Anyone from the Daytona Beach area to answer questions?

[FBCBEER]

I might be moving to Port Orange which is right outside Daytona Beach for Chiropractic school, and I wanted to know if any of you guys lived near there and could give me some information about living and how you like it.

Any specific areas I should look for for a place to live?

Have you heard of Palmer Chiropractic?

Are there many other colleges near there?

How is the party scene and what should I watch for?

Any help would be great! Thanks!

 

[FordSVTFan]

I might be moving to Port Orange which is right outside Daytona Beach for Chiropractic school, and I wanted to know if any of you guys lived near there and could give me some information about living and how you like it.

Any specific areas I should look for for a place to live?

Have you heard of Palmer Chiropractic?

Are there many other colleges near there?

How is the party scene and what should I watch for?

Any help would be great! Thanks!

I have heard of Palmer. I have a friend who graduated from their original campus in Davenport Iowa. I went to med school in Iowa.

The area north and south of there has a lot going on and there are quite a few schools in the general area.

 

[FBCBEER]

Thanks! Any more info from anyone as to where to look for housing?

 

[Litemup86]

Port Orange is close enough to Daytona that there will be plenty of good places to live and party. I grew up in New Smyrna Beach, just south of there. I've been away for a long time; I graduated high school in 1998 and moved to Orlando after for college at UCF but my parents and brother still live over in New Smyrna, so I get back enough to still see the area. I can't help you on places to live because it's been a long time since I've lived around there.
The other main schools are Embry Riddle and Bethune Cookman. Embry Riddle is a pretty high end aeronautical school and Bethune Cookman is a normal college, but predominantly black. I wouldn't say that Daytona has the best party scene, but there are some cool bars on the river and other things like that for a good time. Depends what you consider a party scene... a good bar or an actual "club" type place. There are some night clubs in Daytona, but the best ones are in Orlando which is only 45 minutes to an hour away. I'm sure you can find some college bars that have a more youthful crowd.
I don't think there are a ton of college bars in Daytona, so the average person is older than college age and still going to bars to party. Because of that, Orlando has a better scene to hang out. I don't want to down play Port Orange/Daytona though, you can have a good time there too. Write back with any other specific questions, but I won't be back home until around New Years so it might take me a few to reply.

 

[griffined]

I might be moving to Port Orange ..., and I wanted to know if any of you guys lived near there and could give me some information about living and how you like it.

Any specific areas I should look for for a place to live?

Have you heard of Palmer Chiropractic?

Are there many other colleges near there?

How is the party scene and what should I watch for?

I like living close enough to the beach, that I can walk over to it. That means living "beachside" on the barrier island vs. on the mainland side.
Daytona is in the center, and has the oldest buildings and neighborhoods. Port Orange to the South and Ormond Beach to the North are a little newer, and is where the most recent growth has been, and where more non-tourist stuff is. Traffic for the most part isn't bad, and you can get from one end of town to the other in about 20 mins. I-4 commute into Orlando in the morning is bad at times, but based on what you posted won't be an issue.

The other college not mentioned in the replies is DB State and UCF's DB campus which are smaller, and are like a community college in that I don't think either have associated housing. Wyotech has a motorcycle school here too I think.

As far as party scene, if you move here and want to know about happy hour and wine tasting, I can help. If you want to know about stuff after 11p at night, I can only offer suggestions based on second hand info.:beer:

 

[Mike@TCI]

Looks like most everything has been covered, but I might add.. The New smyrna/Port Orange area along with Ormond beach, are all nice an quite, usually crime free areas to live. Traffic is not bad, and there is a nice turbo shop up in Ormond, Turbocharged Innovation (can you guess who).

Besides that, the schools and the party scene are not far away ( Orlando). There are a few nice dinning areas over here, as well as scenery, but if your looking for strip clubs, clubs, bars, this really isn't the place, and the city is working hard to make that the case.

 

[FBCBEER]

Thanks alot, guys! You all have been extremely helpful.

I am looking for a city where I can get some actual work done. I plan on being there for 4 years if I enroll into Palmer Chiropractic, so not having a 100% party scene isnt a bad thing.

How far away is Ormond from Port Orange?

I will be visiting in February to see how I like the school and area, so that should be a good time to see how I like everything.

Any advice on where to look for housing if I were to commute to Port Orange daily? I am looking for anything under the $750 a month range.

Is the beach far from Port Orange? Bike riding distance?

Also, someone mentioned a river. Does that run only through Daytona or also Port Orange?

Sorry for the 20 questions, but I am just curious and would like to know what I am getting myself into.

 

[Mike@TCI]

Ormond is about 15-25 minute drive depending on time of day or night.

Beach is not far at all, most housing would put you with in bike riding distance, or walking distance.

Intercoastal waterway does run along the areas in mention, its less then a half mile East of Highway 1 ( US1).

 

[FBCBEER]

Ormond is about 15-25 minute drive depending on time of day or night.

