10-1 women vs. men in TV way off the mark

[The Mountaineer]

I don't know who started the lie, but the official cenus is

24,069 men

27,373 women

That's 53.2% women, 46.8% men

Odds favor a guy having more than one gal, but hardly 10-1. So I guess the rest of the article must be as inaccurate, too.

Although STDs among 55+ in Central Florida, which includes more than The Villages, is up 50 to 70%, which is pretty stiff increase.

[graciegirl]

I don't know who started the lie, but the official cenus is

24,069 men

27,373 women

That's 53.2% women, 46.8% men

Odds favor a guy having more than one gal, but hardly 10-1. So I guess the rest of the article must be as inaccurate, too.

Although STDs among 55+ in Central Florida, which includes more than The Villages, is up 50 to 70%, which is pretty stiff increase.



That COULD mean three or four people in OUR hundred thousand. Only the Shadow knows.


I wonder how many need depends?

[manaboutown]

The life expectancy of women exceeds that of men by a few years so the OP's statistics appear realistic to me. After all, The Villages is at least 80% a senior (55 and over) community.

[cbh1975]

Yeah. That article needed some serious fact checking.

What number was the STD increase based on? That makes all the difference.

[KathieI]

I don't know who started the lie, but the official cenus is

24,069 men

27,373 women

That's 53.2% women, 46.8% men

Odds favor a guy having more than one gal, but hardly 10-1. So I guess the rest of the article must be as inaccurate, too.

Although STDs among 55+ in Central Florida, which includes more than The Villages, is up 50 to 70%, which is pretty stiff increase.


Is that count single and/or married men? Seems rather odd to me.

[dewilson58]

I don't know who started the lie, but the official cenus is

24,069 men

27,373 women

That's 53.2% women, 46.8% men

Odds favor a guy having more than one gal, but hardly 10-1. So I guess the rest of the article must be as inaccurate, too.

Although STDs among 55+ in Central Florida, which includes more than The Villages, is up 50 to 70%, which is pretty stiff increase.


Pun??

[perrjojo]

I don't know who started the lie, but the official cenus is

24,069 men

27,373 women

That's 53.2% women, 46.8% men

Odds favor a guy having more than one gal, but hardly 10-1. So I guess the rest of the article must be as inaccurate, too.

Although STDs among 55+ in Central Florida, which includes more than The Villages, is up 50 to 70%, which is pretty stiff increase. Also I wonder what the percentage of our population increased in the years mentioned.

Stastics can be deceiving. If 10 people had STD and the next year there were 17, that would be up 70% but it would hardly be an epidemic.

[BarryRX]

Stastics can be deceiving. If 10 people had STD and the next year there were 17, that would be up 70% but it would hardly be an epidemic.

Exactly right. We would need to know what time period the increase represents and what the overall population increase was during that time period.

[Dr Winston O Boogie jr]

I don't know who started the lie, but the official cenus is

24,069 men

27,373 women

That's 53.2% women, 46.8% men

Odds favor a guy having more than one gal, but hardly 10-1. So I guess the rest of the article must be as inaccurate, too.

Although STDs among 55+ in Central Florida, which includes more than The Villages, is up 50 to 70%, which is pretty stiff increase.


So what are the other 50,000 people if they are neither male or female?

[perrjojo]

So what are the other 50,000 people if they are neither male or female?

You are sooo sharp! :)

[perrjojo]

I suppose it could mean 10 single women to every 1 single man...who knows? Who cares?

[The Mountaineer]

That COULD mean three or four people in OUR hundred thousand. Only the Shadow knows.


I wonder how many need depends?


National numbers of those 45 or older

STD Risk Rising Among Seniors.

According the CDC, close to 2,550 cases of syphilis were reported among adults between the ages of 45 and 65 in 2010 -- up from around 900 cases in 2000. And the number of reported chlamydia cases in the age group almost tripled, from around 6,700 in 2000 to 19,600 a decade later.

[Average Guy]

So what are the other 50,000 people if they are neither male or female?

Still no answer from Mountaineer about the missing 50,000 people.

[mrfixit]

So what are the other 50,000 people if they are neither male or female?



I am betting the "other" 50,000 people......
...............................are not registered to VOTE here....
................................................NO R.........
....have a Drivers' License showing 32159, 32162, 32163, or 34785 zip code,
.................................................N OR.....
.....were they counted as living here in the last census.

