Editing DeLand, Florida (section)

==Historic districts==
[[Image:Downtown DeLand Hist Dist - Athens Theatre.jpg|thumb|right|Athens Theatre, built in 1921]]
[[Image:New York Avenue, DeLand, FL.jpg|thumb|right|New York Avenue in 1905]]
[[Image:DeLand Hall on Stetson U campus2.jpg|thumb|[[DeLand Hall]], built in 1884]]
Downtown DeLand's main street, Woodland Boulevard, has a number of notable 19th-century buildings. It is officially known as [[Downtown DeLand Historic District]].

The Garden District is a mixed-use neighborhood adjacent to downtown DeLand, which is officially known as Downtown DeLand's Historic Garden District. The neighborhood was originally developed between 1900 and 1920. It fell into a long period of decline after World War II, and by the 1980s, had become [[Urban decay|blighted]].<ref>Carolanne Griffith Roberts, "Saving a Neighborhood", ''Southern Living Magazine'', April 2004, Florida Living pp. 22-25.</ref>

In 2001, {{interlanguage link|Michael E. Arth|de|Michael Edward Arth|es||fr||ja|マイケル・アース|zh|米高·亞瑟}}, a California artist, urban designer and filmmaker, bought 27 dilapidated structures, renamed the area the Garden District, and lobbied to create a new historic district. During the following eight years, he restored or rebuilt 32 homes and businesses, which have become the core of a neighborhood revival. The feature-length documentary film ''New Urban Cowboy: Toward a New Pedestrianism'' tells the story of DeLand and the Garden District.<ref>"The New Urban Cowboy: Michael E. Arth Transforms "Cracktown" into Historic Garden District in DeLand", ''DeLand Magazine'', Jan/Feb 2008, by Teri Pruden</ref> The film premiered in DeLand in January 2009 at the newly restored Athens Theatre. Previously, the film had appeared in seven film festivals and received the Audience Choice Award at the [[Real to Reel International Film Festival]] in 2008.