For us, a big part of the enjoyment of going places in TV is the journey there. Even trips to not-so-fun places (like doctor appointments or grocery shopping) is made more palatable by the beautiful scenery during the trip. Unless I’m under some kind of time crunch, I tend to take the golf cart just about everywhere, no matter the distance.
And as far as distance goes...I think most people, once they get settled in, tend to use the facilities, amenities and squares closest to their home most often. No matter where you live in TV, you’re going to be pretty close to at least one square and grocery store as well as two or more rec centers/pools/country clubs. For me, the closest square is about 15-20 minutes by cart. It would be 7-10 minutes by car. It doesn’t take that much longer by cart, but it saves a lot of gas. We downsized to one car and two carts. Savings on gas, insurance and car maintenance was part of my budget considerations when moving down here.
As EdVinMass pointed out, the interior of your car will heat up very quickly during the summer months and it will take several minutes for the air conditioner to cool it down while you are baking and sweating. With a golf cart, you’ve got a breeze in your face as soon as you hit the gas peddle. It’s a much more logical transportation choice when returning from the pool in a wet swimsuit or after working out in the gym or exercise class.
We only personally know one couple who doesn’t have a cart here. When they join us for dinner at a restaurant or a trip to the square, they always prefer riding with us in our carts, as opposed to us riding with them in their car. And if we didn’t have carts, we’d be constantly renting them, because that’s the only way our out-of-town visitors want to travel.
There are times when a car is necessary or more desirable, but for us, those times are fairly infrequent.
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