The 100,000 figure is simply a Scientific Wild Ass Guess.........
....based ONLY on how many homes are IN The Villages...and then....
...guessing average number of people per home in a retirement community.

This is only MY Scientific Wild Ass Guess, with no science to back it up.

Anybody, besides me, notice the LACK of traffic in the Summer.

[ljones190]

If you go to the government website quickfactscensus.gov and search Florida and The villages the 53.1 % female reported earlier is accurate.

[TVMayor]

So what are the other 50,000 people if they are neither male or female?

Let me guess, married.

[784caroline]

The STATS used are from 2010 or 4 years old......in 4 years we added 30-40thousand people.

[Dr Winston O Boogie jr]

The STATS used are from 2010 or 4 years old......in 4 years we added 30-40thousand people.

That would have been my guess. But I would assume that the percentages have stayed about the same. I can't find the article right now, (actually, I'm just too lazy to search for it) but it said that the ratio was about 48% to 52%. That, to me, only by observation seems to be about right.

[Dr Winston O Boogie jr]

Let me guess, married.

The article nor the stats in the OP mention single or married. They both are about residents.

In fact the subject of the original article is a married woman and the article goes on to describe wife swapping parties.

My post was a bit tongue in cheek. I assumed that it was an old census. If I'm not mistaken, The Villages has doubled in size in the past five years.

[janmcn]

I don't know who started the lie, but the official cenus is

24,069 men

27,373 women

That's 53.2% women, 46.8% men

Odds favor a guy having more than one gal, but hardly 10-1. So I guess the rest of the article must be as inaccurate, too.

Although STDs among 55+ in Central Florida, which includes more than The Villages, is up 50 to 70%, which is pretty stiff increase.




Perhaps the author of the article was talking about available women versus available men, ie single, divorced, widowed. A good way to verify these figures would be to attend a singles club meeting.

[Dr Winston O Boogie jr]

That COULD mean three or four people in OUR hundred thousand. Only the Shadow knows.


I wonder how many need depends?

Exactly, Gracie. There are approximately 300,000,000 in this country. Approximately 45% are over the age of 45 which is about 135,000,000 people. The fact that the number of STD cases went from 900 to 2500 in a decade is nothing. In fact they haven't given the amount that the population grew in that decade to balance off the increase in STDs.

Sometimes the number of cases, (of anything) is so small that event if it increases by tenfold, the number is meaningless. The increase amounts to approximately .0000001% of the population. Even if the rate in TV is 100 times that it may be three or four people.

[justjim]

so what are the other 50,000 people if they are neither male or female?

dogs!

[graciegirl]

dogs!




I LOVE it.

[Bruiser1]

:So what are the other 50,000 people if they are neither male or female?


:a20:

[Down Sized]

I suppose it could mean 10 single women to every 1 single man...who knows? Who cares?

You win the prize!!!
That is exactly correct. Ask any Single Baby boomer, especially the single women.:wave:

[2BNTV]

I don't know who started the lie, but the official cenus is

24,069 men

27,373 women

That's 53.2% women, 46.8% men

Odds favor a guy having more than one gal, but hardly 10-1. So I guess the rest of the article must be as inaccurate, too.

Although STDs among 55+ in Central Florida, which includes more than The Villages, is up 50 to 70%, which is pretty stiff increase.

I thiught you had to be 100% stiff, to get STD. :jester:

Seriously, why did you get these statistics? Could you post the article, your refering to?

Seems suspicious to me!!

[Xavier]

The census does not count Snowbirds.

Xavier

[gpirate]

I don't know who started the lie, but the official cenus is

24,069 men

27,373 women

That's 53.2% women, 46.8% men

Odds favor a guy having more than one gal, but hardly 10-1. So I guess the rest of the article must be as inaccurate, too.

Although STDs among 55+ in Central Florida, which includes more than The Villages, is up 50 to 70%, which is pretty stiff increase.


Is there only 51,500 living in TV? I thought I had read post saying over 100,000.

[Average Guy]

The census does not count Snowbirds.

Xavier

Correct. The decennial census counts people where they are living on April 1st.

The OP's statistics showing 53.2% women and 46.8% men includes both married and single people, so the use of those numbers to dispute the 10 to 1 ratio for dating is not appropriate.

