The Villages Resident Survey
 

Just got our letter about the upcoming Villages Resident Survey, online from 3/7 to 4/3. Thought it might be a good time to start jotting some suggestions for this year's survey

Charging stations in the squares
Registering Golf Carts
Better/More restaurant choices in Spanish Springs
Posted cart speed limits
Stepped up speed enforcement throughout

and dog poop, because that always gets responses :rant-rave:

Four suggestions for more big brother government controls or handouts (charging stations). Guess I will have to see if there are others posted I CAN support.

:agree::pepper2::BigApplause:

How about lighted pickleball courts for those of us that work during the day. Also lighted softball fields.

:agree:


Seems to be too much of "gimme the free stuff" and let "big brother" wrap me in bubble wrap going around !
I have found most of the past surveys are comprised of leading questions or those that are self serving to the Developer. I would love to see the responses to questions concerning correction of major design errors such as cart traffic south of Hy 466 on Morse Blvd or the need for a cross over tunnel under Morse Blvd at the Hy 466 Morse Blvd gate, or widen the Lake Sumter bridge cart path, or who should pay for the apparent shoddy underpinnings for the island built on swampland in the middle of the Lake Sumter Bridge (note that the lake is privately owned, the road is owned by the county), change the traffic light left turn signals in our major intersections to prohibit turns when the opposing traffic has the green light, etc. Yes, some of these corrections will cost money and who should pay for it, The CDDs, The Developer who originally did the work and assessed all the homeowners under the "bond" scheme, the county governments who happily took over "ownership" of the roads for "free" just as soon as the Developer finished building them, should we build a new special covered/enclosed pool? or a combination of ???. Not easy questions to answer or maybe even fund, so probably nothing will ever be done about these and other major problems.
So, many of the Questions center around our "lifestyle"; how many times do you eat out?, how many times do you golf (who cares, there is a finite number of course available to the whole Villages and already there are a bunch of rules as to usage)?, how many times do you go shopping?, where? what hospital?, etc. All nice statistics for marketing rental space to outside commercial establishments.

Yes it's that time of year again to make my comments made on the survey. I concentrate on what restaurants I want to see in the villages and golf course improvements.

"change the traffic light left turn signals in our major intersections to prohibit turns when the opposing traffic has the green light,"

This is a joke right?

We are pretty happy with everything, but would like to see window tag to open the gates. Putting down your window every time is a pain with your gate pass

1. Recycling cans at the mail stations. I see so many residents sorting their mail into the trash, because they don't want to take their junk mail home.

2. Better signage directing drivers to the starter shacks.

3. Golf cart ID or registration stickers when paying trail fees.

4. Another golf cart tunnel under 466A. We need one at Buena Vista.

Hmmmm.....still thinking.....

I wish it were. Check out the 78 posts on the thread "Traffic accidents at Powell Rd and Rt. 44"

Unless I'm hallucinating, there is one under 466A near Buena Vista--I used it today (or maybe I just dreamt that I did). But I do think one at Canal and 466A would be a help

I think the lack of lights on Pickleball Courts is perhaps because those that live close enough to hear the "pop, pop, pop" would not want to hear it during the evening while dining outside, sleeping or entertaining.

We rented a home here before buying that was not even that close to the courts, but we could hear it when the windows were open - all day long. So when we purchased, we made sure our new home was far enough away. I like to nap with the windows open. :)

I think if the lights were to go dark at 9p.m it would work. As for the sound from the game people adapt. I used to live near an airport and at first it was annoying but after a while I hardly noticed.

Dog park safety issue
 

The large gate from the small dog side of Atlas Dog Park to Moyer Loop should be unlocked/locked when the main gates are unlocked/locked.During a recent emergency, the ambulance crew had to climb over the rail fence and then lift their equipment and stretcher over the fence and walk down the hill to the patient.

get rid of gate passes and put sticker on window
 

You are SO right about this annoying rolling down your window to swipe the gate passes. Not only annoying,, but it makes me feel uncomfortable late at night when I am coming through the gate alone. I keep my doors locked and then I have to roll down my window to get in the gate.....which makes me feel unsafe / vulnerable. Seems weird that they won't design stickers on the car that will open the gate without rolling down the window.

tunnels
 

What about a tunnel under Buena Vista and 466A. I hate going backwards from St. James toward Colony to actually get to Pinellas.

I believe the tunnels are typically built before the roads are done (at least that is what I have observed on the south side). In other words, the roads are built on top of the tunnels. I believe constructing a tunnel after the fact would be a bit pricey.

jim: I happen to agree with you. Unfortunately we don't get to vote on serious issues. The District Survey is something that would be nice if you lived on the Love Boat, or believe you are living on one

It appears , and I may be wrong, but some residents never consider the consequences of the suggestions they put forth, nor the cost. Maybe just maybe those who desire the Developer (VLSI) continue to rule are correct given some of the scary ideas some residents advance this time of year.

