Localism: Daytona Beach, FL

Ocean Walk Village. Daytona's Oasis...

Thu, 28 Aug 2008 00:25:47 -0500

Ocean Walk Village - a $1 billion oceanside vacation and entertainment destination place in the heart of Daytona Beach, Florida. The concept came together at the time of stagnation, and there were more than enough skeptics, who claimed it was a failure. There was a seriousl fight as the opposition was against any perks given to the developers. But the city wanted something to start the rejuvenation process. So, they listened, and listened, and listened, but still gave this project a chance.

Located right next to Historic Bandshell, the project incorprorated it in its modern structure and created a unique fusion of old and new, that is so pleasant for the eye. Ocean Walk Village takes six blocks of the "World's Most Famous Beach." Consisting of two major resorts and hotels, this complex offers about 1,500 oceanview rooms and 135,000 sq. ft. of meeting and exhibit space, and is in the final stage of completing the Ocean Center expansion, which will bring this number to 265,000 sq.ft.

Located on Daytona's only traffic-free beach, this was a dream of many people, and, finally, after 10 years, Ocean Walk Village -- consisting of Ocean Center, Wyndham Ocean Walk, Hilton Daytona Beach Oceanfront Resort and Ocean Walk Shoppes - has become a reality.

Ocean Center, with 70,000 square feet of meeting and exhibit space, is undergoing a $75.9 million expansion project, tripling its offerings by adding 130,000 square feet.

The Hilton Daytona Beach Oceanfront Resort features 744 newly renovated guest rooms, beachfront cabanas and suites offering spectacular views of the Atlantic and breathtaking sunrises. Each room brings the comfort and elegance of your own home. You can send the kids off to our D-Dawgs Kidszone with supervised activities while you enjoy some of our luxurious spa treatments in The Spa at the Hilton.

Wyndham Ocean Walk Resort offers 711 spacious oceanfront hotel suites and timeshare units. Guests of the resorts enjoy the free-form outdoor heated pool with waterfall, a computerized golf simulator and the island putting green surrounded by a 250-foot "Lazy River." The full service Vacation Therapy Spa pampers guests with luxurious manicures, pedicures, facials and massages.

Wyndham Ocean Walk Resort combines hotel luxury with condo amenities. The resort's spacious one-, two- and three- bedroom condominiums are beautifully furnished in a contemporary style. The award-winning Wyndham Ocean Walk offers Art Deco styling with South Beach ambience.

From personalized bath creations at Bath Junkie and beach gear at Maui Nix Surf Shop to a flick at RC Cinemas Ocean Walk Movies 10 and dinner with Forrest Gump at Bubba Gump Shrimp Co., Ocean Walk Shoppes captivates guests with ocean-side entertainment, dining and shopping. During the summer months, beach bums kick back to the sounds of Dixieland, bluegrass and everything in between with free concerts at the historic Bandshell, located on the beach behind Ocean Walk Shoppes.

Part of the units in Ocean Walk Resort are whole owned condo-hotel units. If you are interested to own your condo in the place that is so COOL, call me on my mobile at 386-405-4408, or e-mail us at: jon@DaytonaCondoHotel.com

Jon Zolsky, your Daytona Beach connection
www.DaytonaCondoHotel.com

Midori Miller, You Are Under Arrest!

Wed, 27 Aug 2008 10:26:31 -0500

The local sheriff was here to arrest my Midori today for GOOD.

She has been arrested for the MDA LOCKUP!

In order for Midori to be released she has to raise bail in the amount of $3,200 and she has so far she has raised $700.

Now, Midori needs our help, she has a long way to go and not a lot of time to raise the rest of that cash.

If you go to her secure site you can donate any amount you want towards her bail.

Midori Miller - MDA's MOST WANTED CITIZEN!