[SantaClaus]

My impression, based on my observations during a half dozen visits, is that at the squares on a weekend night the gals might out-number the guys almost two to one: with the gals dancing and the guys sitting nursing drinks most of the time. I would expect that the squares are the "target-rich environments" for singles, but I could be making a bad assumption. Besides, the question as to how many from the census are single or married is a moot point, since any change in the percentage affects both sides equally (discounting any same-sex marriages) and therefore does not affect the ratio.

[Irish Red]

Figures lie and liars figure!

[Steve & Deanna]

My guess is that some of these 'tales' start by people that don't even live here.

[Average Guy]

Besides, the question as to how many from the census are single or married is a moot point, since any change in the percentage affects both sides equally (discounting any same-sex marriages) and therefore does not affect the ratio.

Not really a moot point.

Just a simple example to illustrate the point:

Total Men: 1000
Total Women: 2000
Men 33% of population and women 67%.

If there are 500 heterosexual married couples, then there are the following counts of singles:

Single Men: 500
Single Women: 1500
The single population is 500/2000 = 25% and women 1500/2000 = 75%

So, you can see that the percentages change if you are considering the entire population versus only the single population.


Now, of course, the impact is reduced (but not eliminated) the closer the entire population percentages are to 50%.

[SantaClaus]

Ok, I should have said "essentially moot".

[rubicon]

At this stage in our lives what difference does it make. its not like we were young and going on spring break. GEEEEZZZZZ

[Dr Winston O Boogie jr]

Correct. The decennial census counts people where they are living on April 1st.

The OP's statistics showing 53.2% women and 46.8% men includes both married and single people, so the use of those numbers to dispute the 10 to 1 ratio for dating is not appropriate.

Except for the fact that the woman involved in "the incident" is married and according to some dubious sources in the article, if a woman is not careful these tramps will steal her husband.

So it seems that married people are involved in this equation as well.

[The Mountaineer]

No matter how you slice it, it's still 53% women, 47% men, of whatever sexual persuasion and marital status. That's far far from 10-1 women to men. Throwing in sexual preferences and marital status is irrelevant. There are only 53% women to 47% men, which sounds pretty close to the national average for 55 and older folks.

[Bizdoc]

Of course, infidelity never, ever occurred in the cities/towns/planets where we used to live... <wink>

[manaboutown]

Believe it or not today's Daily Sun reports there are more men than women in Sumter County!

[The Mountaineer]

Believe it or not today's Daily Sun reports there are more men than women in Sumter County!

There must not have read the census report.

[Average Guy]

There must not have read the census report.

The Census Bureau report was the population in 2010. Today's paper had more recent population figures.

[The Mountaineer]

The Census Bureau report was the population in 2010. Today's paper had more recent population figures.

Wow, things change fast in The Villages! Of course, with older people, I guess there is more departures and arrivals than in the rest of America.

[784caroline]

Wow, things change fast in The Villages! Of course, with older people, I guess there is more departures and arrivals than in the rest of America.

We have our fair share of both departures and arrivals...but fortunately arrivals are still ahead of departures. With all Village "deeds" you pay an extra fee for "Late Departure".

[Average Guy]

Wow, things change fast in The Villages! Of course, with older people, I guess there is more departures and arrivals than in the rest of America.

It' probably all those single guys who moved to The Villages because they thought the ratio of women to men was 10 to 1.:laugh: :laugh: :laugh:

[katerogers]

If you're a single man, coming to the Villages because you believe the ratio of women to men is 10 to 1, or you're a single woman who is deciding not to come, for the same reason, you could both be missing out. Let's face it, meeting someone special isn't about ratios. But, for someone single, moving to a new place, making a lot of friends is what truly enriches your life and the Villages offers that possibility, in abundance, and who wouldn't want a life full of friends?

Katie

[The Mountaineer]

We have our fair share of both departures and arrivals...but fortunately arrivals are still ahead of departures. With all Village "deeds" you pay an extra fee for "Late Departure".

Are we talking going back north when a spouse passes away or passing away yourself with "late departure"?

[784caroline]

Are we talking going back north when a spouse passes away or passing away yourself with "late departure"?

I have no idea what you are talking about......what I meant is that in the Villages one simply lives longer

[PaPaLarry]

If you're a single man, coming to the Villages because you believe the ratio of women to men is 10 to 1, or you're a single woman who is deciding not to come, for the same reason, you could both be missing out. Let's face it, meeting someone special isn't about ratios. But, for someone single, moving to a new place, making a lot of friends is what truly enriches your life and the Villages offers that possibility, in abundance, and who wouldn't want a life full of friends?