Beach is not far at all, most housing would put you with in bike riding distance, or walking distance.

Intercoastal waterway does run along the areas in mention, its less then a half mile East of Highway 1 ( US1).

Thank you!

I will be coming down in February for a visiting trip to the area and to Palmer Chiropractic and would like to know if there are any specific hotels or areas to look to stay.

 

[griffined]

Speedweeks is Jan 14th thru February 15th. During that time hotel rates and occupancy shoot up, and things are crowded, especially along ISB near the track. Specifically

Rolex 24hr 1/24
Bud Shootout 2/7
Daytona 500 Pole Qualifying 2/8
Gatorade Duel 2/12
Daytona 250 2/13
Camping World 300 2/14
Daytona 500 2/15
Bike week 2/27-3/8

According to the paper, some folks have either cancelled reservations or have held off on making them due to the economy. The nicest (and probably the most expensive) place I know of is the Shores Resort. The Daytona Beach Hilton is pretty decent. There's a lot of non-chain properties in town, so YMMV.

 

[Litemup86]

What's your budget for the stay and what do you want to be around?
If you're coming as somewhat of a vacation, you can find some pretty cheaply priced hotels on that actual beach side of daytona. Daytona is primarily set up farthest east with the ocean, then about a 1/2 mile strip of land (the barrier island) called beachside where all the spring break touristy stuff is. Next is the intercoastal waterway (ie. the river), then you take a bridge over the the main land of daytona hooked to the rest of Florida. I'd recommend the beach side for that stay and there's a huge hotel/resort type thing across from the Ocean Center with hotels, shops, restaurants, all the touristy crap all in one, making it a fun stay. Anybody know what that hotel is? It's pretty reasonably priced too. If you stay there, you can easily get to the surrounding areas to see where you'd actually want to live.
Your other option is to stay near the Daytona International Speedway, but you won't enjoy that around speed week unless you're there only to leave your car at the hotel and walk to the track for race events. If you are there in that time period, go to Port Orange or Ormond and find a nice, normal hotel unless you want to be surrounded by a million people at all times and high prices on everything. Prices in those places will still be a good bit over the rest of the normal year. Don't let me downplay the Daytona 500 or any of the other speedweek events though, I'll be at a few of them I'm sure.

 

[FBCBEER]

Speedweeks is Jan 14th thru February 15th. During that time hotel rates and occupancy shoot up, and things are crowded, especially along ISB near the track. Specifically

Rolex 24hr 1/24
Bud Shootout 2/7
Daytona 500 Pole Qualifying 2/8
Gatorade Duel 2/12
Daytona 250 2/13
Camping World 300 2/14
Daytona 500 2/15
Bike week 2/27-3/8

According to the paper, some folks have either cancelled reservations or have held off on making them due to the economy. The nicest (and probably the most expensive) place I know of is the Shores Resort. The Daytona Beach Hilton is pretty decent. There's a lot of non-chain properties in town, so YMMV.

What's your budget for the stay and what do you want to be around?
If you're coming as somewhat of a vacation, you can find some pretty cheaply priced hotels on that actual beach side of daytona. Daytona is primarily set up farthest east with the ocean, then about a 1/2 mile strip of land (the barrier island) called beachside where all the spring break touristy stuff is. Next is the intercoastal waterway (ie. the river), then you take a bridge over the the main land of daytona hooked to the rest of Florida. I'd recommend the beach side for that stay and there's a huge hotel/resort type thing across from the Ocean Center with hotels, shops, restaurants, all the touristy crap all in one, making it a fun stay. Anybody know what that hotel is? It's pretty reasonably priced too. If you stay there, you can easily get to the surrounding areas to see where you'd actually want to live.
Your other option is to stay near the Daytona International Speedway, but you won't enjoy that around speed week unless you're there only to leave your car at the hotel and walk to the track for race events. If you are there in that time period, go to Port Orange or Ormond and find a nice, normal hotel unless you want to be surrounded by a million people at all times and high prices on everything. Prices in those places will still be a good bit over the rest of the normal year. Don't let me downplay the Daytona 500 or any of the other speedweek events though, I'll be at a few of them I'm sure.

Thanks, guys! Very helpful information.

Basically the reason for my trip is to (in this order):

1. Visit Palmer Chiropractic
2. Visit surrounding areas (Port Orange, Ormond, Daytona, etc)
3. Look for possible living arrangements (ie. apartment complexes, neighborhoods, real estate available)
4. Enjoy sunny Florida!! :beer:


I won't be visiting until maybe February 18th and I will be hopefully staying a week. I might be going alone, so the cheaper the better. I won't need anything special for this trip....basically just a roof over my head, haha. I would sleep in my car if it weren't a mustang convertible! :-D

Thanks!

 

[Litemup86]

You'll find many low budget hotels in any of those areas. I'd still suggest you hit Expedia or one of those on line things to book in advance to be safe. Crap fills up around the races.