DALTON PRICE: The World’s Most Famous Beach: A deceptive glamorization

Sunday
Jan 7, 2018 at 2:01 AM

This paradox buries the harsh realities the city faces.

A simple Google search reveals the Daytona Beach caricature: blue waters, multicolored umbrellas, cars lined on sandy beaches, and throngs of ambitious tourists, all of which are tied together by the red and white “World’s Most Famous Beach” archway. And with the addition of the Daytona International Speedway, we have the glamorous insignia that brands my hometown. However, there is a degree of deception here of which all residents know but do not speak — an unspoken word, per se. This is nothing more than a facade that shrouds inequity, a mask of the segregation and brute lack of social mobility facing the city.

Daytona Beach is flanked by Ormond Beach and Port Orange — two similar cities with a relatively residential focus, that have an average household income of $45,784, a poverty rate of 13.2 percent, and an 85 percent white population. In contrast, Daytona Beach has an average household income of $28,619, a poverty rate of 31.7 percent and a 52.4 percent white population. Indeed, there is a clear difference between Daytona Beach and adjacent regions, referencing back to this unspoken word of inequity and classism. And when looking at temporal changes to these figures, it is apparent that not enough is being done.

These differences are unfortunately ubiquitous throughout the United States. However, Daytona Beach is unique, due in part to the aforementioned glamorization that is antithetic to the true city. This paradox buries the harsh realities the city faces, and the years of blissful ignorance to such is alarming.

In his 2015 column “Gentrification a force for good,” published in The Daytona Beach News-Journal, John Stossel chose partisanship over humanitarianism, and referred to gentrification as “improvement.” But by local standards, this is not acceptable. When new development encroaches on the lives of those who have lived there for generations, leading to surges in rent prices and a bleaching of diverse communities, people are left helpless and neglected. Despite the great community programs in place to tackle these issues, we are still not doing enough to help the most vulnerable populations. We center on a new Margaritaville community instead of the “projects” in its shadows, Brown & Brown’s anticipated 10-story headquarters instead of the many small businesses that struggle to maintain solvency — and the economically tantalizing tourists instead of the many at-risk families.

Instead of devising strategies to lure spendthrifts — whom we corral into the affluent neighborhoods and argue will save the local economy — we should focus on helping those who reside here. The local city and county governments, communities, organizations and youth must come together in discourse to address this far-reaching crux that afflicts and limits the potential of our hometown. Let us remedy these issues and have more than just our beaches be beautiful.

 

— Price, who was valedictorian of the 2016 Spruce Creek High School class, is a student at Cornell University and the founder and executive director of YouResearch, a global nonprofit designed to immerse high school students in real-world research opportunities.

 

Sunday
Jan 7, 2018 at 2:01 AM

This paradox buries the harsh realities the city faces.

A simple Google search reveals the Daytona Beach caricature: blue waters, multicolored umbrellas, cars lined on sandy beaches, and throngs of ambitious tourists, all of which are tied together by the red and white “World’s Most Famous Beach” archway. And with the addition of the Daytona International Speedway, we have the glamorous insignia that brands my hometown. However, there is a degree of deception here of which all residents know but do not speak — an unspoken word, per se. This is nothing more than a facade that shrouds inequity, a mask of the segregation and brute lack of social mobility facing the city.

Daytona Beach is flanked by Ormond Beach and Port Orange — two similar cities with a relatively residential focus, that have an average household income of $45,784, a poverty rate of 13.2 percent, and an 85 percent white population. In contrast, Daytona Beach has an average household income of $28,619, a poverty rate of 31.7 percent and a 52.4 percent white population. Indeed, there is a clear difference between Daytona Beach and adjacent regions, referencing back to this unspoken word of inequity and classism. And when looking at temporal changes to these figures, it is apparent that not enough is being done.

These differences are unfortunately ubiquitous throughout the United States. However, Daytona Beach is unique, due in part to the aforementioned glamorization that is antithetic to the true city. This paradox buries the harsh realities the city faces, and the years of blissful ignorance to such is alarming.

In his 2015 column “Gentrification a force for good,” published in The Daytona Beach News-Journal, John Stossel chose partisanship over humanitarianism, and referred to gentrification as “improvement.” But by local standards, this is not acceptable. When new development encroaches on the lives of those who have lived there for generations, leading to surges in rent prices and a bleaching of diverse communities, people are left helpless and neglected. Despite the great community programs in place to tackle these issues, we are still not doing enough to help the most vulnerable populations. We center on a new Margaritaville community instead of the “projects” in its shadows, Brown & Brown’s anticipated 10-story headquarters instead of the many small businesses that struggle to maintain solvency — and the economically tantalizing tourists instead of the many at-risk families.

Instead of devising strategies to lure spendthrifts — whom we corral into the affluent neighborhoods and argue will save the local economy — we should focus on helping those who reside here. The local city and county governments, communities, organizations and youth must come together in discourse to address this far-reaching crux that afflicts and limits the potential of our hometown. Let us remedy these issues and have more than just our beaches be beautiful.

 

— Price, who was valedictorian of the 2016 Spruce Creek High School class, is a student at Cornell University and the founder and executive director of YouResearch, a global nonprofit designed to immerse high school students in real-world research opportunities.

 

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