"I'm going behind bars for "GOOD"
PLEASE HELP BAIL ME OUT!
Whether it's $1.00 or $1000
Every dollar counts!
Your donation is my key to freedom but most of all to find a cure for this horrible disease! The disease is not selective..it can hit anyone of any age. A fact that I was not aware of and the worst part..there are many variations of the disease. All which need a cure. Please I urge you to do whatever you can do whether it is a dollar or more to continue this fight so that those that suffer will win.
Be proud of the fact that together we're providing help and hope to kids and adults served by MDA in our community." Midori Miller ~ Centruy 21 Sundance

In fact she is going to start calling her Active Rain friends right for help right now!

Be ready to donate!

Get your credit cards ready or better yet, go to her site and donate now, beat Midori to the punch!

As Midori says, every dollar counts!

Thanks gang!

Warning-Craigslist..Fraud and Ebay! Be Very Careful, Warn Property Owners!

Mon, 25 Aug 2008 10:42:39 -0500

This morning "The listing machine" had a story he wanted me to blog about. It's a true story and can happen to anyone. Recently he has been working with one of his customers to purchase some vacant land. Now his customer has a house to sell it was placed on craigslist. He placed it there..and was shocked at what he had found.

This is not one case of this there are several on Ebay right now!

While going through ebay this same customer found his property on ebay..not placed there by him or by the listing machine.

While looking at the ebay listing it was his own words...his pictures...and definitely his house lifted from his posting on craigslist.

So who is selling it? It isn't him but someone else he does not know, a scam trying to get people to bid high for an escrow deposit.

Please, be very careful and check your city..it seems that they are going after unsuspecting FSBO's generally never been listed in the MLS.

As this story unfolds we will be sharing with you!

This is just another reason to list with a REALTOR!

	midorimiller@yahoo.com http://www.DaytonaRealEstateTraining.com

Visit MyBlogLog and get a signature like this!

Where Are We Going?

Sat, 23 Aug 2008 16:08:15 -0500

I am already used to the fact that every development in the area (and, I think, anywhere in the State of Florida) is met with fierce opposition. "Greedy developers", "corrupted politicians", "save the environment", "Preserve the Beauty" ... this and much more is what angry locals yell at meetings and hearings. I am watching one "victory" after another for a few last years. And each victory pushes us back.

Our population is growing. We are destroying flora and fauna at an unprecedented pace. People are fighting against the high-rises. Adamantly against. However, is this really a problem for the environment? Look at Single family homes. If you take a single family home on an acre lot and compare to 300-condo unit building on 1 acre lot, you have a similar footprint, but you have 300 units on this footprint. Why the condo owners are paying same tax or more? Their infrastructure is less expensive to maintain, it is easier to service a building than a 300 acre subdivision of 300 homes, of course the costs are different. But we forget that if we have 300-unit condo instead 300 homes, then you have a 300 acre natural preserve. So, the raccoons, possums, alligators, birds and all other creatures could live.

So, how can you promote a reallyreasonable environemnt? By taxing differently. You want to have a single family home on a acre, feel like there is nobody around? Fine. This will be reflected in the tax.

It shouldn't be only based on the price I paid,it should be based on the environment as well. Right now it is simply your choice based on your own priorities. You want the condo, or you want a single-family home, or a town home. Considerations behind it have little bearings on the environment.

I lived in the Bronx in Co Op City. 320 acres of gorgeous well maintained and landscaped grounds with 35 high rise building from 24 to 33-story high. 55,000 - 65,000 people living there. The population of Daytona Beach. But Daytona Beach is not on 320 acres, it covers 64.92 sq. miles. So, if Daytona Beach would stay on the footprint of Co Op City (a beautiful place, BTW), it would have been 130 times smaller. 41,228.6 acres would be available for nature conservation. A size of a city, which would stay untouched.

What is so bad about it?How many bears, raccoons, birds, deer could you have? How much ground would stay and provide for the water penetration and keep the aquifers healthy? How many acres produce oxygen? How much less would it cost us to live this way, where you would not need police running miles and miles, ambulance that can be there within 2 minutes, sewer and water lines so compact, that the city would not need those enormous departments? Schools, that children could simply walk to? You would not need a car to live there. Providing transportation would be so easy and so much less. The whole carbon print of this city would be not even comparable to waht we have now. Miles and miles of roads, that we need to maintain...

