Every city has things that piss you off and that you love about it, and the same goes for Delray Beach.
For this segment, I interviewed customers to get their perspective on what they thought were their top cons and pros. More below…
Con’s of Living in Delray Beach
The number one con on the list is high season traffic. I’m talking about the winter months; November through April. That’s when the regular Delray Beach population of about 75,000 explodes to about 150,000 people. It’s nuts. That makes our roads dangerous with traffic all over the place.
Give yourself ample space when you’re driving on the main artery roads, whether it’s I95 or the two main roads that get you in and out of Delray Beach; Linton Avenue on the south and Atlantic Avenue on the north. It’s constant traffic all day. There’s no rush hour. It’s filled with people coming down from the north who are snow birders and people retired here with their cars everywhere. Give yourself extra space when driving.
Pay attention for people who’re looking for signs, trying to figure out where the heck they’re going. It’s a disaster. When you get to the roundabouts, make sure you understand the rule. FIFO (first in first out). There are no stop signs. You use your blinker so people know where you’re going. Roundabouts are notoriously disastrous places to be. Be careful.
Here’s a trick for you: Don’t use Atlantic Avenue during the high season while living in Delray Beach. Go south. Use SW 10th Street that will take you under I95 and toward the public golf course on the north side. Take Lake Ida, there’s no stoplights. It goes underneath I 95, and it’s a good way to access Delray Beach without going through the nightmare of Atlantic Avenue.
If you’re living in Delray Beach, this map of the city shows red and green streets – use the green streets to save yourself time…
CON #2 for living in Delray Beach is the amount of development that’s happening this decade. It’s also a good thing. So, I’m going to split this up and talk about some of the cons. But below, I talk about its pro’s.
Concerned folks think Delray Beach is too small to be absorbing the number of hotels and restaurants that are going on. They talk about the lack of pedestrian ways. Some want to pedestrianize Atlantic Avenue. Some people say pedestrianizing is not a good thing.
Over the next few years, there’s the Sundy Village will be operational. It’s at the corner of Swinton and Atlantic Avenue. Then there’s Atlantic Crossing on Atlantic Avenue near intracoastal waterway. And on So. Federal Hwy there will be a lot of development. Some will be mixed-use commercial projects.
Someone’s going to gobbled that up and most likely put more townhomes or condos. For new customers who are buying in this area, or people who’ve lived here for their entire lives, they’re seeing our little village by the sea growing up too fast.
There’s too much congestion, too many bikes and cars in the downtown area. But think about it, Delray Beach is about 20 blocks long – north to south – and about 28 blocks east to west. It’s a smaller area, but development is happening and it’s happening at a rapid pace. And it’s something that pisses people off.
The 3rd con on our list is the cost of living in Delray Beach. It’s has gone up over the past decade, but guess what… It probably has everywhere else, too. One of the reason is Delray Beach has become a clear destination for tourism.
It’s drawing attention from all across America. One of the things about living in Delray Beach, and specifically Florida, is the homeowner’s insurance rates. It’s been a notorious issue. We have hurricanes and a lot of water. We have rising sea level. So, a lot of insurance companies have bailed out of Florida, and the cost of getting your home insured is rising every year and that has a lot of people upset.
But, it’s the same thing with places like California where you have earthquake insurance. No matter where you go, you’re going to have something. But high insurance costs drive people nuts.
The other thing is restaurants in downtown. I’ve talked about how many restaurants we have in Delray Beach. There’s about 72 at the beginning of 2023.
Restaurant prices are not cheap. So, people coming here and even locals enjoy what’s in Pineapple Grove and on Atlantic Avenue. But you need to bring a thick wallet and be ready to fork out big dollar bills to enjoy your food.
The fourth con is that there’s no more condominiums along the beach under $500,000. That’s right. To get in you need more than a half a million dollars if you want a beachfront high rise, ocean view condominium.
Here’s the thing. For the last two and a half years, I have been running a Facebook Ad about how condominiums under half a million dollars are becoming a thing of the past. Two and a half years ago, I would look in the MLS and there were between 25 and 35 condos underneath a half a million dollars at any time.
I’m talking about one bedroom, one bath minimum. It didn’t matter. There was consistent flow of that type of inventory back then. Today, there’s either one or none. But, pretty much anything under half a million bucks is gone. Those days are over.
The fifth and final con before we get into the positive things about living in Delray Beach is… our summer temperatures. That’s right. If you’ve never been through a Florida summer, it can be downright brutal. That’s why so many people flee in the summer. At that time our population goes from 150,000 during the winter months down to 75,000.