Katie
Well said!!!!

[graciegirl]

Wow, things change fast in The Villages! Of course, with older people, I guess there is more departures and arrivals than in the rest of America.


Yep. A lot of nice people have moved to the village of Heavenly.

I see that you were here for two weeks in December and have recently purchased a home and that you are a Buckeye.

I think it won't take long for you to see how amazing this place is, when you start living here.

[senior citizen]

I don't know who started the lie, but the official cenus is

24,069 men

27,373 women

That's 53.2% women, 46.8% men

Odds favor a guy having more than one gal, but hardly 10-1. So I guess the rest of the article must be as inaccurate, too.

Although STDs among 55+ in Central Florida, which includes more than The Villages, is up 50 to 70%, which is pretty stiff increase.



Better safe than sorry in today's world; these are just a few of the links "out there"...

http://www.cdc.gov/vitalsigns/hepatitisc/ (http://www.cdc.gov/vitalsigns/hepatitisc/)

2013: Testing baby boomers for Hepatitus C Virus

http://www.cdcnpin.org/scripts/population/elderly.asp (http://www.cdcnpin.org/scripts/population/elderly.asp)

2014: Center for disease control.......

""Many factors contribute to the increasing risk of infection in older people. In general, older Americans know less about HIV/AIDS and STDs than younger age groups because the elderly have been neglected by those responsible for education and prevention messages. In addition, older people are less likely than younger people to talk about their sex lives or drug use with their doctors, and doctors don't tend to ask their older patients about sex or drug use. Finally, older people often mistake the symptoms .HIV/AIDS for the aches and pains of normal aging, so they are less likely to get tested.""

http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/2011-05-16/health/os-seniors-stds-national-20110516_1_std-cases-syphilis-and-chlamydia-older-adults (http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/2011-05-16/health/os-seniors-stds-national-20110516_1_std-cases-syphilis-and-chlamydia-older-adults)

http://www.foxnews.com/story/2009/01/26/villages-retirement-home-is-widower-sex-paradise/ (http://www.foxnews.com/story/2009/01/26/villages-retirement-home-is-widower-sex-paradise/)

http://www.wftv.com/news/news/doctors-in-retirement-community-seeing-increase-in/nFB8g/ (http://www.wftv.com/news/news/doctors-in-retirement-community-seeing-increase-in/nFB8g/)

http://www.thevillagesfloridabook.com/sex-lies-and-the-villages/ (http://www.thevillagesfloridabook.com/sex-lies-and-the-villages/)


　





　





　





　





　





　





　

[senior citizen]

Someone wondered as to another poster's comment on aliens........
Could it be Aliens as in the X-Files??????????????


This article was just sent to me by a close relative........whether or not all of the "rumors" are factual or exaggerated , the message (unfortunately) is "out there", for those who do not have their heads in the sand.........below is from SLATE, written by a reporter from the TAMPA BAY TIMES NEWSPAPER. So, no need to blame the Orlando Sentinel.


For many years, when people close to us would try to dissuade us from relocating to TV, I felt it was sour grapes on their part.....however, it is the same dozen or less in T.V. that get all riled up if anyone tries to find out the truth........moving is expensive; moving back even moreso. We've never had a company paid nor government paid move...and remember our mistakes well.....


Now that it is HOT and HUMID with thunderstorms here, we're glad that "this too shall pass" and welcome the cooler air and four seasons, looking forward to being snow birds down there, the best of all worlds............


But, having a penchant for research........I do like to know if this is truth or half truth or someone's vivid imagination.........I'm not alone in that category of wanting to know. It's normal. Obviously, we are NOT swingers nor the nightclub set.


Craig Pittman is a native Floridian and an award-winning reporter who covers environmental issues for the state's largest newspaper, the Tampa Bay Times. He is the author of three books, the most recent of which is The Scent of Scandal: Greed, Betrayal, and the World's Most Beautiful Orchid. Follow him on Twitter at @craigtimes.


The rules are different here.
July 22 2013 7:45 AM
Oh, #Florida[/URL]
　
Fresh and juicy scandals in Disney World for old people.
By Craig Pittman (https://www.talkofthevillages.com/forums/l)
The Villages
Courtesy of Ted Eytan/Flickr
The Native American tribes that once inhabited Florida left behind some wonderfully mellifluous place names, such as Okahumpka, Wewahitchka, Wacahoota, Umatilla, and Sopchoppy. The early settlers threw in some colorful ones, too: Tate’s Hell Swamp, Yeehaw Junction, and my personal fave, Two Egg.


