncapped pipes that take over the town from time to time to drink, roar around, and occasionally kill themselves. Quite the family show, and yet they come every year because the hotels and restaurants make money. Which shows you the retards that run that place, and I am really biting my tongue trying not to call them what they really are. If you like all that, come on down. We hated it. It's a squalid town of desperation and horrific, low rent, appalling crimes. If I never see another newspaper article about how someone put their baby in a microwave it will be too soon. Looking back, we got lulled into stupefaction by the pretty scenery and should have fled after a few months. Many people live w/ blinders on though, so I have no idea how they stomach the place. We've been gone for 10 months and I am only just now beginning to understand what a negative effect living there for four years had on us.