Daytona Beach

DeLeon Springs Park

Downtown DeLand

St. Johns River

Geographically, Volusia County sits 50 miles northeast of Orlando, between the St. Johns River and the Atlantic Ocean. But these days, in a region where the growth is pushing outward in all four directions, geography doesn’t mean as much as it once did.

Indeed, as metro Orlando spreads north and east along 1-4 through Seminole County; Western Volusia is directly in growth’s path.

Today the area, once identified almost exclusively with Daytona Beach, is emerging as a suburb of Orlando. With nearly 70,000 residents, Deltona has long since surpassed Daytona Beach as the largest municipality in Volusia County. It has seen a 343 percent growth rate since 1980 and adds roughly 1,100 new homes each year.

Much of the activity is spurred by commercial development along the so-called High-Tech Corridor, which runs the length of 1-4 between Tampa and Daytona Beach. Projections call for the stretch of interstate between Lake Mary and Sanford, just east of the Volusia-Seminole border, eventually to contain more than 13 million square feet of office space.

The widening of the 1-4-St. Johns River Bridge alleviated one of the region’s most annoying traffic bottlenecks, making western Volusia an easy 30-minute commute to downtown Orlando.

Lured by that surprising proximity, as well as by the region’s abundance of lakes, springs and the nearby beach, families began flocking to the new home communities near 1-4, including the St. Joe Company’s Victoria Park on the outskirts of DeLand.

Buyers have also discovered the impressive stock of historic residences west of downtown DeLand, which is clearly one of the coolest small towns in Florida.

The quaint downtown district, which is on the National Registry of Historic Places, is thick with eateries and antique shops. And stately Stetson University, which has been located here for more than a century, adds an air of permanence.

Meanwhile, tiny Lake Helen is holding its breath as Victoria Park adds 4,000 homes and 10,000 residents right near the city’s border. The rural enclave, home to no stop- lights or fast—food restaurants, is expected to grow 16 percent by 2025.

Those interested in more natural settings, plus an unusual lunch, may head north on U.S. 17 to DeLeon Springs State Park, where you can cook your own pancakes at the Old Spanish Sugar Mill and then paddle a canoe through the wilderness.

In the winter, manatees seeking warmer water can be seen lolling around at Blue Springs State Park. In the summer, humans, seeking relief from the heat, plunge into the same bubbling blue oasis.