[michaelUK]

Originally Posted by LiverpoolWalrus

Michael, anyone who's lived in Florida for a while cannot help but notice "a startling number of retirement communities." They've been "springing up" for decades!

I have lived in two other Florida retirement communities before the Villages - one on the west coast (Tampa area) and one on the east coast (Ft Lauderdale area).

Florida has a large number of such communities consisting of mid-rise apartment buildings, with lots of amenities and activities, but nothing like the Villages. Those were the communities I lived in. Most were built in the 1970s and '80s and are well maintained with attractive landscaping. They are very affordable. You can still get a semi-remodeled two bedroom unit in the mid $100Ks. But since they're relatively small with no yards, and fairly old, I don't think they would appeal to most people looking to buy in a place like the Villages.

I basically lived there temporarily, "below my means" until I decided for sure what part of Florida I wanted to live in and what I was looking for in a retirement community. I ultimately decided on a third retirement community in southeast Florida, this one with single family homes built in the 1970s, and another home in the Villages. I bought both of those in the last year. I guess timing is not my strong suit.

Walrus,
It's not always easy to make the right decision; especially since my observation is that retirement communities seem to range from small developments with a pool, gym, and a seldom enforced age restriction to large, nearly self contained settlements that could pass for Earth's first lunar colony prototype.