[graciegirl]

Originally Posted by Tom C

Wow.. I mean WOW!! - In just 24 hours - 5 PAGES of Replies!

First I want to thank EVERYONE for the feedback on this forum and the PMs that were sent to me (I will eventually reply to all of the PMs).

Two initial things: #1 – Poster by the name “Ingenuity” (who was advised by another Villager while in line at the store about her lawn maintenance and how this lady was going to write her up for not keeping things tidy): I think this is the SAME PERSON who approached us when we were looking at homes. I recall a person came storming across the street and proceeded to tell us exactly how we would have to do things in our yard and if we didn’t do it their way that they would write us up and there would be “Hell to Pay”. So please understand why we got the initial impression that we did… I am sorry for your experience, but I am grateful that we were not the only ones and someone here understands exactly what happened to us.

#2 – I was ready for a blasting, but did not get one. Typically when one posts to a relatively anonymous forum, the claws come out and people can become quite vicious. What I found was that people essentially politely said that there are no higher concentrations of "whiners and busy-bodies" in The Villages than anywhere else. The population in The Villages is greater than 100,000, and since these "cranky" individuals make more noise that the average happy person, it may SEEM that there are a lot of these people in The Villages (higher than normal concentrations). I thank you all for your patience with me and being so understanding of our impressions.

Generosity: A few people went so far as to offer homes to rent and many recommended that we take advantage of the Lifestyle program for a little longer visit. I have to agree, (as was pointed out by some very astute repliers) the change from moving to The Villages from my current location is … large. I have lived in Alaska full-time since 1969. I was also here from 1960-1964 (I was an Army brat and we were in Anchorage during the earthquake). My beautiful bride (we married 24 years ago) is from Pennsylvania, but she has been here in Alaska for about 35 years. So it will not be a small change for us. We do travel and have experienced hot weather and have learned to deal with that like we deal with cold weather. I do believe that we would be best renting or leasing for 6-18 months before buying anywhere.

To all: you HAVE MOVED THE NEEDLE on the meter for me, however, as has been pointed out by a very wise person, “If momma ain’t happy, no one is happy”. So my part is.. , well .., JUST my part. Both parts must be weighed on such an important decision.

I am not sure when we can get to The Villages, but when we do I am looking forward to meeting the kind of people who have replied here. Until that time I will continue to “lurk” (monitor) on this forum, learning more each day.

Finally, thank you all again. You have been a great help to me.

Hope you choose to live here. Sometimes I get so filled with happiness here it falls out of my eyes.