[Barefoot]

Originally Posted by TomW

I've lived here full time for 6 years and the transition from Friendly Retirement Community to Urban Competitive Environment has been profound. More people competing for resources and a gradual passing of the generation that was raised with 'manners' to the influx the 'me first' people who seem to take satisfaction in discourtesy and rudeness. Still, I also see daily exhibitions of kindness and gentility and a lot of people trying to enjoy their retirement as they can.

It seems to take a village to do a lot of things these days but I wonder about the state of our "larger" village. Growing is good in many ways but that sense of Community and comradeship with our fellow residents seems to be slipping away. Hopefully, I'm wrong.

Originally Posted by SouthOfTheBorder

We are just into our third year living in TV full-time. Our experiences have been nothing but very positive. I can't relate at all to the "Urban Competitive Environment" you speak of. People we encounter here are usually upbeat, happy and excited about life in TV. Sure we all have a down day once in a while but it sure beats just sitting around. Like you said, we also see daily exhibitions of kindness and gentility and people enjoying their retirement.
I take that back, I was given a hard time by some water volleyball players one time because my newness to the game wasn't up to their standards. But I quickly got over it driving home in my new golf cart, looking at the landscaping.
Respectfully, you don't need to worry, I think you are wrong about TV losing it's sense of community.

Even in the relatively short eight years we've lived seasonally in TV, we notice big changes, some good, some bad.
We are a huge city now.
New restaurants and new churches spring up.
Old favorites close down.
Some of the Villages have strong social organizations. Not all.
I think a city of 112,000 can't possibly have a sense of community, and be as friendly and small town as a city half that size.
However each individual Village is self sufficient and has a sense of community, but not the larger "The Villages".
Most people you meet at activities, at the pool or at the Dog Park will be extremely friendly.
All in all, it's a pretty great little Town, with something for everyone!