[justjim]

Originally Posted by Goldwingnut

Yes, The Villages has grown quit a bit in the last 16 years since HS left us, but don't think this wasn't all a part of his plans. Watch this video The Building of Brownwood - Exciting Construction Plans - YouTube and they talk about the Brownwood location being known before any home was build south of CR466 (not CR466A). This significantly predates HS's death and without a doubt is clear that the current growth was greatly influenced by both HS and GM. They well knew in the late 90's that The Villages would grow beyond SR44 and farther south as we see it today. You don't invest $100+ million in a premier commercial district only to put it on the fringe of your target customers, you put it right smack in the middle of your customer base (as we are now seeing this to be true). If SR44 was to be the end of The Villages then Brownwood would have been built were the Truman and Roosevelt golf courses are located today.

Unfortunately, most good things usually come to an end, normally the demise is due to abuse. Katie Belles is a prime example of this, it wasn't a private and free attraction, it was a business and businesses have to make money to continue to be viable. The few times I went there for dinner there were a large number of people camping out there having an ice tea or water and taking up a table for hours on end, not spending any money and enjoying the free entertainment that was anything but free to the proprietor. They can't make money with this type of entitled abuse and they can't stay in business. Hence the change in business model. The country clubs suffer for the same syndrome, one has already closed its doors for the same reason, how many more will follow?

By the way, in the business world, it's called a $1 million investment not a donation.

They spent, as you said, millions developing Brownwood and as I watched it’s development it didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure plans were already made to go south of State Route 44. We are in our 13th year of living in The Villages. It’s been a great active lifestyle living here. Change is inevitable and as we age there is a natural tendency to want “things” to stay the same. After 13 years, I say everything is still all right with The Villages. In my opinion The Villages is better today than it was when we first landed here. “In life, it is important to know when to stop arguing with people and simply let them be wrong”. Anonymous