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Originally Posted by VillagesFlorida
Yes, Schaumburger, we moved to The Villages in 1998, There were 16,000 residents here and we thought this place was big then! It WAS large when we compared it to other retirement communities that we visited. The Spanish Springs area was still being developed and the theater there had just opened. There were a couple of fast food restaurants, and a few eateries on the square. Otherwise, we had a restaurant in each of the 3 country clubs, plus Chula Vista and Silver Lake (both restaurants gone) Darlene's (gone now) was the only place a woman could buy clothes. There were no shoe stores and men were out of luck if they needed a pair of socks! If Sweets Hardware didn't have something we needed we were faced with trips to Leesburg and Ocala, to Home Depot. We have thoroughly enjoyed watching the growth here. Just when we think we have seen it all the developer does something else jaw-dropping. Growth here is not a negative thing in my mind. I knew that this place was going to get much bigger when we purchased our home here. We just never imagined the scope of what was to come. There were 5 executive and 3 championship golf courses. It is wonderful to have so many choices now. Unlike areas I lived in back in Maine I don't have to travel 20 miles to buy a loaf of bread. I have 4 different grocery stores within 3-4 miles of my home. My husband can buy socks and I can buy shoes, all via our golf cart! How cool is that?!! I just can't find anything about The Villages to complain about. Even after so many years here I still feel as though I live in a resort. Sometimes I think about the wealthy folks who live in the big house on the ocean. They may have a big boat tied up to a dock and a fancy car in the garage but they don't have a fraction of the recreational amenities that we have here. Quite frankly, I would be bored as heck living in the mansion on the beach! I can not imagine living anywhere else at this time of my life. I plan to sit back and watch what the developer has up his sleeves for the finale here. Brownwood? An old Florida cattle town? Yee-Haw! If it is anything like what he has already done it should make us all proud to live here.
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What a comfortable post. I want to sit on my lanai and listen to you tell more about your past 13 years. I too think it is so fascinating to see what new thing is being built. It is so neat to watch.
Hope I get to meet you in person as soon as we return!