Daytona Beach

Daytona Beach, or simply Daytona, is a coastal resort-city in the U.S. state of Florida. Located on the eastern edge of Volusia County near the Atlantic coastline, its population was 72,647 at the 2020 census. Daytona Beach is historically known for its beach, where the hard-packed sand allows motorized vehicles on the beach in restricted areas. The city is also the headquarters of NASCAR, and hosts Speedweeks in early February when over 200,000 NASCAR fans come to attend the season-opening Daytona 500. It is part of the DeltonaOrmond Beach metropolitan area which has a population of about 600,000 and is also a principal city of the Fun Coast region of Florida, which is home to the Daytona International Speedway and Daytona Beach International Airport. The area now known as the Daytona Beach Historical District was once the Orange Grove Plantation, a citrus and sugar cane plantation granted to Samuel Williams in 1787. The Timucuan Indians were nearly exterminated by contact with Europeans through war, enslavement and disease and became extinct as a racial entity through assimilation and attrition during the 18th century. The Seminole Indians, descendants of Creek Indians from Georgia and Alabama, frequented the area prior to the Second Seminole War. In 1804 Samuel Williams received a land grant of 3,000 acres (12 km²) from the Spanish Crown, which had regained Florida from the British after the American Revolutionary War. The road extended from Saint Augustine, the capital of East Florida, to Andrew Turnbull's experimental colony in New Smyrna. In 1886, the St Johns & Halifax River Railway arrived in Daytona. The separate towns of Daytona, Daytona Beach, Kingston, and Seabreeze merged as " daytona beach" in 1926.

History

Daytona Beach is the primary city name, but also Dayt Bch Sh, Daytona Beach Shores are acceptable city names or spellings. The official name is City of Daytona Beach. The area now known as the Daytona Beach Historical District was once the Orange Grove Plantation. In 1871, Mathias Day Jr. of Mansfield, Ohio, purchased the 3,200-acre tract of the former plantation. The separate towns of Daytona, Daytona Beach, Kingston, and Seabreeze merged as "Daytona Beach" in 1926, at the urging of J. B. Kahn and others. In 1958, William France Sr. and NASCAR created the Daytona International Speedway to replace the beach course. It hosted land speed record attempts beginning in 1904, when William K. Vanderbilt set an unofficial record of 92.307 mph (148.554 km/h) The first stock car race was held on March 8, 1936, in the present-day Town of Ponce Inlet. It was won by Frank Lockhart (Stutz Black Hawk, 1928) and set the record at 276.816 mph (445.492 km/H) in 1929. It is located on the west bank of the Halifax River, 12 miles north of Mosquito Inlet, which is on the Atlantic coast. The area was once inhabited by the Timucuan Indians who lived in fortified villages. The Timucuas were nearly exterminated by contact with Europeans through war, disease and attrition during the 18th century. The Seminole Indians, descendants of Creek Indians from Georgia and Alabama, frequented the area prior to the Second Seminole War. In 1783, the King's Road extended from Saint Augustine, the capital of East Florida, to New Smyrna.

Geography

Daytona Beach is located at 29°12N 81°2W (29.2073, 81.0379). According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 64.93 sq mi (168 km²) of which 58.68 sq mi is land. The city is split in two by the Halifax River lagoon, part of the Intracoastal Waterway, and sits on the Atlantic Ocean. It is bordered on the north by Holly Hill and Ormond Beach and on the south by Daytona Beach Shores, South Daytona and Port Orange. In winter, the coolest month is January, with a normal monthly mean temperature of 58.8 °F (14.9 °C) The 2004 hurricane season was by far the most active in the Daytona Beach area in the last 50 years. Since 1950 there has only been one direct hit by a tropical cyclone to the Daytona beach area, Hurricane Donna in 1960. The most rainfall to have occurred in a calendar day was 12.85 in (326 mm) on October 10, 1924, which contributed to 24.82 in (630 mm) of rain that month, the most of any calendar month. On July 3, 1992, a 28-mile (45 km) long rogue wave hit Volusia County beaches. The wave was centered at Daytona Beach and centered at 9.2 feet (2.7 m) high. Two people required hospitalization and 200 vehicles were damaged. The prevailing theory is that an underwater landslide caused the rogue wave.