But the oddest community in Florida has the blandest name imaginable: the Villages. The place doesn't generate a lot of strange news, like Miami, Key West, and Pasco County (http://www.slate.com/articles/life/florida/features/2013/oh_florida/weirdest_place_in_florida_key_west_miami_or_pasco_ county.html). But that's part of what makes it so weird—even weirder, I would argue, than Gibsonton (http://www.atlasobscura.com/places/gibsonton-florida), the town so odd it inspired an [U]X-Files episode.


The Villages (http://www.thevillages.com/) is the largest gated over-55 community in the world. It holds more than 100,000 residents in an area bigger than Manhattan. (http://www.thevha.net/the-villages-voice?op=3&issue=19&article=379) And everyone gets around via golf cart. The first time I visited, I couldn’t believe it. There were designated parking areas for golf carts at all the businesses. There were golf-cart tracks going everywhere. There are golf-cart tunnels and even a golf-cart bridge to cross the major highways. Why golf carts? Because nobody there really needs a car. Everything they could ever want is inside the gates.


Some of the golf carts "cost upwards of $25,000 and were souped up to look like Hummers, Mercedes sedans, and hot rods," Andrew D. Blechman noted in his book Leisureville: Adventures in America’s Retirement Utopias. They aren’t just for traveling around the three-dozen golf courses, either. According to Blechman, the Villages made it into the Guinness Book of World Records for the world's longest golf-cart parade by lining up 3,321 of them.


There are other records the Villages holds. "We have the highest consumption of draft beer in the state of Florida," one Villages official boasted in 2002 (http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/2002-11-24/news/0211240109_1_retirement-community-villages-permanent-vacation/2). It helps that the community has its own microbrewery that pipes beer beneath the streets to its town-square restaurants.
And then there are the distinctions they are not so thrilled about. In 2009, the New York Post (http://www.nypost.com/p/news/national/item_Cc7ZfG20iWexuTKNixQhvO) labeled it "ground zero for geriatrics who are seriously getting it on." The story reported that couples had been caught having quickies in the golf carts and noted there was a thriving black market for Viagra. A local police officer told the paper, "You see two 70-year-olds with canes fighting over a woman and you think, ‘Oh, jeez.’ " As a result, the place that likes to bill itself as "America’s Friendliest Hometown" has seen a huge increase (http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/2011-05-16/health/os-seniors-stds-national-20110516_1_std-cases-syphilis-and-chlamydia-older-adults) in sexually transmitted diseases. (http://www.wftv.com/news/news/doctors-in-retirement-community-seeing-increase-in/nFB8g/)


While pretty much anything goes in the community that some residents call "TV," one thing alone is forbidden: children. They can visit briefly, but that's it. "It's amazing that there's a place in America where children get visitors' passes like international visas," Blechman said. The Villages is "an endless playground for adults, but I only found one playground for children."


My buddy Jerry has parents who bought a home in the Villages 10 years ago. When Jerry visited his folks after they first moved in, the place creeped him out with its Stepford-like uniformity. "It was like Disney World for old people," he said. Then about five years ago he started thinking of it as "a college campus for old people. It's like an expensive party school." (His dad drove one of the golf carts in the parade that made the Guinness book.) Now, he says, he thinks of it as being "like a landlocked cruise ship. It's got everything you want to do, 16 hours a day. But then everything shuts down at 10 p.m."


If you stroll around and read the historical plaques, as Jerry did, you find that the area had a fascinating history dating back to before the Civil War, full of Native American attacks, epidemics, shipping accidents, and odd characters like the guy who built a lighthouse on a lake and insisted he be called "the Commodore." The stories are a load of hooey (http://www.scribd.com/doc/152444459/Heritage-Final-Nca), concocted over a bottle of scotch and a case of beer (http://www.sptimes.com/News/051400/Floridian/Retirement_boom_town.shtml) by its developers.


