But, there are about 50,000 people living right next door in unincorporated areas. The city s strategic plan calls for squaring DeLand s boundaries and growing to the south. 15-A, DeLand s truck route, also called Spring Garden Road. And DeLand also will grow by about 4,000 households when Victoria Park is finished. Still, history peers down from brick walls that are brightly painted with giant murals depicting DeLand s colorful past.
Faces are the townspeople of today, posing in painted scenes copied from historic photographs.
DeLand also boasts festivals, live theater and art exhibitions - cultural offerings usually found in larger communities. Maintaining the delicate balance between progress and quaintness is a challenge to city leaders. Recent clashes with different groups over issues as varied as street landscaping, store relocations and architecture prove DeLand residents are passionate about their city. A block away from the hustling epicenter of downtown, Stetson is considered one of the nation s finest small universities. Even so, it is both revered and reviled among various groups of townspeople.