“Traffic isn’t an issue for us here in Deland”. Well, that’s what I USED TO say, but today, it seems like it IS an issue. I’ve lived here in the Deland area since the 90’s, and I’ve got to be one of Deland’s BIGGEST fans, but I’m starting to wonder if Deland will eventually be swallowed up by Orlando’s growth. Today, I’ll be looking at the problem of Deland’s growth and how it could impact Deland’s future.

It wasn’t long ago that Deland, Florida was one of the top Main Streets in America. Deland has some great restaurants and shopping, the Athens Theatre, Stetson University, Hontoon Island and the St. Johns River, and…I could go on and on. I still love Deland, and most around here still do, it’s a great little town. I also know that Deland is a great place to live because of past growth.

But today it seems like the downtown district is becoming a traffic nightmare. Deland has a population of over 44,000 people, but that’s an increase of over 25% in the last decade. With over 1,200 people moving to Florida every single day, should we expect that it won’t get worse?

Business is booming, and that’s a good thing, right? New buildings seem to be popping up all over. Even a section north of town that I’ve always thought was where businesses went to die, seems to be thriving. Deland seems to be expanding further and further out towards Daytona on International Speedway Boulevard.

I do think growth is good, but now we’ve got hundreds of new apartment homes right downtown, which, to me, is reminiscent of Orlando. I heard that this new apartment building doesn’t even have adequate parking for THEIR residents, which will only exacerbate the downtown parking problem. The funny thing is that I used to live down near Orlando, and Orlando is why I love Deland so much, it’s that small-town feel without high rise apartment buildings.

Locals are clamoring for a parking garage downtown to deal with parking issue, but more parking just might make it easier for even MORE people to come. I admit, I’m whining here, but the small-town feel is what makes Deland so great and what I’m afraid we could lose.

It’s not just downtown, either. There’s a light on South Woodland and 15A that sometimes you’ll have to wait through two cycles to get through it. Again, it sounds like Orlando! They’ve added a roundabout down on Orange Camp at Martin Luther King Boulevard, which most people don’t even know how to navigate, and then there’s the latest one up at Kepler and State Road 44. That one, to me, is long overdue as I simply avoid that entire area during busy times if I need to get to I-4 or New Smyrna Beach.

I’ve been selling real estate here in the Deland area for many years, so I love all these new homes. But I wonder if I’ll love all of them when I retire! New construction home communities are being built seemingly every single day. I can’t even keep up with all of them. Just think of the growth in Deland since Victoria Park started building back around 2000.

The Deland SunRail expansion might help with the traffic, if the shuttle system works as intended, but there’s a shuttle to downtown Sanford from their SunRail stop, but I don’t believe most people even know that shuttle exists. Yes, SunRail might decrease traffic a bit, but my understanding is that they haven’t gotten the usage that they wanted when they originally implemented SunRail down in Debary and into, and south of Orlando. So, will SunRail have an impact here in Deland?

The City of Deland says they have a plan for growth, and the Deland Vision 2050 sounds great. This statement, to me, seems to say all the right things, but is it realistic to think Deland, Florida won’t one day just be another suburb of Orlando?

If you’ve got real estate needs anywhere in the Central Florida area, reach out to me directly. Here’s a link to a local news station that did a news story on Deland’s growth.

Published on June 10. 2024 / no comments.