My husband and I spent over a year looking at communities all over Florida...not just active adult communities. We did not visit Valencia Lakes, but are familiar with other GL Homes communities. They do a first-class job on home design and construction, neighborhood planning and luxurious amenities.
We did the weekend stay at The Villages. Did not care for their home designs or construction, or the layout of all those individual little gated communities. In the downtown areas, we felt as though we were in a big city or in a shopping mall. They do have many stores and restaurants, all open to the public...filled with people from all over, not just residents. I can understand how golfers would love the variety of golf offered there, but my husband are not golfers, so that was not appealing to us. The Villages just didn't have a community feel to it.
We fell in love with Solivita from the first drive through the Mediterranean village center...from the architecture of the European-style homes to the thoughtfully-planned neighborhoods. We kept coming back to visit until we eventually purchased a home here a decade ago. There are five to twenty-five activities every single day...over and above the education classes, art classes, special interest clubs, sports activities and community service projects...and the fitness centers and their classes mentioned by the other lady who posted...all are included in our HOA fees. Cannot imagine anyone getting bored here!
As far as the resturants go, we can drive to some of the finest restaurants in the country in less time than it takes to wait for a table in one of the restaurants in The Villages!
We love the community feeling living in Solivita. We have made some of the best friends of our lives here. There have been only 3,500 homes sold so far and I think there will be 6,000 total when completed. As far as the location, it does have more of a rural feel. However, we have had a wonderful time exploring all this area has to offer. Every weekend, we ride our recumbent trikes with friends on dozens of fantastic bike trails within an hour's drive. We love being right in the middle of the state with beaches 1.5 hours going east or west. The theme parks are 20 minutes away for visiting family and friends.
Different communities to suit every taste...another great thing about living in our magnificent nation is there are so many fantastic places from which we may choose to live!
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