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Fun Coast Sandbox

Fun Coast
Location in the state of Florida
Major cities	Daytona Beach Palm Coast Deltona Port Orange New Smyrna Beach
Area  - Total	2,003 mi² (5,188 km²)
Population  - Total (2006)	579,659
Time zone	Eastern: UTC-5
The Daytona Beach-Port Orange Urbanized Area, Deltona Urbanized Area, and Palm Coast Urbanized Area make up the Fun Coast region of Florida.

The Fun Coast is a region of Florida, in the United States. It extends along the Atlantic, or eastern, coast of the state, from Marineland to Canaveral National Seashore, and includes all of Flagler County and Volusia County. It is bounded by the Space Coast on the south and by the First Coast on the north. It is bounded by the Central Florida region on the west, and by the Atlantic Ocean on the east.

Although Flagler County is sometimes included with the First Coast region, and Volusia County is sometimes included with the Central Florida region for demographics and statistics, those regions frequently omit the two counties in publications and guides (see also: Forgotten Coast). This caused the local governments and NGOs in Flagler and Volusia to pool their resources and cooperate in many affairs. The Convention and visitor bureaus in both counties started to promote the region as Florida's Fun Coast.

Geography

Natural areas

• Blue Spring State Park, near Orange City
• Bulow Creek State Park, between Ormond Beach and Flagler Beach
• Bulow Plantation Ruins Historic State Park, near Bunnell
• Canaveral National Seashore, near New Smyrna Beach
• De Leon Springs State Park, north of DeLand
• Gamble Rogers Memorial State Recreation Area at Flagler Beach
• Lake George State Forest, near Seville and Pierson
• Lake Woodruff National Wildlife Refuge, west of DeLand
• North Peninsula State Park, north of Ormond Beach
• Tiger Bay State Forest, between Daytona Beach and DeLand
• Tomoka State Park north of Ormond Beach
• Washington Oaks State Gardens, near Palm Coast

Climate

The Fun Coast region has a humid subtropical climate (Koppen Cfa), with warm temperatures and the threat of thunderstorms during the summer, and rare winter frosts on occasion. The area is listed by the USDA as being in hardiness zone 9, which is about the northern limit of where Date palms can be grown. Highs usually range between 71 and 91 °F (21 and 33 °C) year round.

Metropolitan Areas

The United States Census Bureau separates the Fun Coast into two metropolitan statistical areas.

	Metropolitan Statistical Areas	2006 Population
	Deltona-Daytona Beach-Ormond Beach Metropolitan Statistical Area	496,575
	Palm Coast Metropolitan Statistical Area	83,084

The Deltona-Daytona Beach-Ormond Beach Metropolitan Statistical Area includes Volusia County. The Palm Coast, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area includes Flagler County.

Government

The region is governed by the two counties in the area. In total there are 21 municipalities or incorporated places in the region. Each one of the municipalities has its own city or town government, although there is little distinction between the two types. Much of the land in the region is unincorporated, which means it does not belong to any municipality, and is governed by the county it is located in.

Cities and Towns

Incorporated Cities and Towns in the Fun Coast region:

Town of Beverly Beach City of Bunnell City of Daytona Beach City of Daytona Beach Shores City of DeBary City of DeLand City of Deltona

City of Edgewater City of Flagler Beach City of Holly Hill City of Lake Helen Town of Marineland City of New Smyrna Beach City of Oak Hill

City of Orange City City of Ormond Beach City of Palm Coast Town of Pierson Town of Ponce Inlet City of Port Orange City of South Daytona

Education

In Florida, each county is also a school district. Each district is headed by an elected school board. A professional superintendent manages the day-to-day operations of each district, who is appointed by the School Board.

Some colleges and universities in the Fun Coast include:

• Bethune-Cookman University (private/Methodist)
• Daytona State College (public)
• Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University (private)
• Keiser University (private)
• Palmer College of Chiropractic (private)
• Stetson University (private)
• University of Central Florida (Daytona Beach branch campus - public)

Regional Transportation

Airports

• Daytona Beach International Airport offers the only direct commercial flights in the Fun Coast region.
• DeLand Municipal Airport, a general aviation airport in DeLand, FL.
• Flagler County Airport, a general aviation airport in Bunnell, FL.
• New Smyrna Beach Municipal Airport, a general aviation airport in New Smyrna Beach, FL.
• Ormond Beach Municipal Airport, a general aviation airport in Ormond Beach, FL.
• Massey Ranch Airpark, a private airport in Edgewater, FL.
• Spruce Creek Airport, a private airport near Port Orange, FL.

Trains

• Amtrak offers train passenger service to the Fun Coast on the Silver Meteor and Silver Star routes, with the only stop being west of DeLand.
• Sunrail offers train passenger service to the Fun Coast from Orlando to a station in DeBary.

Buses

• The Fun Coast is served by Greyhound Bus Lines, which has terminals or stops located in Daytona Beach, DeLand, and Palm Coast. The Greyhound routes from the area connect with hubs in Jacksonville and Orlando.

Roads

The Fun Coast region is served by two interstate highways operated by the Florida Department of Transportation in conjunction with local agencies.

