By Mayor Bryan Nelson

As we enter the final stages of the Vision Apopka “Strategic Plan,” development, I thought I would share the information that has been presented by the very competent BerryDunn team.  

This Strategic Plan initiative was made possible by a grant from Duke Energy and will give us a document for shared priorities and focus for the city of Apopka. This document will guide our decision making and give us a tool for transparency and accountability.  

The plan has received input from the Apopka community, city staff and our City Council. Some of the interesting statistics that we learned about our community include: average age 38.3, median income/household $83,461, and home ownership at a very respectable 75.2%.  

Our demographics include: 42.6% white, 25.6% black, 16.3% multiple races and 11.8% other races.  

Two other cities of similar population size are Sanford at 63,635 residents and Winter Garden at 49,081 residents. We found differences in income with Sanford at $64,813 per household and Winter Garden at $102,804 per household, while Apopka has the highest homeownership rate of the three cities.  

Housing unit growth/year was slowest in Sanford at 2.28% growth, Apopka at 3.05% growth and Winter Garden at 5.06 growth from 2000-2020. Apopka had the highest, no-high school diploma population at 11%, and Winter Garden had the highest undergrad or grad degree population at 47%.  

Apopka has 4,904 households with a disability and 621 households without a vehicle. Our median home value is $421,165, compared to Sanford’s $339,951 and Winter Garden’s $475,355.  

An interesting statistic that BerryDunn brought to our attention was the percentage of homeowners who were below the 30% of mortgage to income, which is excellent. However, we have almost 1,300 homeowners who have mortgage to income of over 50%, which is alarming.  

On transportation, we have the lowest public transit usage of the three cities, but the highest single rider rates of all three cities with 72-73% of residents riding alone.  

Apopka has an overall livability score of 53, above the average city score of 48. Housing, neighborhood, transportation, environment, health, engagement and opportunity were all factors in the scoring.  

As we move into the last phase of the plan development, city staff, with help from BerryDunn, will take the input from over 800 unique resident engagements, city staff and City Council to formulate the roadmap that will be our Strategic Plan for the next 10-20 years.  

We are grateful for each and every person who provided input for this living, breathing document and are confident that you will be proud of the results.