DAYTONA BEACH — Investors thinking about opening a cafe or flower shop look over a lot of numbers, but in downtown Daytona Beach there’s one that jumps off the page.
The five poorest U.S. Census tracts in Volusia County are all clustered around downtown. With annual median household incomes ranging from $14,500 to $21,000, even the best off of these areas earns less than half of the county average of $44,000.
Dwight Selby, president of Selby Realty Inc. in Ormond Beach, has been dealing with those harsh realities for almost two years while helping the owner of nearly a full city block of Beach Street buildings find renters.