The real history starts with a trailer park and a dream (http://www.ocala.com/article/20031224/NEWS/212240320?p=1&tc=pg). In the 1970s, a Michigan businessman named Harold Schwartz bought land that became the Orange Blossom Gardens mobile home park. A decade in, Schwartz got his son, H. Gary Morse, to leave a Chicago advertising firm and come join him. They put in a golf course and didn't charge residents for using it, and the lure of free golf became the first step in drawing tens of thousands of new residents. By 1986 they were selling 500 homes a year and adding still more golf courses, pools, clubhouses, recreation centers, theaters, even a hospital. They put up a statue of Schwartz in a Disney-esque pose. After he died, his ashes were deposited inside the statue. Schwartz used to circulate and glad-hand, but not Morse. He's as approachable (https://www.talkofthevillages.com/forums/villages-florida-general-discussion-73/what-your-perception-gary-morse-32876/) as the Wizard of Oz.


For Morse, the Villages has been akin to a private mint. He not only sold the residents their houses. He also owned the mortgage company that financed them. He's the landlord of all the commercial buildings. He owns all or part of pretty much everything worth owning in the Villages, including the bank, the hospital, the utilities, the garbage collection company, the TV and radio stations, and the newspaper, where never is heard a discouraging word about life in the Villages. (Also never mentioned: the numerous sinkholes that open up because of all the water pumped out of the ground (http://www.sptimes.com/2002/07/07/news_pf/State/One_man_s_crusade.shtml) to keep all those lawns and golf courses looking green.)


Thanks to the Villages, Morse is now a billionaire (http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-06-04/hidden-billionaire-morse-a-man-behind-curtain-at-villages.html), and he’s built a powerful political base (http://www.tampabay.com/news/aging/the-villages-florida-retirement-community-provides-foundation-for/1245520). Morse and his family donated more than $1 million to Mitt Romney. They've already given $80,000 to Gov. Rick Scott's re-election committee. All the politicians he supports make sure they come to the Villages for a flag-waving campaign stop.


But here's where it gets really interesting. According to the Internal Revenue Service, the way Morse has built this grand empire may be about as rock-solid as the sinkhole-prone ground beneath it.


Like many Florida developers, Morse financed a big chunk of construction using something called a community development district, or CDD for short. The district levies fees on the homeowners to pay for roads and other improvements and under state law can borrow money using tax-free bonds. The CDDs in the Villages paid Morse millions of dollars to buy golf courses, guardhouses, and other amenities from him. But the IRS ruled last month (http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-06-05/florida-billionaire-s-development-bonds-not-tax-exempt-irs-says.html) that the Villages' CDD bonds did not deserve to be tax-exempt. Why? Because everyone who sits on the district board—like everything else in the Villages—is controlled by Morse (http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/10/us/10florida.html?_r=0). Those seats are supposed to be filled by residents, the IRS said.


So far Morse has politicians from both parties going to bat for him to make the IRS back off. But his most potent argument against the IRS comes from the Villages' residents themselves. According to Blechman, most show little interest in seizing control of their community from a leader they never see. Like most Americans, they're not interested in local politics. Maybe they'd feel differently if, instead of spending millions of dollars, the board was in charge of dispensing draft beer and Viagra.

[senior citizen]

Someone wondered as to another poster's comment on aliens........
Could it be Aliens as in the X-Files??????????????


This article was just sent to me by a close relative........whether or not all of the "rumors" are factual or exaggerated , the message (unfortunately) is "out there", for those who do not have their heads in the sand.........below is from SLATE, written by a reporter from the TAMPA BAY TIMES NEWSPAPER. So, no need to blame the Orlando Sentinel.


For many years, when people close to us would try to dissuade us from relocating to TV, I felt it was sour grapes on their part.....however, it is the same dozen or less in T.V. that get all riled up if anyone tries to find out the truth........moving is expensive; moving back even moreso. We've never had a company paid nor government paid move...and remember our mistakes well.....


Now that it is HOT and HUMID with thunderstorms here, we're glad that "this too shall pass" and welcome the cooler air and four seasons, looking forward to being snow birds down there, the best of all worlds............


But, having a penchant for research........I do like to know if this is truth or half truth or someone's vivid imagination.........I'm not alone in that category of wanting to know. It's normal. Obviously, we are NOT swingers nor the nightclub set.


Craig Pittman is a native Floridian and an award-winning reporter who covers environmental issues for the state's largest newspaper, the Tampa Bay Times. He is the author of three books, the most recent of which is The Scent of Scandal: Greed, Betrayal, and the World's Most Beautiful Orchid. Follow him on Twitter at @craigtimes.


