Traveling the Villages in 2030
 

If the current rate of growth is sustained, the population of The Villages could reach 175,000 or more by the year 2030. How will this many people and the larger area encompassed change how we get around.

Currently, traveling by car at 35 miles per hour from the Brownwood area to Spanish Springs takes a long time. For me, to drive a golf cart at 20 MPH that distance is a once in six month’s adventure. In 15 years, it might take 50 % longer to travel from the expanded Villages North to South without factoring in the increased traffic.

Who is thinking about a mass transit solution or a way to travel at a faster pace these greater distances to make a daily journey like this possible/enjoyable? Is this the responsibility of the Developer, the Counties, the Village government, the State of Florida or who? Where is the preparation in this planned community or where is the outer belt?

I can see a monorail on both Buena Vista & Morse with stops at all rec centers. A street car trolley can travel all the east/west roads connecting Buena Vista to Morse. As an added service adding a subway circumnavigating Odell Circle would be icing on the cake. Eventually the outer most Villages would simply be bedroom communities and those in the inner Villages can lobby for increased Federal funds to help with the maintenance costs of the new infrastructure.

Some people worry about the darndest things.

Or maybe we will all have flying cars, but how will they implement the roundabouts?

Beam me to Katie Belle's, Scotty!

In 2030 worry about being on the right side of the grass

In My Humble Opinion, it ain't going to happen, and, as a result, I will concern myself with something important, like....is it 5:00 yet..:beer3:

I think you should move here full time, because spending so much time off campus is making you overthink things. Or take up golf.

You can blame these fine ladies who are my advisors. :) I met with them today on Scioto Street in Urbana. One just moved back to Urbana, Ohio from having spent over 30 years in the Villages and will be 100 very soon. Another, also from Urbana has been full time in the Villages for the past 20 years and the newbie to the Villages is my wife.

I know that most could care less about this topic. However, those in power should be thinking about this issue as it will take many, many years to accomplish reducing the gridlock that can occur with continual large population influxes to any one area of the country.

An ultralight and a good sectional....:)

As I recall, my weight shift Quicksilver top speed was no better than traveling in a car doing 35 MPH. And, most of the time I was flying into a head wind which reduced my ground speed to even less.

Fun, but little help to lessen the time!

If we are going to day dream about some third party donating some form of rapid transit for TV I would ask how many communities over 100,000 in the USA has such a system?

The extrapolation assumes the growth at the supposed end of developement will continue at the pace of the past peak period rate.

I will leave this for all the heavy thinkers....I am going out and finish measuring the passing clouds!

Look at the projected growth for the counties that the Villages reside in.
Population and Demographic Data

http://edr.state.fl.us/content/popul...rojections.pdf

If true, we are going to see a lot of new faces on the roads in this area in 2030. I only mention public transportation because many in Europe believe that the US is lacking in this regard.

[QUOTE=twoplanekid;1100050]If the current rate of growth is sustained, the population of The Villages could reach 175,000 or more by the year 2030. How will this many people and the larger area encompassed change how we get around,,,,QUOTE]
The fallacy in your assumption is that all the population growth in Sumter County will occur in The Villages. That information is not stated in the state's projections. The Villages occupies only one little corner of Sumter (and Lake and Marion, also)-leaving plenty of space for other developers.

Don't think I will be here then or if I am I won't know it.

[QUOTE=gadaboutgal;1100216]Please note that I didn't state what percentage of the projected growth would be in the Villages. However, I would expect that a good percentage of that growth would be attributed to the Villages continuing to grow.

Overall, it projects a substantial growth for this area of Florida and one that will impact how we travel in this region in 2030. Again, I assume that the Villages will be a part of this continued growth pattern as our developer does more than most other developers.

On second thought the advice from Gracie should not be heeded!

Or not!

Eeeeekk!
 

You said Third Party !
:jester:

Why do you need to have quick access from northern tip to southern tip of TV? I live north of 466 and rarely have any desire to go to Brownwood or other areas in the southern tip of the current TV boundary. I have two town centers and several recreation centers within easy access where I live. Look at Ocala or Leesburg (or virtually any town in the 100K+ population size). Neither has easy and quick access throughout their municipal boundaries. I think the obvious solution is to increase the MMP speed limit....

Probably loops what come into play like with other densely populated areas with a way to get around.

I grew up in Reno, Nevada in the 1970s and remember they were starting to add more and more elevated highways and loops as quick ways to get around.

I sure hope that the Villages does not look like Tampa, Jacksonville, Miami, or other large Florida cities with all their business routes and the like.

There are some destinations like the Sharon now that draw people from pretty much any Village.

[QUOTE=twoplanekid;1100238]

Howsomeever...it may remain the same or become less populated as Urbana, Ohio has done over time. I am amused that it causes you to think about it. So far, so good. The folks who have been thinking about the growth here so far have done pretty good. PRETTY GOOD. The best prediction of future behavior is past behavior. May the Morses live long and continue to prosper and us with them.

