Is DeBary FL a GOOD place to live?

DeBary, Florida is an Orlando suburb with a booming population, but growth sometimes comes with growing pains. So today, we’ll look at several items to determine IF DeBary, Florida is a good place to live. I’ll start with why so many ARE moving to DeBary, and then I’ll address why some of the locals are NOT so sure that DeBary, Florida is still such a great place to live.

Location, Location, and Location

Let’s jump right in with why DeBary IS a good place to live. Well first, it’s DeBary’s location. DeBary is located along the St. Johns River about 35 or 40 minutes north of Orlando, and 15-20 minutes north of Lake Mary, where so many DeBaryans work.

DeBary is about halfway between Mount Dora and New Smyrna and Daytona beaches and right across the St. Johns River from Sanford. Because of this great location just outside of Orlando, a LOT of people are moving to DeBary.

They’re also fleeing Orlando from its congestion and higher housing costs. Not to mention everyone moving here from other states across the country. But all this growth moving up from Orlando is creating a good bit of traffic, which I’ll be addressing later. To deal with the traffic, DeBary got itself a station on SunRail’s map back in 2014 or so.

The SunRail is a commuter rail system that connects Deland, just north of DeBary, down through Orlando, Kissimmee, and into Poinciana. It’s a great way to avoid the nightmarish traffic that sometimes happens on I-4. To deal with all these slowdowns, Orlando recently installed express lanes along I-4 to Orlando, and they’ve also recently completed the beltway that surrounds Orlando.

This beltway does have tolls, but sometimes it’s WELL worth it, especially if you want to ensure a traffic-free ride to UCF, Orlando International Airport, or Disney or any of the other attractions here in Central Florida.

Small-town feel

The #1 reason so many say that DeBary, Florida IS a good place to live is the small-town feel that’s so prevalent here. For many years, DeBary has really been a tight-knit community where they kind of just looked out for one another. DeBary’s neighbor to the east, Deltona, was planned (sort of) and built by the Mackle brothers in the 60’s and 70’s for their profit.

Sanford, to the south is an old merchant city, and today is probably 3 or 4 times the size of DeBary with all sorts of commercial activity, and Orange City, to the north is where most of the local businesses are. So, DeBary has always just sort of quietly sat here by itself minding its own business.

Weather

Of course, DeBary’s weather is fantastic. The summers are hot and humid, but the fall, spring and winters here are fantastic, and it’s a huge reason that Florida is one of the top moving destinations in the US. This great weather makes DeBary a great place to live with activities like our local springs, the St. Johns River, great golf courses, the beaches, and, of course, Disney all the other Orlando area attractions.

All trails lead to Debary

Debary has been recognized as a Trail Town, too. Numerous trails connect from Debary all the way over to Edgewater and New Smyrna Beaches, northward through Deland and up to DeLeon Springs, and southward down into Sanford, Winter Park, and Orlando. These paved multi-use trails are great for walking, cycling, or whatever your fancy is.

Is DeBary STILL a good place to live?

So far, we’ve talked about why DeBary, Florida IS a good place to live, but some locals would say that this video should’ve been titled “WAS DeBary, Florida a good place to live” as DeBary is dealing with a lot of pressure to maintain the small-town feel that’s made DeBary such a great place to live for so many.

I spoke earlier of the I-4 traffic, but that traffic has ALWAYS been present down in the Orlando area, even in Sanford and Lake Mary, DeBary’s southerly neighbors, but it’s never been a real thing here in DeBary. Until now. The housing boom has taken a huge toll on DeBary’s small-town feel.

New neighborhoods like Rivington and Riviera Bella are popping up all over the place, kind of just squeezing homes into every piece of available vacant land. They cleared out a huge section of woods for Debary’s downtown district and this doesn’t even account for the new homes built by local builders.

Sure, the downtown district is great, but it’s not making this traffic any better, especially if those from Orlando head north to check out our quaint little “small town”. This, combined with that I-4 traffic overflowing through DeBary’s streets when I-4 stacks up, has forced the City of DeBary to add several traffic lights along 17-92, and the locals aren’t happy about it.

I’ve been selling homes here in the DeBary area for over a decade and many of my sellers have voiced their displeasure with all this growth. And my buyers moving here are usually moving here for their needs, NOT that small-town feel. By the way, if you’ve got real estate needs anywhere in Central Florida, give me a call.

Are the good ole’ days gone forever?

It’s not that the small-town feel is completely gone, it’s just different these days. It wasn’t too long ago that a Walmart Neighborhood Market was built, and before you know it, I bet they’ll have a Chipotle or some other chain here. Can this growth be good? Of course, and if you haven’t been here before, you may still think it has a small-town feel.

Crime in DeBary?

I would think that DeBary would be one of the safest cities around, but when I did a quick check on crimegrade.org, it noted that DeBary’s crime rate is slightly higher than the average US city, which blew me away. If crime is getting worse, I’m betting that all this growth has something to do with it.

Then again, maybe it’s just that a few instances of crime skew the data in a town as small as DeBary. I do hear of crime in other cities on the local morning news, but I don’t hear too much about crime in DeBary.

I suppose every city in Florida is dealing with growing pains. I guess we should expect growth if a city is meeting the needs of its residents. DeBary has a lot going for it that so many other cities just don’t offer, and I still love DeBary. Is it imperfect? Yes, it is. At the end of the day, it depends on what you want or need to determine if Debary, Florida is a good place to live.