South versus west

[Medtrans]

Hello..my name is Jo Ann and my husband and I hope to retire at The Villages in the near future. We have also been checking out retirement communities in Arizona. It seems that it always comes back to TV. Is there anyone reading this that knows someone who did retire out west and whether they like it or liked it. Our true love is golf and so to have so many choices of courses is a huge draw for us. We have visited TV a few times as we have good friends there. We are originally from Michigan but have lived in Indiana, Colorado, California, New Hampshire and we are now in the Chicago area, so we get around. I'm sure we'll be able to connect with new friends when we finally achieve our goal of retirement!

[Bizdoc]

Welcome. Come down and visit and see what you think. Take a look at the activities and the recreation facilities (beyond all of the golf courses). When you visit, spend a couple (or more) evenings at a town square enjoying the music and counting the number of people who are smiling and laughing (which is one of the things which helped decide us).

If you aren't sure after your visit, go visit places in Arizona and Utah and compare them. I suspect you will decide as many of us have that The Villages is where we're happy.

[784caroline]

WE looked in the Phoneix area before buying in TV, visited the resort in August and it was hotter than you can ever imagine...MUCH hotter than we have ever experienced in TV. If you wanted to do anything in AZ it had to be very very early in the morning...otherwise you would swelter in the summer heat.
BUT the real thing I noticed coming from the east coast, is that I never had anything in common with people in AZ....they were mostly from the west coast or definitely from West of the Mississippi. Unless you were in aerospace or the tech world, you had little in common work wise.. Besides that it was hard to find someone from your home state (never mind city) where you could carry or start a conversation.

That was simply a one week observation...but enough to make our mind up that we did not want that location.For others it may be different but we ended up in TV....and we tried alot of options.

[pooh]

Mike and I moved here from southern CA. An old friend of mine from the east coast would visit The Villages every year for many years. When she and her husband were ready to retire, they were trying to decide between The Villages and Arizona. Ultimately, they decided on Arizona. Live in Gilbert, near Phoenix. They seem happy, but do as many Zonies do in the summer....get the heck off the desert floor and either head for the hills or head to CA. Summer is much too hot for them, even after living there for almost 7 years. As much as they loved The Villages, the summer weather was tough on my friend's arthritis....she was also bothered in New England where she and her family lived for many, many years. Thought the dry atmosphere of the desert would be better for her.
We had relatively low humidity levels in So CA so it took a bit of time adjusting to higher humidity levels here, but everything is air conditioned and if you don't want to play outdoors when it's warm, there are so many other things to do....or not!

[Schaumburger]

Hello..my name is Jo Ann and my husband and I hope to retire at The Villages in the near future. We have also been checking out retirement communities in Arizona. It seems that it always comes back to TV. Is there anyone reading this that knows someone who did retire out west and whether they like it or liked it. Our true love is golf and so to have so many choices of courses is a huge draw for us. We have visited TV a few times as we have good friends there. We are originally from Michigan but have lived in Indiana, Colorado, California, New Hampshire and we are now in the Chicago area, so we get around. I'm sure we'll be able to connect with new friends when we finally achieve our goal of retirement!

Medtrans -- Hello from a wannabee from northwest suburban Cook County. There are quite a few people from Chicagoland living in The Villages. There is a Chicagoland club in The Villages. In fact it is supposed to be so large there is a waiting list to get in to the Chicagoland club. Whatever you decide (AZ vs. The Villages, hope you find the home of your dreams. Only 6 weeks until my next visit to The Villages -- yippee! :) And welcome to TOTV :welcome:

[keithwand]

Our neighbor moved from Sun City Arizona to TV. They say there's more to do and can get around to more places on their cart.

[asianthree]

the view in AZ is amazing...so if you want a view