Fun Coast Sandbox

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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

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Natural areas

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Climate

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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[1], 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.[2]

Metropolitan Areas

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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 [3]
Palm Coast Metropolitan Statistical Area 83,084 [3]

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

Government

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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

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Incorporated Cities and Towns in the Fun Coast region:

Education

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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:

Regional Transportation

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Airports

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Trains

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Buses

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  •   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

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The Fun Coast region is served by two interstate highways operated by the Florida Department of Transportation in conjunction with local agencies.[4][5]

Three U.S. highways serve the region:

Several Florida State Roads serve the region:

Public transportation

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  • 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

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Motorsports

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

Baseball

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Golf

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Area code

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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.[6][7][8]

Media

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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.

References

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  1. ^ "Florida USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map". Retrieved 2010-11-28.
  2. ^ Daytona Beach Weather Records and Averages on Yahoo! Weather
  3. ^ a b "Annual Estimates of the Population of Metropolitan and Micropolitan Statistical Areas: April 1, 2000 to July 1, 2006 (CBSA-EST2006-01)". 2006 Population Estimates. United States Census Bureau, Population Division. 2007-04-05. Archived from the original (CSV) on 2007-09-14. Retrieved 2007-04-06.
  4. ^ Florida Department of Transportation, Division of Survey and Mapping, Road Map of Flagler County (PDF)
  5. ^ Florida Department of Transportation, Division of Survey and Mapping, Road Map of Volusia County (PDF)
  6. ^ Daytona Beach News-Journal: Officials Hang on for New Area Code Split Imminent for 904 Calling Area, June 16, 1999
  7. ^ Daytona Beach News-Journal: PSC Set to Release Area Code Proposal, August 17, 2000
  8. ^ Florida Public Service Commission: Area Code F-U-N is About to Begin, February 01, 2001
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