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Originally Posted by twoplanekid
While there are some areas of family housing now in the Villages, I wonder what impact the much, much larger area planned for Southern Oaks will have on our senior lifestyle. I can see both the positive and negatives with hopefully more positives for the Villages as a whole.
A concern of mine would be if the younger people residing in these new areas would have access to all Village amenities. If they do, my pickleball game will need to be stepped up to compete. 
Maybe more young people in the Villages will keep us younger. It may make a change to our Village senior lifestyle as we have become accustomed to. As it will take 5 or more years for these changes to take place, it's something to think about in planning for the future. |
It would be nice for people who are younger but work in The Villages to be able to purchase homes in the safety of The Villages and also have access to nearby new charter schools. Having one neighborhood where kids living there permanently are welcomed is nice in that the kids will have playmates down the street, and after school and summer activities will be closer. Kids may also be able to find local part time jobs. It must be discouraging for some people to work here but have to live in surrounding communities or even off in Ocala. I wouldn’t like commuting an hour each way to here from a house in Ocala, working all day, and wondering if my kids are safe there or getting into trouble. I would sacrifice a lot to have safe neighborhoods and great schools for my kids.
I find it hard to believe that there would be no amenities fee, and there would probably be the same bond. I suspect the houses will be around the same price per square foot as what is being built now. That means the housing may be 50% to 100% more expensive than equivalent housing outside The Villages a mile away. Quite possibly most of the employees of The Villages would not be able to afford such housing. It would mean sacrificing house size and lot size in exchange for the benefits of being here. I assume there would be a local golf course and pool, ball fields and soccer field and exercise center for local kids. I suspect that even if the new owners have access to all the amenities—and I hope they will—that won’t affect many current residents. There are so many golf courses to choose from. So what if one foursome per day from there is added to each course? So what if a handful of teens decide to try every course once or each pool? So what if a few people want to come play cards or do crafts? It’s not like there will no longer be room for us.
It seems like a good move, and I think a lot of employees will appreciate it.