Unhappy Villagers
 

Based on TOTV and the online news comments/letters, there seem to be a lot of unhappy TVers. Could it be disillusionment in the reality of living here versus the vacation lifestyle visit that sold them on TV? Could it be TV changing from the "friendliest village" to just another overcrowded municipal area with a lot of stressed out people competing for limited resources? Or maybe, it has to do with world politics and global unrest. It's just a sense I have. I'm not sure it even exists. Just wondering if others sense this undercurrent of discontent.

I hate to be viewed as negative, but my answer to your questions would be - no.

We have been here 15 months and love it. Miss the grandkids but visit often

Based on the sampling base of TOTVers and online news comments I can see what you are noticing. But my take is that the negativity is from a small proportion of malcontents on a repetitious basis, and that most prople here are as happy as they ever have been.

For every one person that I have met who said that they were un happy here, I have met hundreds who wish they had moved here earlier in life.
Unhappiness , in my view, is usually a state of mind not a place.

Those alleged unhappy villagers are not villagers at all, but online planted imposters from other jealous communities. Anyone need only be here to see that it is actually utopia! My arm is tired from waving at all the smiling villagers.

I only find people that are unhappy here are usually just unhappy. I find many people who are ecstatic to be here and love every day that they wake up to enjoy whatever they choose to do

It's the squeaky wheel that gets greased. In the villages the other wheels don't hear very well.

15 years and still loving it!!!

Some people have a hard time living with themselves, regardless of where they are.. being from a rural lake area of Minnesota, where most people retire to Arizona, the only drawback in TV is where homes are too close together. Our rental in Quail Ridge is at the end of the street, with only one neighbor Carol who is very sweet. From the hot tub we look out on the Lopez golf course..nice!

I'm very happy living in The Villages

Happy here?
 

I wonder if they were also unhappy where they previously lived. Hard to imagine being retired, living in a clean safe community with so many possible activities and not be happy.

In our experiences of living here for about 2 and half years we haven't met but maybe 3 people that were unhappy with the villages. Anywhere you go you will find unhappy people and malcontents. Some are unhappy no matter where they are. As for me, I'm just as happy as if I had good sense!

This is a wonderful place to live. I think many older people become unhappy because of pain, illness, loss of a loved one, missing family, etc. These factors would affect them no matter where they lived, but if you have to be miserable, sunshine is just what you need for brightening up your day. And we have it!

I am not happy about the golf here. I have been playing since 1953, and this is the first place I have played regularly that doesn't have empowered marshals.

Aside from that, the only thing I don't like about living here is the downsizing aspect. Back in Rooster Poot, I had a fully equipped metal fabricating shop and lots of toys...I miss them all.

I love it here but I must admit I am a little concerned about the expansion of TV and the limited resources. I think it will be snow bird season year round once the so called build out is done.

I hate it here !! The golf courses are awful ! They have yet to let me get a hole in one !! LOL :p
Actually, we've been here over 15 years and we "LOVE" it here. I could never imagine living anywhere else! :D

The woodshop is great and I used to be a shop teacher. I do wonder what it would be like to have a metal shop too. I've given up on making furniture. It's truly a labor of love meant for people who love the working with wood. It's rare that a piece looks as good as store bought.

But the fixes I need to make or the projects I dream up seem to be more metal working then wood. Just a minor thought not to be taken seriously. some people would put legs on a snake,

Boy, it's all relative. We moved here after 19 yrs in a 1100 sq ft condo. I had to rent a 12x24 garage bay for my workshop. Now it is right out through the kitchen door.

The fact of the matter is that there is no other place like this in the rest of the world!! We have everything.....2,500 clubs.....all filled up with happy folks doing EXACTLY what they want to do. Our new performing arts center is spectacular! What sport do you want to try? What music do you want to listen to or participate in? What service do you want to participate in? ETC IT'S ALL HERE!! The greatest majority of people in the Villages areextremely happy. Most of us wish that we had moved here sooner.

I just don't think the neighbors would like to hear me pounding steel into shape and I am pretty sure State Farm would get a little grumpy about the welder and cutting torch.

Wow. I also moved here after 19 years in an 1100 sq ft. condo (with no garage). I also had neighbors I didn't know... no activities... and a trip through bad neighborhoods if I had to go somewhere.
Now I have a bigger house with a garage... great neighbors... lots to do.
I couldn't be happier.

I'm not gonna do it, but my guess is that if you searched the post history of everyone here who has shared their happiness, there would be a few complaints scattered around. A hearty bitchfest once in a while doesn't necessarily mean people are unhappy, either with TV or their lives in general.