The rules are different here.
July 22 2013 7:45 AM
Oh, #Florida
　
Fresh and juicy scandals in Disney World for old people.
By Craig Pittman (http://www.slate.com/authors.craig_pittman.html)
The Villages
Courtesy of Ted Eytan/Flickr
The Native American tribes that once inhabited Florida left behind some wonderfully mellifluous place names, such as Okahumpka, Wewahitchka, Wacahoota, Umatilla, and Sopchoppy. The early settlers threw in some colorful ones, too: Tate’s Hell Swamp, Yeehaw Junction, and my personal fave, Two Egg.


But the oddest community in Florida has the blandest name imaginable: the Villages. The place doesn't generate a lot of strange news, like Miami, Key West, and Pasco County (http://www.slate.com/articles/life/florida/features/2013/oh_florida/weirdest_place_in_florida_key_west_miami_or_pasco_ county.html). But that's part of what makes it so weird—even weirder, I would argue, than Gibsonton (http://www.atlasobscura.com/places/gibsonton-florida), the town so odd it inspired an X-Files episode.


The Villages (http://www.thevillages.com/) is the largest gated over-55 community in the world. It holds more than 100,000 residents in an area bigger than Manhattan. (http://www.thevha.net/the-villages-voice?op=3&issue=19&article=379) And everyone gets around via golf cart. The first time I visited, I couldn’t believe it. There were designated parking areas for golf carts at all the businesses. There were golf-cart tracks going everywhere. There are golf-cart tunnels and even a golf-cart bridge to cross the major highways. Why golf carts? Because nobody there really needs a car. Everything they could ever want is inside the gates.


Some of the golf carts "cost upwards of $25,000 and were souped up to look like Hummers, Mercedes sedans, and hot rods," Andrew D. Blechman noted in his book Leisureville: Adventures in America’s Retirement Utopias. They aren’t just for traveling around the three-dozen golf courses, either. According to Blechman, the Villages made it into the Guinness Book of World Records for the world's longest golf-cart parade by lining up 3,321 of them.


There are other records the Villages holds. "We have the highest consumption of draft beer in the state of Florida," one Villages official boasted in 2002 (http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/2002-11-24/news/0211240109_1_retirement-community-villages-permanent-vacation/2). It helps that the community has its own microbrewery that pipes beer beneath the streets to its town-square restaurants.
And then there are the distinctions they are not so thrilled about. In 2009, the New York Post (http://www.nypost.com/p/news/national/item_Cc7ZfG20iWexuTKNixQhvO) labeled it "ground zero for geriatrics who are seriously getting it on." The story reported that couples had been caught having quickies in the golf carts and noted there was a thriving black market for Viagra. A local police officer told the paper, "You see two 70-year-olds with canes fighting over a woman and you think, ‘Oh, jeez.’ " As a result, the place that likes to bill itself as "America’s Friendliest Hometown" has seen a huge increase (http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/2011-05-16/health/os-seniors-stds-national-20110516_1_std-cases-syphilis-and-chlamydia-older-adults) in sexually transmitted diseases. (http://www.wftv.com/news/news/doctors-in-retirement-community-seeing-increase-in/nFB8g/)


While pretty much anything goes in the community that some residents call "TV," one thing alone is forbidden: children. They can visit briefly, but that's it. "It's amazing that there's a place in America where children get visitors' passes like international visas," Blechman said. The Villages is "an endless playground for adults, but I only found one playground for children."


My buddy Jerry has parents who bought a home in the Villages 10 years ago. When Jerry visited his folks after they first moved in, the place creeped him out with its Stepford-like uniformity. "It was like Disney World for old people," he said. Then about five years ago he started thinking of it as "a college campus for old people. It's like an expensive party school." (His dad drove one of the golf carts in the parade that made the Guinness book.) Now, he says, he thinks of it as being "like a landlocked cruise ship. It's got everything you want to do, 16 hours a day. But then everything shuts down at 10 p.m."


If you stroll around and read the historical plaques, as Jerry did, you find that the area had a fascinating history dating back to before the Civil War, full of Native American attacks, epidemics, shipping accidents, and odd characters like the guy who built a lighthouse on a lake and insisted he be called "the Commodore." The stories are a load of hooey (http://www.scribd.com/doc/152444459/Heritage-Final-Nca), concocted over a bottle of scotch and a case of beer (http://www.sptimes.com/News/051400/Floridian/Retirement_boom_town.shtml) by its developers.