[QUOTE=graciegirl;1100348]If it continues to be modeled on Disneyland and the like, maybe an elevated monorail. The cost of that though would probably be way too high for the Morses to put one in from Brownwood to Spanish Springs Square. And how would they explain this with their humorous histories of various Squares? Walt Disney stayed there in 1890? Time travel?

[QUOTE=Taltarzac725;1100358]

That is why it is better left to them.


Traveling all over this place in the car is not a problem. Many of us are used to traveling all over in their car. I really enjoy the long golf cart rides to executive courses all over this town. It isn't the destination, it is the lovely journey that is enjoyed. BUT...you have to live here awhile to absorb that wisdom.

[QUOTE=graciegirl;1100361]That's true. We have been here since June or July of 2005. There have been many changes since then. It is still fun to tool around in the golf cart. Driving the car though is often a pain in the neck at certain times.

I grew up in St. Petersburg, Florida. I can easily remember about 1960 when I was about 10 riding in a car on US Hwy 19 headed to Clearwater. We would travel on wide-open spaces like out in the country without seeing a building for miles. Finally after about 20 miles we saw a small highway sign that said, Courtney Campell Causeway Tampa with an arrow pointing to the right and an arrow pointing to the left that said "Clearwater Beach".

Today, this is US 19 & Hwy 60, and Hwy 19 continues like this for 60 miles until you reach Spring Hill and then it finally starts to thin out until you reach Crystal River.

http://x.lnimg.com/photo/poster_768/...540db219fd.jpg

I live near Brownwood. I like jumping on 301 and being on the north west end of town fairly quickly. If there was a quick way to drive to the north east end of town that would be great.
I like mass transit. Sometime I take the village bus tour to catch up and I have nothing better to do. It would be great to me to jump on a bus and go to Ocala, Disney or a place I could pick up Amtrak or Greyhound. But it has to be affordable. Right now it cost more to get to Ocala than it does for someone in Ocala to get to Miami. What's up with that?
It's funny. When I was a kid in the Jersey City area looking at older people getting on the bus or subway with me it never occurred to me that could also be enjoying the ride and meeting new people not just trying to get to their destination ASAP like me.

Why is a quick way needed?

[QUOTE=graciegirl;1100348]Funny you should bring that up as I just mentioned the Villages at an Urbana City Council meeting two weeks ago. As the Mayor and City council president are both class mates of mine, they tolerate my expressing my feelings about Urbana to others in attendance and on the local TV channel. My suggestions were to encourage everyone to tell others about Urbana in glowing terms and look at things differently or out of the box so to speak.

As most of you do with TV, I encourage people to visit Urbana and have kind thoughts about the community. When at EAA AirVenture in Oshkosh this year, I told people about the museums we have at Grimes Field and please fly in when in the area. I then invited local Urbana citizens to do the same when they travel about the country.

I then showed them my UMX Radian mod to suggest that they look at things differently. Will it fly? I told them that I now look at the phrase “growth can be a necessary evil” differently because of my new relationship with a community called the Villages in Florida. Growth can be exciting, fun, and make things possible that would be very difficult to achieve with a stagnant population. Almost all at the meeting suggested that they dust of the 2007 city growth plans for another look.

I love Urbana and will never lose that feeling I have for it as I/my wife plan our move to TV.


It does fly->

https://youtu.be/VGCbpuGeaUQ

The only reason to go to Brownwood's Square is for Cody's at lunchtime for their excellent Philly Cheesesteak. Square 1 burgers is down that way whaic has a large selection of unusual types of meat for their ground patties. Otherwise no need to go there.

The only reason to go to Brownwood's Square is for Cody's at lunchtime for their excellent Philly Cheesesteak. Square 1 burgers is down that way whaic has a large selection of unusual types of meat for their ground patties. Otherwise no need to go there.

Do you really care what Europeans think about it? Not sure we should care what they think, they can't even run their own continent :evil6:

Game, set, match.

The original concept was for The Villages to have a small town feel. That is why we have all of these villages and 3 separate town squares. As long as we continue to have small villages and adequate town squares the concept still works. You really don't HAVE TO GO FROM SPANISH SPRINGS TO BROWNWOOD. All you need will be in each area. Yes, sometimes you will venture out but the same happens in big metro areas and, Yes, you must deal with a little gridlock.

Bee-eye-en-gee-oh!

What is it now 15 minutes to anywhere from anywhere in TV?

Does anybody really think a retirement community could support a rapid transit system?

Check out the demographics in the areas that have them. Along with core and metropolitan population numbers!

I will wait for the teleportation station.

By 2030 the Villages will no longer be THE retirement community to live, think of all those Sun City places now. Heck, 5 more years at best.

Also some articles say we've already reached 200,000 residents in the snow bird season.

I will have someone driving me around TV in my old custom golf cart! Everything will still be just as beautiful as ever!!! Isn't life great?

Keep romanpaula. I don't agree.

I think 35 mph would be reasonable at this time. After all, that's what the speed limit is on BV. Although there are some golf carts that can go 70+ mph.