Mount Dora is still one of the great towns of America. It doesn’t surprise me or my family; we live and love it here!  But, it is nice to know that so many out-of-towners agree, including David and Joan Vocak, authors of The Great Towns of America.  Read what the Orlando Sentinal reports:

If it weren’t for the Spanish moss dripping from the oak trees outside David and Joan Vokac’s room at the Lakeside Inn, it’s a strong bet that Mount Dora would not be listed in the couple’s latest book, The Great Towns of America.

Of course, Mount Dora, a lakeside community well known in Central Florida for its antiques and boutiques, had other things going for it, David Vokac said.

The small town in Florida’s center gives visitors easy driving access to theme parks, beaches and other major attractions, he said. It also gives out-of-staters a good feel for old Florida.

“Mount Dora is the prettiest inland village of Florida,” Vokac said. “It provides a great base for people interested in exploring interior Florida. It just doesn’t get any better than Mount Dora.”

For those reasons, Vokac said, Mount Dora is the only Central Florida town listed in his travel guidebook, subtitled the All New Guide to the 100 Best Getaways for a Vacation or a Lifetime.

It’s also one of five Florida municipalities that made the Vokacs’ list. The others are Key West, Naples, St. Augustine and Vero Beach.

The Vokacs are former urban planners from San Diego who decided years ago to ditch their desks, pencils and code books in favor of crisscrossing the nation in search of the 100 best communities.

Their first book, The Great Towns of America, published in 1998, listed Mount Dora. But the Vokacs were skeptical that Mount Dora could hold on to its charm the second time they visited for their follow-up book.

During the nation’s real-estate boom in the past decade, many Americans fled large urban areas for small towns, helping improve the local economies of those communities.

That meant that Mount Dora faced stiffer competition from other small towns since 1998, Vokac said.

During their Mount Dora sojourn in mid-February 2007, the couple stayed at the Lakeside Inn, a downtown old-Florida-style hotel on the shore of Lake Dora.

“We loved looking out our window and seeing the moss hanging out of these great trees,” Vokac said. “It was wonderful. And you could hear the train going by.”

‘Livability factors’

The Vokacs also visited about 230 other small towns — those with a population less than 80,000 — coast to coast in their Lexus sedan. Places such as Bar Harbor, Maine, and Cambria, Calif.

They revisited all the towns they listed in their first book.

A dozen of the original towns, however, didn’t make the second book’s list because of new towns that ranked higher in the Vokacs’ “livability factors,” which look at a community’s weather, crime, housing, education and income levels.

They also consider the town’s scenery and recreation.

“Mount Dora’s connection to the lake made Mount Dora a slam-dunk,” Vokac said.

Being listed as one of America’s great towns is an honor that Mount Dora officials will gladly take.

“People do read [travel guidebooks] and it’s a big part of what influences their decisions on where they’re going to travel,” said Cathy Hoechst, president of the Mount Dora Area Chamber of Commerce. “So we’re extremely happy about this.”

‘Certainly good news’

Mayor Melissa DeMarco called it “great” and purchased the Vokacs’ book.

“There’s a lot of small towns in America, and if we get noticed as one of the best of them, then that’s certainly good news,” DeMarco said.