• Interstate 4 - I-4 runs east to west; it connects Daytona Beach to Orlando in Central Florida and Tampa on the west coast.
• Interstate 95 - I-95 runs north to south along the coast, connecting with Jacksonville to the north and Miami to the south.

Three U.S. highways serve the region:

• US Route 1
• US Route 17
• US Route 92

Several Florida State Roads serve the region:

Florida State Road 5 Florida State Road 5A Florida State Road 9 Florida State Road 11 Florida State Road 15 Florida State Road 20 Florida State Road 40

Florida State Road 44 Florida State Road 46 Florida State Road 100 Florida State Road 415 Florida State Road 421 Florida State Road 430

Florida State Road 441 Florida State Road 442 Florida State Road 472 Florida State Road 483 Florida State Road 600 Florida State Road A1A

Public transportation

• Volusia County Public Transit System (VOTRAN) provides public transportation for Volusia County, Florida. VOTRAN is operated by McDonald Transit, under contract with Volusia County. It maintains 28 fixed-line bus routes plus a dial-a-ride paratransit service (VOTRAN Gold).

Sports

Motorsports

The Fun Coast region is dominated by Motorsports, with several race track venues in the area.

• Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach is a premier NASCAR track, which hosts the Daytona 500 and Coke Zero 400 Sprint Cup races. Numerous other races and car shows are held at the track.
• New Smyrna Speedway near New Smyrna Beach is a half-mile oval, asphalt track that features Florida Association of Stock Car Automobile Racing (FASCAR) stock car races Saturday nights, and a smaller track on the infield that features Quarter midgets.
• Volusia Speedway Park in Barberville has a 1/2-mile dirt oval, a 3/8-mile asphalt oval and a 1/8-mile dirt oval for karts. It currently hosts races from the World of Outlaws series (both sprints and late models) and the United Midwestern Promoters late model series.

Baseball

• The Daytona Cubs, an A-League team affiliated with the Chicago Cubs play baseball in the Florida State League (FSL) at Jackie Robinson Ballpark in Daytona Beach. The Cubs have won four FSL championships, in 1995, 2000, 2004, and 2008.
• The Bethune-Cookman University Wildcats baseball team, participate in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) where they won championships from 1999–2004, and two more in 2006-2007, also play their home games at Jackie Robinson Ballpark in Daytona Beach.
• The Stetson University Hatters baseball team, a Division I team playing in the Atlantic Sun Conference, play their games at Melching Field at Conrad Park in DeLand.

Golf

• The Ladies Professional Golf Association has their headquarters in Daytona Beach, and holds their Qualifying school tournament and Futures Tour events, including the IMPACT Enterprises Invitational at LPGA International golf community in Daytona Beach.
• DeBary Golf and Country Club was the host of the PGA Tour Qualifying School (1994), USGA US Open Qualifying (1995, 1997, 1999, 2001), and USGA Senior Open Qualifying (2003, 2005, 2007).
• The Bethune-Cookman University Wildcats golf teams play their home tournaments at Indigo Lakes Golf Club in Daytona Beach.
• The ERAU Eagles Women's team host their golf tournaments at Daytona Beach Golf Course, which was designed by Donald Ross.
• The ERAU Eagles Men's team host their golf tournaments at the Club at Pelican Bay in Daytona Beach. Pelican Bay hosted the Greater Daytona Senior Classic in 1983 and the Daytona Beach Seniors Golf Classic in 1984.
• The Lady Falcons of Daytona State College are coached by Laura Alicia Brown and play their golf tournaments at Riviera County Club in Ormond Beach.
• The Stetson University Hatters golf teams play their tournaments at Victoria Hills Golf Club in DeLand.
• Spruce Creek High School Winner of State Championship in 2010 plays their tournaments at Cypress Head Golf Club in Port Orange. Cypress Head is a municipal course owned by the City of Port Orange.

Area code

Once the area became too large to be served by the 904 area code, The Daytona Beach/Halifax Area Chamber of Commerce discovered that area code 386 was not assigned to any other territory. The numbers 386 spell out "FUN" on a phone keypad, and was a perfect device to promote the Fun Coast area. Other government officials, agencies, and residents were recruited to lobby the State Public Service Commission to obtain this area code for the area.

Media

Florida's Fun Coast is served mainly by The Daytona Beach News-Journal, a daily newspaper headquartered in the Daytona Beach area. The Orlando Sentinel based in Orlando, and The Florida Times-Union based in Jacksonville have some market penetration in the region. There are a few weekly publications in the area, such as The DeLand-Deltona Beacon and The Daytona Times.

The Orlando television market serves Volusia County and Flagler County. The only television station physically located in the Fun Coast region is WDSC-TV Channel 15, a PBS affiliate operated by Daytona State College.

The Fun Coast is covered by Arbitron's Daytona Beach Radio Market.

External links

• Flagler County government
  • Flagler County Tourism Development Council (government)
• Volusia County government
  • Daytona Beach Convention and Visitors Bureau (government)
  • New Smyrna Beach Convention and Visitors Bureau (government)
  • West Volusia Convention and Visitors Bureau (government)