Law and government

Daytona Beach is part of Florida's 6th congressional district. The city is home to the Florida Army National Guard 1st Battalion, 265th Air Defense Artillery Regiment, Headquarters and Headquarters Battery, Battery D. The Volusia County Sheriff's office is a countywide law enforcement agency with 446 sworn positions, 438 civilian employees, 300 volunteers and an annual operating budget of $73 million. The U.S. Postal Service operates a post office at 500 Bill France Boulevard in Daytona Beach. The City of Daytona Beach made national headlines when it designated the severalmile radius around Main Street on the barrier island portion of the city as a blighted area and has targeted it for redevelopment by private developers. This follows the Supreme Court decision of the eminent domain case in Kelo v. City of New London, which upheld the right of municipalities to use eminent domain to take private property for redevelopment. The Daytona Beach Police Department (DBPD) is headed by police chief Craig Capri. In a unique and controversial program to help fund the Police Explorer program, run by a subsidiary of the Boy Scouts of America, T-shirts with the words Scumbag Eradication Team: Not in Our Town are sold at the police headquarters. The T-shirt has been cited in at least one lawsuit against the DBPD alleging police brutality, the lawyer in the case in which the client sustained broken ribs and a fractured eye socket during an arrest for an open container of beer, claims the T- shirt shows the DB PD condones violence.

Demographics

As of 2010, there were 33,920 households, out of which 19.5% were vacant. English spoken as a first language accounted for 90.37% of all residents, while 9.62% spoke other languages as their mother tongue. The most significant were Spanish speakers who made up 4.01% of the population. French came up as the third most spoken language, which made up 0.90%, and German was at fourth, at 0.86%, as well as, Arabic with 0.66%. In 2000, the city the population was spread out, with 17.6% under the age of 18, 16.6%) from 18 to 24, 25.6%" from 25 to 44, 20.5%" from 45 to 64, and 19.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median income for a household in the city was $25,439, and the median incomes for a family was $33,514. Out of the total population, 34.9% of those under the Age of 18 and 12.1% of people 65 and older were living below the poverty line. The per capita income for the city in 2000 was $17,530, and 23.6%. In 2010, the median income was $24,938, and 16.9%. of the residents of the city were below the age age of 25. The average household size was 2.06 and the average family size was2.77. For every 100 females, there are 99.7 males.

Culture

The Museum of Arts and Sciences is the primary cultural facility for Daytona Beach and Volusia County. It includes the Klancke Environmental Complex, the Cuban Museum, Root Family Museum featuring one of the largest Coca-Cola collections in the world. Other museums located in the city include the Southeast Museum of Photography and the Halifax Historical Museum. Since 1952, the non-profit Daytona Beach Symphony Society has sponsored performances by U.S. and international orchestras, opera and dance companies each season at the Peabody Auditorium. There are also changing exhibitions and a children's science center opened in 2008. It also includes the Cici and Hyatt Brown Museum of Art, which houses the largest collection of Florida art in the World. It is located on the banks of the Daytona Beach River, which runs through the center of the city. The museum is open to the public on weekdays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., and is open on the weekends from 9 to 11 p. m. for special events and events. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest museum of its kind in the United States. It has been named after a former mayor of Daytona Beach, Florida, who was a member of the Florida House of Representatives from 1881 to 1883. The current mayor is Republican Rick Scott, who has been in office since 1999 and served as mayor from 2003 to 2007. The city is home to the Florida Museum of Fine Arts, which was established to house the state's collection of fine art.

Beaches and parks

Daytona Beach has over 23 miles (37 km) of white sandy beaches open to pedestrians without time restrictions. Cars can be driven on some of the beaches during daylight hours. Thong bikinis are prohibited in all areas of Daytona Beach, with a penalty of up to $500 and 60 days in jail. There are more than ten waterfront parks in Daytona Beach.

Sports

Daytona Beach is home to the headquarters of the LPGA, NASCAR, IMSA, International Speedway Corporation, in Florida. The Daytona International Speedway hosts the annual 24 Hours of Daytona (Rolex 24 at Daytona) and Daytona 500 races, among other events. In addition to motorsports, Daytona is also the home of the Daytona Tortugas, a minor league baseball team of the Low-A Southeast who play at Jackie Robinson Ballpark. The golf club offers two 18-hole courses, Hills and Jones (originally Legends and Champions). There are a number of golf courses in Daytona Beach, including North and South Courses designed in 1922 and South Course designed in 1923. The city is also known for its nightlife and nightlife clubs, such as the Pompano Beach Gentlemen's Club, which was founded in the early 1900s. It is also home to several nightclubs, including the Ritz-Carlton, which opened in the late 1950s and has since become one of the world's most popular nightspots. The town is also famous for its golf courses, which were designed in the 1920s and '30s by the architects of the PGA Tour, including Hills & Jones and North & South courses. It has a population of 1.6 million. The population of Daytona Beach is 1.7 million. It also has a reputation for being a hotbed of motorsports. The area is known as the birthplace of the 24-hour race, the Rolex 24.

