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Originally Posted by beckylou152
We live in Bradford south of 44. I would buy here again. There are pros and cons to every area. Pros to south of 44 are that we have wonderful, extensive, scenic multimodal trails for walking and biking everywhere. There are lots of gorgeous, brand new rec centers with courts for Pickleball, tennis, etc. homes are new, and often less expensive than pre owned homes. There will be a new type of entertainment and shopping/dining experience very soon at Sawgrass Grove. There are cute and unique places to go and see, such as Edna’s, Fenny Grill, Hogeye path, etc.. finally, when you move into a new area the folks are all in the same boat and it is super easy to make friends! Cons are that it is a longer drive to some executive courses, we are not as close to the existing town squares, and there is not great shopping down this way. So it is a trade off. I chose this area because I knew I wanted walking trails, and I use them every day. I don’t mind long golf cart rides to executive courses, and I know the new bridge and development south of here will bring even more access. I wanted a new home. But there are fantastic homes and amenities everywhere. Have fun looking!
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Hi BeckyLou, CindyLou here!
This is the proper attitude with which to choose where to live in The Villages. Every yes in life is a thousand nos. Nowhere have I seen a place (much less created for a single age/lifestyle populace) with SO many yeses!!!
We bought a rental home and lived in it several weeks of the year for three years before making the big decision on where to live. I HIGHLY recommend renting first for this reason. We already had an idea when we bought the rental that we wanted in the “golden circle” (between morse and buena vista and 466 and 466a).
Those five years of being down here often, checking out lifestyle clubs, fitness facilities, golf courses, indoor and outdoor rec amenities, shopping, doctors, vets, restaurants, proximity to surrounding towns, amusement parks, state parks and both oceans all mattered to us. We are big fans of enjoying the state you reside in, and florida has wonders galore…natural and man made that we are enjoying every single month. Highly recommend getting National and state park passes as well.
We were so torn when Fenney and the southside boomed. We are from Lousiana and the Marsh Bend Hogeye area called to our swamp loving hearts for sure. We love to do nature walks. However, we also love convenience in our day to day lives. It takes at LEAST 10 years after The Villages moves into a new area for basic retail, medical, hair, vets, etc to move in and stabilize the commercial and retail sectors. The Villages is just now filling a vacancy in brownwood for the first time that has been there for almost a decade!
We figured with a 10-15 year life expectancy in our new chapter and location, we needed to be realistic about the NOW and near future. What do we do daily? What has us running the roads the least?
We ultimately chose to be almost literally in the dead center of the golden circle and are thrilled with the choice. We chose a wonderful tiny 10 home culdesac with amazing neighbors, mature landscaping, and peace and quiet. Half of our neighbors are in 80s and the other half of us are young 60s, nixing the rumor that everyone in center and north is “old” (which is irrelevant here where most people are active). It is a great mix! We are surrounded by golf galore (we can walk to starter shack in less than five minutes) and have three rec centers/pools/amenities within 5 minute walk. We have three great regional rec centers within a 5-10 minute golf cart ride and dozens of exec and championship courses in that same 10 minute drive. We are midway between Sarasota and Arnold Palmer and use both regularly for practice and lessons. No driving range or good practice facility in entire southside was deal breaker for husband. And Sarasota is ridiculously crowded year round now because developer hasn’t put practice greens, golf school or driving range on south side (which is truly inexcusable IMHO)
The GREAT news is there were hundreds of villages and lifestyle choices we could have made that would also have been great!
We drive down to Edna’s and Hogeye and the Fenney boardwalk (and looking forward to the new nature boardwalk opening soon as well) frequently. These are our “hometown” outings, our field trips, our explorations of our great community that has so ridiculously much to offer. I try to not to laugh when we comment that something is so FAR away. We are retired. We have 16 waking hours a day available every day. The journeys here are all a lovely relaxing golf cart ride away. We are GRATEFUL to be here!!!!
The Villages has gotten too big to pick a homesite that puts you near EVERYTHING. There is simple too much everything for that to be possible. What an amazing conundrum!
ESPECIALLY when I think about my friends retiring across their various hometowns who spend most of their days in their houses, in front of tv or media, with very few offerings on affordable recreation, fitness, sports, etc, and certainly no lifestyle type clubs to explore new interests and passions, no easy access to live music for free at three lovely outdoor venues etc…much less a short walk or relaxing breezy golf cart ride away. My friends who are aging in place are frequently in neighborhoods surrounded by busy young families who don’t have the time or same interests as most retirees. This creates a terrible sense of isolation and boredom amidst a crowd and requires that they get in their cars and drive substantial distances to connect with other retirees with the same interests.
P.s. My favorite unexpected joy so far is being able to hop in the car, drive one hour due west, meet the fishing boats at the Crab Plant on Crystal River and have a great seafood lunch outside on the water, watching manatees and coastal life. After lunch we head out with our fishing rods and a short 10-15 minute drive further we are on a pier in the gulf at Fort Island. We swim, we laze, and we throw perfectly good shrimp in the water in hopes of a good return on investment! We stay til the sun goes down and then enjoy spectacular stargazing lying on a remote dark beach. An hour away!!! Woo hoo!
Good luck to all choosing their next home. Wherever you choose, you will find GOOD people, GOOD health, GOOD lifestyle choices. Amazing!