Normal temperature is between 90 and 94 degrees with humidity between 85 and 90%. It’s just hot. People sweat. They’re at the beach, in their pools, and they’re in their cars or the houses ‘cuz it’s too hot. And then when the rains come – when you get a 5-10 inch rain drenching one afternoon – out come the flying cockroaches. Then the mosquitoes come out in force. Summertime can be brutal.
The PRO’s of Living in Delray Beach
Now let’s talk about the good things about living in Delray Beach. Things that make people happy. I have six PRO’s on my list that came from interviewing customers. These are customers who are new to Delray, and some for many years.
To start, restaurants come in at #1.
There are about 75 restaurants in Delray Beach. About every 90 days I tie up my shoes and walk throughout Delray Beach. I count the restaurants by one by one. And right now there’s about 72. At the end of the first quarter, there will be 2-3 more opening up in the new Atlantic crossing. Some exciting stuff going on.
If you are a foodie or an entrepreneur in the food industry, living in Delray Beach is where things happen. That’s what is the big draw to this area; Atlantic Avenue. A lot of people call it “the famous Atlantic Avenue.” I don’t know if it’s famous or not. All I know is that I live in downtown. When I walk Atlantic Avenue and Pineapple Grove… there’s always something new.
Last year we had some new ones open like Ember Grill at the Ray Hotel, the Rooftop Akira Back. La Colonial in Atlanta Crossing just opened in early 2023. Go try them. Then there’s Stingers coffee and a couple new coffee places coming in town. Living in Delray Beach is all about food and the restaurants here make everybody happy.
The second PRO is all the activities and events Delray Beach puts together. There are both free and paid events. There’s the Saturday Farmer’s Market, the Delray Beach affair and the Delray Beach Art and Craft Festival, which are part of the arts community. Savor The Ave is about $195 a person and has the longest dining table I think in all of America. It’s about three blocks long where people enjoy the food that comes out from Atlantic Avenue.
Then we have the free concert series. It’s every Friday night throughout the high season and going into the summer months. There’s the Christmas tree lighting during the holidays.
Delray is big about tennis. Tennis makes living in Delray Beach go around. In February and March, we have the ATP Tennis tour where some of the biggest names in tennis come to compete in Delray Stadium. That holds 8,000 people.
And in March, the Billy Jean King Tournament where Delray’s own rising star Coco Goff, who’s making headlines all around the world about her professional abilities, is playing as well. So, we’ve got tennis people coming from everywhere. And if you haven’t got involved in pickleball, just google Delray Beach pickleball… it’s everywhere.
The 3rd PRO is transportation. I’m talking about using your feet to walk. I’m talking about bicycling, skateboarding and golf carts. I’m talking about using the Freebie system in downtown Delray.
There’s plenty of parking in Delray Beach. The walkability score is high when you’re in downtown. You can get to the beach within 15 minutes from most places.
The #4 PRO on my list is our outdoor lifestyle. Think about it: Golf, tennis, the days of sunshine. It’s always sunny in Florida. Beach, surfing, boating, fishing, and over 20 family-friendly parks for you to enjoy.
The 5th PRO is development. Earlier we talked about it as a con. Well, here’s what people think about development on the positive side. As we know our Village By The Sea, Delray Beach is in a growth phase the last decade or so.
And for the next 10 to 15 years, there will be a lot of development. Whether you like it or not, Delray Beach is now becoming a tourist destination because of all the restaurants and outdoor activities I’ve mentioned. As for development, there is Atlantic Crossing. We have Sundy Village. These are monster projects in the heart of Delray Beach that will create a lot of jobs and a lot of opportunities for entrepreneurs.
So there’s a lot of good things about development for you to consider.
And the final PRO of my list that makes people fired up and happy about moving and living in Delray Beach is accessibility.
A lot of people do business here. Delray Beach is a city of about 75,000 people. And we’re only 25 minutes away to Fort Lauderdale International Airport. We’re 50 minutes away from Miami international airport. And north of us it Palm Beach International Airport, only 15 – 20 minutes away. So, getting in and out of Delray Beach is a breeze.
It’s one of the best places in all of Florida for accessibility to come here to enjoy for a weekend, enjoy your getaway condo that you bought on the beach. Getting out of Delray Beach to international destination is a breeze.
These were the top PRO’s and CON’s about living in Delray Beach my customers shared. I believe they nailed it.
If you’re thinking of moving to, and living in Delray Beach… please give me a shout – I’d love to help you in your journey here.
Pros & Cons of Living in Delray Beach (2023) There are pros & cons of living anywhere… and in Delray Beach. But living in Delray Beach proves there’s more of one than the others. Step inside to find out which of the pros and cons of living in Delray Beach is both!
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