Special events

The city attracts over 8 million tourists each year. Special events that draw visitors to Daytona Beach include:Speedweeks (Daytona 500 NASCAR race, Rolex 24 sports car race, and others) The city is also often associated with spring break, though the efforts of the local government to discourage rowdiness, combined with the rise of other spring break destinations, have affected Daytona's preeminence as a spring break destination. It is the destination of Dayton 2 Daytona, an annual event that draws over 3,000 University of Dayton college students since 1977. During motorcycle events (Bike Week and Biketoberfest), several hundred thousand bikers from all over the world visit the greater Daytona Beach area. The city also hosts the Daytona 500, a NASCAR race held on the first Saturday of July (formerly called the Pepsi 400 and the Firecracker 400) Daytona 200 motorcycle races, bike shows and biker reunion in March are held in the city. The Daytona 500 is one of the most popular NASCAR races in the U.S., drawing over 1.5 million fans. The race is held at Daytona International Speedway, which is located in Daytona Beach, Florida. The event is known as the "World's Fastest Half-mile" and is held every year on the weekend of July 1 and July 2. Daytona 200 is the largest motorcycle race in the United States, attracting over 100,000 bikers every year. It's also the only one of its kind in the world, drawing hundreds of thousands of bikers.

Air Quality, Water Quality, Superfund Sites & UV Index

The Air Quality index is in Daytona Beach, Volusia County, Florida = 92.6. These Air Quality index is based on annual reports from the EPA. Higher values are better (100=best). The number of ozone alert days is used as an indicator of air quality, as are the amounts of seven pollutants including particulates, carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, lead, and volatile organic chemicals. The Water Quality Index is 35. A measure of the quality of an area’s water supply as rated by the EPA. Higher values are better (100=best). The EPA has a complex method of measuring the watershed quality, using 15 indicators such as pollutants, turbidity, sediments, and toxic discharges. The Superfund Sites Index is 91. Higher is better (100=best). Based upon the number and impact of EPA Superfund pollution sites in the county, including spending on the cleanup efforts. The UV Index in Daytona Beach = 6.4 and is a measure of an area's exposure to the sun's ultraviolet rays. This is most often a combination of sunny weather, altitude, and latitude. The UV Index has been defined by the WHO (www.who.int/news-room/questions-and-answers/item/radiation-the-ultraviolet-(uv)-index) and is uniform worldwide.

Employed

The most recent city population of 72,647 individuals with a median age of 37.6 age the population grows by 2.14% in Daytona Beach, Volusia County, Florida population since 2000 and are distributed over a density of 1,107.54 residents per square mile of area (427.62/km²). There are average 2.08 people per household in the 29,007 households with an average household income of $30,364 a year. The unemployment rate in Alabama is 11.90% of the available work force and has dropped -5.05% over the most recent 12-month period and the projected change in job supply over the next decade based on migration patterns, economic growth, and other factors will increase by 18.00%. The number of physicians in Daytona Beach per 100,000 population = 172.3.

Weather

The annual rainfall in Daytona Beach = 50.3 inches and the annual snowfall = 0 inches. The annual number of days with measurable precipitation (over .01 inch) = 106. The average number of days per year that are predominantly sunny = 230. 90 degrees Fahrenheit is the average daily high temperature for the month of July and 49 degrees Fahrenheit is the average daily low temperature for the month of January. The Comfort Index (higher=better) is 26, where higher values mean a more pleasant climate. The Comfort Index measure recognizes that humidity by itself isn't the problem. (Have you noticed nobody ever complains about the weather being 'cold and humid?) It's in the summertime that we notice the humidity the most, when it's hot and muggy. Our Comfort Index uses a combination of afternoon summer temperature and humidity to closely predict the effect that the humidity will have on people.

Median Home Cost

The percentage of housing units in Daytona Beach, Volusia County, Florida which are owned by the occupant = 40.44%. A housing unit is a house, apartment, mobile home, or room occupied as separate living quarters. The average age of homes = 36 years with median home cost = $100,580 and home appreciation of -22.86%. This is the value of the years most recent home sales data. Its important to note that this is not the average (or arithmetic mean). The median home price is the middle value when you arrange all the sales prices of homes from lowest to highest. This is a better indicator than the average, because the median is not changed as much by a few unusually high or low values. The property tax rate of $12.62 shown here is the rate per $1,000 of home value. If for simplification for example the tax rate is $14.00 and the home value is $250,000, the property tax would be $14.00 x ($250,000/1000), or $3500. This is the 'effective' tax rate.

Study

The local school district spends $4,582 per student. There are 14.8 students for each teacher in the school, 969 students for each Librarian and 340 students for each Counselor. 7.75% of the area’s population over the age of 25 with an Associate Degree or other 2-year college degree, 13.20% with a master’s degree, Ph.D. or other advanced college degree and 6.34% with high school diplomas or high school equivalency degrees (GEDs).