[Bay Kid]

Originally Posted by SIRE1

We started to come down to visit friends who lived in The Villages back in 2000. At that time Spanish Springs was the only town center and they were just building along Buena Vista Blvd, around Glenview CC and Lopez CC. And 466 was just a 2 lane country road. So Morse Blvd was just another exit to get out of that section of The Villages. And at that time, The Villages was REALLY a gated community. The entrances for guest were manned and the Residents Only entrances required a Card. There were NO buttons on the gate controls. So to get into The Villages, you had to either go through a manned gate or have a card. And during those first few years, golf carts didn't have lights and had to be off the streets by 6:00 pm. And since Morse Blvd didn't go anywhere but out to 466, the only golf cart traffic along that stretch was just the local residents in that area. Not much car traffic and very little golf carts.

When we came back down and visited our friends in 2001/2002, he inidicated that there was a rumor that they MIGHT be building some houses and a new town center south of 466. And each year we visited following, the main activity was to drive further south and say "I can't believe how far south it is". Then, around 2004 or 2005, when we came down to visit, we learned that Marion County had ruled that since the roads were public, The Villages had to provide access through all of the gates. So they left the gates but installed red buttons on the Residents Only gates. It was a short while later that Sumter County required the same thing and the red buttons were installed everywhere.

And since anyone, residents and visitors, could now use any gate there wasn't any real reason to install a manned gate in the newer sections of The Villages. In addition, I suspect that the Morse family hadn't originally planned on building south of 466, and that has created the current problem with golf cart traffic on that section of Morse Blvd. Just like they hadn't anticipated building south of 44, until they did. And the rest is History !!!!

Thank you for the history. So interesting.

It is amazing the changes since I drove down Morse Blvd. for the 1st time in 2011. Late afternoon in December and there wasn't much traffic. I was totally amazed when I got to Sumter Landing! And the story continues.