But people do leave -- 2 on my street moved out of TV to nearby cities last year because they were dissatisfied for one reason or another.

outlaw: you will never get a satisfactory answer. I happened to agree with your assessment. You should bear in mind that marketing is what The Villages Lake-Sumter, Inc. (TVLSI) (Developer) are best at. In fact that packaged it and offered it out to other communities (Developers) for a hefty price.

That's why you find references to The Villages being an adult Disneyworld or Florida's Friendliest Hometown"or Florida's Healthiest Town or build you dream home all marketing I believe this type of marketing hype actually hurts more than it helps in the long run because it sets unrealistic expectations.

I built my dream home in the Minneapolis area. I left Minneapolis area which I loved for two main reasons snow and taxes. But, thankfully I didn't leave family behind. I know many people who moved here that miss their families and go back often because of that fact either as snow birds or even full time residents.

The sheen wears off this place quickly and I for one accept it as to what it is to me and that was an investment which my kids can use or sell as this so wish because after 9 years I still could not recoup my investment and make a reasonable profit and I live on a champion golf course. To be sure it is a safe place and a clean place and most people I find are friendly and my kids enjoy their visits.

I'm one of the very few that didn't move here to fulfill a dream. For me, it was a safe place to land. Even so, I don't regret my choice. I probably will always think of the SF area as home but I do love this bubble. It's not perfect here but it's pretty darn good. I usually find something to make me smile every day. I grouse about some things and I'm not a huge fan of the developer (but I do appreciate the work and effort it took to make Harold Schwartz's dream a reality). Not everyone is going to like it here and most of us take issue to something (dogs, bikes, golf cart drivers, etc.) but that doesn't mean we're not happy here or regret our choice, it simply means there are things we'd like changed. For that matter, I'd like to be 35, a leggy redhead, successful and have a nice body but I'll take me as I am and like some of the stuff about me and accept the rest as it is. The same goes for TV.

Take a look at the Tags.

Tags
lot, sense, unhappy, politics, world, people, resources, limited, competing, global, wondering, discontent, undercurrent, exists, unrest, village, tvers, disillusionment, living, reality, comments/letters, based, villagers, totv, online


I don't know what to make of this. Where is "happy, unlimited, non-competitive, local, content, restful, accepting"? Where are the positive tags? I
'm going to assume that a computer program makes a tag list. But why aren't positive terms being tags too? Clearly this thread has far more positive, over 99% positive comments.

I vote we switch over and talk about why the 98.6573854% like it here.

I agree.

As Thoreau says in the Conclusion to Walden, "The fault finder will find faults even in paradise".

So true!!!..:BigApplause:

I agree!

I've read all the posts.............seems like you are the only one.

1. Not every one on TOTV, lives here.
2. People are about as happy as they make up their minds to be. A. Lincoln
3. I know one person who is always complaining about something in TV, but then she would be unhappy, no matter where she lived. Some people have problems and think a change of venue will solve them but they will take their problems, wherever they go.

Speaking for myself, I pinch myself every day and thank a friend I made, for introducing me to this wonderful lifestyle. It's not perfect and some people will gripe over minor annoyances, but the big picture has too much upside.

Negative people are like the tail, trying to wag the dog but the great majority is the dog, that wags it's tail.

I agree with BTK, lets talk about the almost 99% that are happy to be here!. :smiley:

I love TV and it's myriad of opportunities, to enjoy oneself.

Some people aren't happy even if they get five pickles (the optimal amount) strategically positioned on their cheeseburger.


:cryin2:

:cryin2:

:cryin2:

Me too !!! :D

Kool-Aid pickles
Kool-Aid pickles or "koolickles", enjoyed by children and Villagers in parts of the Southern United States, are created by soaking dill pickles in a mixture of Kool-Aid and pickle brine.
from Wikipedia

Tags and My happyness
 

The "tags" for a post are from the Original Post. If you check out the OP, you will see those are all words in that post.

As for me... I've lived here for almost four years and I have totally exceeded my dreams i had of moving here!

This is the best move we made... And I can say honestly, I haven't met a lot of people who weren't happy here. I have met some that didn't give themselves time to meet people and some that hated leaving friends and family "back home". But for us.. We have new friends and life is wonderful.

Welcome to the Villages from the land of 10,000 Nelsons! Uff da!

Thank-you
that makes a lot of sense

In my entire time living in The Villages, I've met one couple who say they do not like living here, yet they still live here, so go figure. I wouldn't take the discussions on TOTV as a indication that people are disenchanted with this community. Those are often about a specific situation, and last for a specific period of time, and certainly not everyone agrees. A place can be fantastic and still not be perfect. And if it isn't perfect, then it's up to those of us that love it and enjoy it to try to make it so.