The real history starts with a trailer park and a dream (http://www.ocala.com/article/20031224/NEWS/212240320?p=1&tc=pg). In the 1970s, a Michigan businessman named Harold Schwartz bought land that became the Orange Blossom Gardens mobile home park. A decade in, Schwartz got his son, H. Gary Morse, to leave a Chicago advertising firm and come join him. They put in a golf course and didn't charge residents for using it, and the lure of free golf became the first step in drawing tens of thousands of new residents. By 1986 they were selling 500 homes a year and adding still more golf courses, pools, clubhouses, recreation centers, theaters, even a hospital. They put up a statue of Schwartz in a Disney-esque pose. After he died, his ashes were deposited inside the statue. Schwartz used to circulate and glad-hand, but not Morse. He's as approachable (https://www.talkofthevillages.com/forums/villages-florida-general-discussion-73/what-your-perception-gary-morse-32876/) as the Wizard of Oz.


For Morse, the Villages has been akin to a private mint. He not only sold the residents their houses. He also owned the mortgage company that financed them. He's the landlord of all the commercial buildings. He owns all or part of pretty much everything worth owning in the Villages, including the bank, the hospital, the utilities, the garbage collection company, the TV and radio stations, and the newspaper, where never is heard a discouraging word about life in the Villages. (Also never mentioned: the numerous sinkholes that open up because of all the water pumped out of the ground (http://www.sptimes.com/2002/07/07/news_pf/State/One_man_s_crusade.shtml) to keep all those lawns and golf courses looking green.)


Thanks to the Villages, Morse is now a billionaire (http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-06-04/hidden-billionaire-morse-a-man-behind-curtain-at-villages.html), and he’s built a powerful political base (http://www.tampabay.com/news/aging/the-villages-florida-retirement-community-provides-foundation-for/1245520). Morse and his family donated more than $1 million to Mitt Romney. They've already given $80,000 to Gov. Rick Scott's re-election committee. All the politicians he supports make sure they come to the Villages for a flag-waving campaign stop.


But here's where it gets really interesting. According to the Internal Revenue Service, the way Morse has built this grand empire may be about as rock-solid as the sinkhole-prone ground beneath it.


Like many Florida developers, Morse financed a big chunk of construction using something called a community development district, or CDD for short. The district levies fees on the homeowners to pay for roads and other improvements and under state law can borrow money using tax-free bonds. The CDDs in the Villages paid Morse millions of dollars to buy golf courses, guardhouses, and other amenities from him. But the IRS ruled last month (http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-06-05/florida-billionaire-s-development-bonds-not-tax-exempt-irs-says.html) that the Villages' CDD bonds did not deserve to be tax-exempt. Why? Because everyone who sits on the district board—like everything else in the Villages—is controlled by Morse (http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/10/us/10florida.html?_r=0). Those seats are supposed to be filled by residents, the IRS said.


So far Morse has politicians from both parties going to bat for him to make the IRS back off. But his most potent argument against the IRS comes from the Villages' residents themselves. According to Blechman, most show little interest in seizing control of their community from a leader they never see. Like most Americans, they're not interested in local politics. Maybe they'd feel differently if, instead of spending millions of dollars, the board was in charge of dispensing draft beer and Viagra.

[rubicon]

I am a get to the store kind of guy and on its face the 10 to 1 allegation is quickly dismissed . Why

the population of The Villages is over 100,000. Even at 100,000 it means that there are 90,000 women and 10,000 men. anyone making just one pass through would see the fallacy of this statistic

[Cedwards38]

Yeah, let's not forget that this article was from the London Daily Mail, which is the British equivalent of The National Inquirer. The object for them is not the truth, but rather to sensationalize and titillate to increase sales.

[bike42]

At the risk of beating a dead horse, the 10-to-1 numbers refer to SINGLE unattached/available women and men. A huge majority of Villagers are monogamous couples who have their fun quietly.

It is true that seniors DO get sexually transmitted diseases, so be careful out there. Dr. Gabe Mirkin on Health, Fitness and Nutrition. » STD Prevention: People Often Don’t Know They are Infected (http://drmirkin.com/women/std-prevention-people-often-dont-know-they-are-infected.html)

[TVMayor]

STD, STD give it a break, in TV we have more cases of DUIs than STDs.

[manaboutown]

STD, STD give it a break, in TV we have more cases of DUIs than STDs.

I'll drink to that!