[Michael 61]

Originally Posted by Blueblaze

Don't be silly! Katy Belle's made lots of money, just not from selling drinks. A guy named Morse was bright enough to figure out that if he created a place like that in a place like Spanish Springs, he could convince 100,000 old folks to move to Podunk, Florida, and buy a house from him. Unfortunately, the kids didn't inherit the gene, so now they build houses 45 minutes from the amenities, and expect the amenities to pay for themselves.

Maybe someone should explain to the kids that people don't go to Disneyworld to buy tee-shirts. They go to ride Space Mountain for "free". Somebody should tell them that the moment people figure out "Disney for Old Folks" is really just a big housing development in the middle of nowhere, the Morse family money tree croaks and the party's over.

If you ask me, pulling the rug out from under the previous buyers on amenities like Katy Belles and the Old Mill Theater, that they thought came with the deal, is not only dumb -- it's pretty close to fraud. If you want to sell houses in the middle of nowhere, you're going to have to give people a reason to move 1000 miles from their family at the end of their life. Because if word gets out that the moment you sell them that house, you're done with them, you just made suckers out of your customers, and it's going to be hard to find new suckers in the future.

I moved here with no pre-conceived idea that any business is an “amenity” or “entitlement” that is guaranteed to always be here. Businesses come and go.