[Indydealmaker]

As far as I know The Villages has never been represented as a gated community. However, it is considered as a Restricted Access community. Since the streets are the property of the counties, they cannot be closed to the general public.

The gates are part of the unique environment and character of The Villages. It is nice to see a smiling face at the gates when you come home. It is nice to know there are security cameras at the gates that can provide a video record of the comings and goings of all. I know of at least one instance where some burglars were apprehended with the assistance of those cameras.

The gates also serve to manage the flow of traffic into the community which also makes some of the golf cart crossings safer.

As far as cost to maintain the gates, I estimate that if we spend the princely sum of $2,000,000 per year, we each pay only $40 per year (4 Johnnie Walker Blacks/yr). I wonder how much it would cost us to pay to maintain our own roads? (I know...our taxes maintain the roads anyway, but I suspect our individual toll for that is much less as it is buried inside the county general budgets)