A Portfolio of Palm Coast

by Elia Ajram

All of the information in this report is based on 1990 and 1996 information.

Palm Coast. One of the fastest growing places in the United States. Opportunities flourish all over, keeping the town busy. Palm Coast is basically the beating heart of Flagler County. It has an even mix of work and play, with golf, tennis courts and parks. Since 1992, Palm Coast's unemployment rate has steadily declined. It has gone down from 10% in 1992 to 3.5 %. In 1995, some of the major employers in Palm Coast were: ITT Community Development Corporation ( ITT CDC ), the Sheraton and the School Board. Palm Coast is one of the few towns on the east coast that has almost no days that would need the heater or the air conditioner because of Palm Coast being so close to the ocean and intracoastal, and because of the cooling of the ocean breezes. There isn't much tourism in Palm Coast, but the golf courses are their own source for tourism. Some have been designed by famous golfers, like Gary Player and Jack Nicklaus. We also have Marineland, a mini SeaWorld. Palm Coast should flourish for years to come.

The fast growing community of Palm Coast was founded twenty - five years ago by ITT Community Development Corporation when they initiated the plans for the new town. Ever since the beginning, Palm Coast has had some substantial but balanced growth. When ITT made the plans for Palm Coast, they gave us the conveniences and benefits of a thoroughly modern community. According to the 1990 US Census, Flagler County had the fastest growth out of any county: 163%! During that same time, Palm Coast from 5,500 people in 1982 to over 20,000! The University of Florida Bureau of Economic and Business Research predicted that Flagler County will experience one of the largest job growth rates in the state of Florida between 1997 - 2005. Since 1982, we have also had to build four industrial parks over time due to the size of Palm Coast, which housed thirty-five companies Also, since that year, retail and professional business space has tripled. The Federal Aviation Association recently opened a $7.5 million Center for Management Development, which trains over 4,000 FAA managers annually. The visions of planners over twenty years ago have helped Palm Coast evolve into a dynamic and prospering community that preserves and respects Florida's natural beauty while, at the same time, offers residents an abundance of public and resort amenities.

Palm Coast, in 1996, is estimated to have a population of 28,630 people. At that time, that was 71% of Flagler County's total population. The nearest city in size to Palm Coast is Flagler Beach with (In 1996) 4,225 people. If Palm Coast was to remain 71% of the size of Flagler County up to the year 2010, Palm Coast's population would be 45,949 people, a little less than double of what we have now. Here is a population breakdown of Palm Coast citizens by age:

months-14 years old = 4,258 people 25-44 years old = 5,839 people 45-64 years old = 6,335 people 65+ years old = 8,165 people

Approximately 6,600 people come to Flagler County a year, 4,686 people of that group have gone to Palm Coast. That leaves 1,914 people that go elsewhere in Flagler County. The labor force in Flagler County is Approximately 13,187 people, 9,363 of those people work in Palm Coast.

In Palm Coast, we have two county commissioners. One of them is in District two, and his name is Mike DesParte. The other is George Hanns , of District five. We do not have a mayor, because we are run by the county government. The reason we are run by the county is because we are not established enough to handle our own mayor, so Flagler County will govern us until then. The only thing near Palm Coast that has to do with the government is the Chamber of Commerce, across from the high school in Bunnell. The president of the Chamber of Commerce is George Golden.

In Palm Coast, we have three schools. Buddy Taylor Middle School, Wadsworth Elementary School, and the Indian Trails K - 8 Center. There are 2,600 students in these three schools. Indian Trails has 1,100 students, Wadsworth has 750, along with Buddy Taylor Middle School. There is only one college in Palm Coast, and that is the Branch of the Daytona Beach Community College. There are some other close colleges and universities. They are:

Flagler College in St. Augustine University of North Florida in Jacksonville University of Central Florida in Orlando University of Central Florida in Daytona Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona University in Deland Bethune-Cookman College in Daytona Jacksonville University in Jacksonville Daytona Beach Community College in Daytona St. Johns River Community College in Palatka Florida Community College in Jacksonville Daytona Beach Technical School and St. Augustine Technical School

Some of the things the Technical Schools have to offer are:

Data Processing Welding and Cutting Electrical Wiring Aviation/Avionics Drafting Sheet Metal Machine Shop Electronic Technology Laser Electro Optics Biomedical Technology Robotics/Computer-Aided Manufacturing

87% of high school graduates go on for further education in Palm Coast. Hre is a sample of how Palm Coast does on the Scholastic Aptitude Test:

Scholastic Aptitude Test Verbal Math Total Flagler 518 511 1,022 National 505 508 1,013

As you can see, we are just above average in education on this test.

Cultural Interests {topofpage}

Palm Coast is full of diversity. There is an Italian American Club, the Phillipino Club, the German Club, the Norwegian Club, the New York Club, New Jersey Club, and the Pennsylvania Club. All of these clubs have their own banquets, parties, etc. and most of the time, you can join without being the nationality, like Italian or Norwegian. We also have a lot of churches. including Catholic, Protestant and Baptist. There were very few other religions I could find. The only other was my church, and I'm Eastern Orthodox.