Hubby and I grew up in Clearwater, Florida. Clearwater, Largo, Pinellas Park, St Petersburg, Tampa, Oldsmar, Safety Harbor, etc, is all one huge mass of population. You can not tell when one ends and the next begins. When we were in Middle School they were doing major construction on US Hwy 19. Guess what, they still are. When I-4 was built it was a major construction headache. Guess what, they are still doing construction. It is always too little, too late.
DOT work in Florida has always been handled after the fact. Look at I-75. Again, too little, too late. Closer to home, 466A, too little, too late.
We are very fortunate that The Villages sits close enough to have access to the Toll Road and to I-75. Also the Roundabouts, which can cause their own set of problems, do relieve stop and go bumper to bumper traffic jams.
The Villages may end up being 200,000+ population. But the population/traffic that is here now is very well handled. Amenities, shopping, businesses are spread out and well placed. The Morse family has 30 yrs of land development experience and they have learned a great deal over the course of that time. The traffic for our 120,000 population runs very smoothly.
The growth south of us will bring in better shopping, more services, more jobs for those who live in the surrounding areas. These 3 counties have been 3 of the poorest counties in Florida. The impact of the Villages has increased the income levels in each and has brought a huge increase in the tax income of each county. As the Villages grows, so does the prosperity of the younger citizens in our 3 counties. It will not affect those who live north of 44 or 466A to any great extent. Just as the growth of businesses and increase in traffic on 441 in Lady Lake do not really impact the daily lives of those of us who live south of 466A.
Some people come on here sounding paranoid about future growth. Simply look at the planning that has gone into The Villages thus far. It is much better than Orlando, St Pete, Chicago, Atlanta, Miami. Really it is better than just about any other place you could name. Can things be improved? Yes, and they are. 466A road widening is finally headed into it's final stages. New businesses are coming in along 44 with space set aside for commercial usage in the new areas being developed to the south.
There will be plenty of space for all the new Villagers to be, without taking anything away from our long time residents, and our surrounding communities. If you can find a better planned rapidly growing community, then put your house on the market and head there. We wish you the best, and so do the future owners of your home.
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