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Originally Posted by su2009

In general, I love The Villages, but here is what I miss from living in a big city:
1. In The Villages, there's no big malls with big upper-end chain retailers like Macys, Nordstrom, Sports Authority. Ocala has a tiny Macys and a small Dick's Sporting Goods, but you really have to go to Atlanta or Miami if you want to find the big upper-end retailers with good sales.
2. No Trader Joes
3. There are good doctors, but no Kaiser. I loved Kaiser and really miss it.
4. No high-end prosthodontic practices. If you are a working professional and want perfect teeth built with perfect, lifelike zironia crowns with zirconia gum, you have to go to Atlanta or the Miami area. Here, there are decent dentists, but only a few prosthodontists, and no one with an in-office lab making zirconia crowns & bridges with zirconia gum. (There are, however, some dentists offering in-office denture labs, but that is not the same thing.)
5. For dealer service on a car like a Toyota or Nissan, you have to go to Leesburg. However, there are good general maintenance and body shops, and they are much more affordable than their counterparts in a big city.
6. No international airport; you have to go to Orlando or Tampa to fly out on most airlines.
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I should note that most of what I miss is just stuff that is available only in a very large city. On the other hand, and a central reason I wanted to move here, the stores & services you use frequently are much, much, easier to get to - you can take a golf cart or drive uncrowded surface streets and go everywhere easily. There is no rush hour. The people are much nicer; if you leave an umbrella in a theater, you will likely get it back here. You also don't need an expensive security system with 24-hour monitoring, like you do in a big city; thefts and burglaries are rare in The Villages. I would never voluntarily move away from The Villages; I just wish some of the big-city conveniences would come here!

Ditto I much of what you have said. I moved down from Minneapolis area and miss the great malls there, the quality medical care, the events in downtown Minneapolis the professional sports ( several of the Vikings lived in our subdivision) the great restaurants and frankly big city living