JUST THINK ABOUT IT!

"Or, this would destroy the beautyof what we have." Hey, guys, show me that beauty, that you are fighting to preserve? When beachside residents fight against the building and want slash at least half of its proposed height, because it is blocking the view, I do not get it. For me anything that is higher than 5' is blocking the view. Or they have the petition from pigeons? Or from the sharks, unhappy with long shadows? It depends. In the middle of the day there is no shadow, and you would pay someone for a small piece of it. In the evening even a two-story building casts a heck of a shadow.

Somehow we got used to be above the nature. We got used to think about ourselves this way. The future may demand that we live with the nature, be part of the overall system, and not just try to force it. We proved that we can damage and destroy anything and everything in the world. We need to learn how to live and not to destroy.

We are still going to exploit nature. We will start paying for it fairly.

Jon Zolsky, your Daytona Beach connection
condos, homes, vacation homes, vacation condos, condo-hotels

The "Cool" College in Daytona Beach vs "un-cool" colleges

Fri, 22 Aug 2008 01:51:47 -0500

THE Daytona Beach Real Estate & Community Event Blog. By Lisa C. Hill, "THE SMART CHOICE!"

Yesterday I wrote a blog about what was previously Daytona Beach Community College; now Daytona State College. In that post, I made a comment about my daughter using Florida's Bright Future's Scholarship to attend her college of choice, because apparently it was uncool to attend college in the city where you were born and raised.

Well, I received a comment on that blog post by a current student of Daytona State College, who has his own blog about DSC, and wrote a post in response to my own. Apparently Richard X. Thripp didn't like my comment about my daughter thinking it was uncool to attend college in the same city where she was born. He also said that DBCC only changed the name of the school, but didn't do anything to warrant the name change that now makes it a state college. You owe it to yourself to read Richard's post, as he is obviously very proud of his school!

I'm writing this post to bring a few things to the attention of Richard and anyone else who is following this series. And I call it a series, since I've actually written several posts about this college, and many others in the area.

First of all, I'll address Richard's comment about DBCC changing nothing but the name. I mean this as no offense, but from Richard's limited perspective, it probably does seem that nothing has changed but the name. But I believe Richard only knows this college as the place he is attending for a few years. But I can remember DBCC when it was a very small building that barely offered a 2 year education. Over the years, more and more was added, such as theaters, an olympic-sized swimming pool, athletics program, a few 4 year degrees, and then more 4 year degrees, etc. Then other colleges such as Keiser College, Nova Southeastern University, and University of Central FL, added branches onto the DBCC campus. Then came the excellent photography department, and most recently the Mori Hosseini "School of Hospitality and Culinary Management".

So, obviously there have been MANY changes to warrant the change from DBCC to DSC. It's just been a very long process.

Next I wanted to address my own comment about it being "uncool to attend college in the city where you were born and raised". That statement is only partially true in my daughter's case. For one thing, she DID attend DBCC. But she did so while she was still in high school, in the dual enrollment program, which allows high school students to attend college for absolutely free. The credits that the students obtain while in the dual enrollment program are good for both college and high school. And then there's the fact that my daughter is attending a private, bible college. Obviously, DBCC, DBC or DSC: whatever you want to call it, is not a bible college. But the college/high school credits my daughter obtained through the dual-enrollment program enabled her to enter bible college with many of her core courses already completed, and time shaved off the length of her college career.

So if you live in Daytona Beach, or are moving to Daytona Beach, we have MANY colleges here- just follow the previous link to view a list of those colleges. If you're interested in photography, you may consider attending Daytona State's College's photography program. You can start by taking a tour of the Southeast Museum of Photography.

When you're ready to purchase real estate in Daytona Beach or any of the surrounding areas, Lisa Hill is an expert and professional real estate agent. If you have an questions, contact Lisa Hill with Adams Cameron & Co., REALTORS®.

You may also want to View Daytona Beach Area Real Estate MLS Listings, or Daytona Beach Area Real Estate Listing Videos.