Why Nobody Wants to Visit Daytona Beach, Florida Anymore

Comments · 502

• JE

  @jeffmorse645 · 2 months ago

  I live in Palm Coast. Moved here from California in 2023. Ever since I've been in the area I hear people gripe about what a pit Daytona is. I've seen some shabby neighborhoods there and some homeless, but it's nothing like California cities. Not even close. You all have no idea how bad things can get. I'm grateful to live in Florida and all in all Daytona Beach and Volusia County are pretty nice in my eyes.

  155

• KE

  @Kershawsandwich · 2 months ago

  Chaotic crowds ? Oh you mean those people.  Fatigue.

  133

• DA

  @DannyWalker247 · 2 months ago (edited)

  I came to Daytona Beach in 1973 and it was a laid back sleepy beach town with a beautiful downtown area. Several draw bridges gave access to the beachside. It was quite picturesque. And I knew Daytona Beach better that most because I worked as a letter carrier at the post office. I delivered mail to the mom and pop motels that dominated the beachfront at the time and I went to the speedway office to pick up their outgoing mail. Bill France himself would be sitting on the table in the back room waiting beside the maybe 3 or 4 trays of mail. There were no malls at the time and car dealers and major chain stores were still located in the dowtown area. I have witnessed all of the changes over the years that were described in the video. But in reality Daytona Beach is no different than other towns in this country that are struggling to navigate in our fast changing culture. Yes Daytona grew as an event town and they continue to be with the speedway being the driving force for most events. Some of the newer events are Jeep Week and Rockville. As people age they think of how things used to be and I would love to be able to turn back time to the day I turned off of A1A onto Main Street for that first time and crossed the bridge onto Beach Street. But you can't turn back time and change is inevitable no matter where you live. It is all just a memory now.

  13

• BO

  @Bo_Bryant420 · 2 months ago

  I've lived in Daytona since the mid 80s. A few details were left out here and there but this video is one of the most accurate depictions of what has developed here over the years. The real story of this area is how something exciting shows up and after the initial craze, things die off and people get interested in other stuff. The one consistent factor that brought people here and the city has destroyed is the ability to drive up and down the entire beach. That's the one thing that we have over almost everyone and we're not taking advantage of it. That's the driving force that the city needs to really put their money into because It's something that can't really be removed unless it's by city ordinances. It was a natural gift given to us and we're not taking advantage of it. If I'm in Orlando and I decide I wanna go to the beach, I have just as an equal choice to go to Daytona or to go to the West Coast. Our beach isn't as pretty as some of the soft white sands of other beaches so we need to Present an incentive for people to come here and that is being able to drive your vehicle right on the beach.

  41

• JI

  @jim-gb7sj · 2 months ago

  The drinking age at Daytona in 1973 was 18. I spent some weekends in the spring while stationed at NAS Jaccksonville. I slept on the beach and lived on $1 bucket of day old KFC chicken and beer. Good times.

  40

• RO

  @rodcoulter997 · 2 months ago

  ABSOLUTELY CORRECT…City and County Government Officials destroyed everything….now look what they got left…NOTHING.

  10

• GE

  @geoffreysundstrom · 2 months ago

  The charming 50s and 60s  hotels with their unique themed architecture and neon signs were allowed to rot or were torn down.  They should have been preserved as historic landmarks the way Wildwood, NJ did.  Daytona had an opportunity to become a Mecca for classic car buffs to drive down streets lined with vintage American roadside architecture, but the "upscales" ruined it.

  30

• CL

  @cletusharper403 · 2 months ago

  Grew up in Daytona , what a great childhood. After the army and some travel I came back home, and witnessed the decline. My childhood neighborhood is a ghetto. I live south in Port Orange now, growth is killing the whole area.

  39

• TR

  @Tristars75018 · 2 months ago

  I remember many years ago, driving a car on the beach was free, (no charge) Daytona Beach Speedway, Bike Week, Spring Break was great for the economy...It was amazing to park on the beach, and enjoy the ocean swimming.

  4

• UN

  @Unknown-pc9yq · 2 months ago

  As a lifelong Volusia County resident born at Halifax, I&apos;ve watched Daytona Beach decline for decades. The so-called &quot;improvements&quot; have done the same damage to Ormond Beach—transforming a quiet small town into another overcrowded, chaotic mess like Daytona and the surrounding areas. There&apos;s simply not enough economic base here to support the rising cost of living. If you didn&apos;t buy a house 20+ years ago, younger people are effectively priced out.<br>I visit the west coast of Florida often, and the contrast is striking. They don&apos;t have the widespread homelessness, open drug use, and general slum vibe that plagues Daytona. Everything there feels clean, orderly, and well-maintained. My last beach vacation was to Isla Mujeres in Mexico, and it cost less than a non-local would pay to visit &quot;Dirtona&quot; for the same length of stay. Even in a foreign country, there was no panhandling, no drug addicts passed out in public, and far less crime. I genuinely felt safer there at night than I do in Daytona.<br>Every beach approach here is overrun with addicts, mentally unstable individuals, and various degenerates. I metal detect at night, and what I&apos;ve seen is wild. I would never bring a family down there.<br><br>I hope for the best for Daytona but it seems to me that big money investors are going to continue to sprawl west, overload the Healthcare system and infrastructure until people like me simply move elsewhere.

  16

• AP

  @Appalachia1080 · 2 months ago

  Daytona had a personality that the elite destroyed. What a shame.

  25

• RO

  @RockinRobbins13 · 2 months ago

  Having lived in Daytona Beach since 1967, I can say you hit the story perfectly. Time after time, the power that be in Daytona and surrounding cities have voted to die and were surprised when it happened. Then they promptly voted to die again. Repeat almost yearly until today. I don&apos;t live in Daytona Beach any more. It moved.

  3