Personally I stopped filling the survey out after my second year here

And the beat goes on

Preventing left turns sounds like Big Brother to me, and please do not put a flashing yellow arrow there, it tends to give one false confidence. My opinion. Bill

This issue should not wait for the annual survey. Suggest you call Recreation Department and share this concern.
The number on the dog park page is 352-674-1800.

I’m not a villager at this time so I don’t have a dog in the hunt but want to share my thoughts as a future villager.

You all have some great suggestions here. Just to be clear, the “free” stuff is not free. If you want to light a court or field or dog park, if you want charging stations, if you want… Someone has to pay for it.

For those that want charging stations, are you referring to pay stations? If you truly want “free” fuel for your electric cart than I’m sure you would not have a problem with “free” fuel for gas carts.

I do feel sorry for those on fixed incomes when their amenities fee starts to skyrocket. There is nothing wrong with compiling a wish list but keep in mind the financial impact to those villagers who don’t have a ton of money to spare. God has blessed me with a career that has provided well. If the amenities fee, one day, goes to $1,000/mon. I can pay it, but many cannot. Please have them in mind when suggesting and or demanding amenities.

When I was in college we had several racquetball courts. If you wanted to play late and needed light, you put a token in the meter and the lights would come on for a set amount of time. Those that wanted the lighting paid the electric bill. At that time, 30 yrs ago, I think we paid $1/30 mins of light. You can have a set number of lighted pickleball courts, away from houses (for noise), with pay as you go lighting at an amount that pays for lights/electric/maintenance of the lighting system.

A user pays system can work for more than lighting, this approach can work for charging stations too.

As for safety suggestions, such as street and traffic lights, MMP lighting/striping, signage, all benefit so that is a valid expense all should pay.

Just my opinion, worth what you paid for it :)

A few lighted pools south of 466 would be nice especially in the summer.

From a practical point of view, it isn't clear to me that there is a need for charging stations. As has been pointed out by others, electric carts generally have sufficient range to get you around The Villages. In those cases where you do run out of power, there is always Cart Aide, or one of the other services, to get you home. For many carts, the charger is an external unit and would need to be carried in the cart. Also, I believe most (all?) of the chargers are 115v 15amp devices and take a considerable amount of time to charge the batteries - hours. If we consistently saw stranded electric carts all over The Villages I guess you could make the case for charging stations but that doesn't appear to be the case. Charging stations will take up space and provide questionable value, in my opinion.

You should read the paper.....it's about 90% right. I was there in the tunnel. It was NO fault of the golf cart, speed, drinking etc. It was the SUV driver who blacked out and drove over the curb thru a stop sign, etc and crashed into the cart and person walking. NO FAULT OF THE GOLF CART.

The real problem in the Villages is: OVER POPULATION...... I know many of you will castigated me again over this statement but think about it and just look around. Just too many people and cars in a small location with limited resources......damn near "New York City" of the retirement community arena. Getting too big. Yea, I hear you “Move if you don’t like it”……Thanks

Population density of TV---1315.6/ sq mile
Population density of Manhattan----70,826/sq mile

NOT EVEN CLOSE

For comparison---density of Sun City---1303/sq mile
density of Scottsdale AZ---1212/sq mile

I think TV fits right into the norm of planned retirement communities that generally offer smaller lots and homes for less maintenance with centralized amenities and shopping.

A good question for long time residents of TV who have participated in 15 or 20 of these. BTW, how many have you been here for?

I am not quite sure WHOSE BS you are referring to but if you are talking about the survey, in the past people would mention what store or business they wish would be here and that would be used to point out to that business or store that they were being requested to open here. Eventually we got most of their attention so we have seen Sam's and Michaels and Joann's and Home Goods and Steinmart and a number of chain restaurants open here in the time I have lived here.


The problem has been that the growth of this place has been so rapid that the demographers who businesses consult have not kept up. Just like your sister in law finds it hard to believe how big this town is, so do businesses. I laugh at all the business HomeGoods lost accessorizing all those new homes because they were not aware of us.


The developers can't make businesses come here but they build to suit when they do commit.

Oh, and welcome to the forum, Abby's mom. Is Abby a furry or a child?

The last number I saw was 34 square miles and a population of 100K+. That would put the density at about 3000/sq. mile

That's what I thought also, but:

The Villages, FL Population Growth and Population Statistics - CLRSearch

They may be using the full time 2012 population, but no idea if the same is true of the comparables as well

More about Car Accident in the villages area.........

ARTICLE: Investigation nearly complete in death of 3 workers
ARTICLE: Volusia to pay $300K after crash kills Astor woman, infant
ARTICLE: Motorist dies after being pulled from water following crash
ARTICLE: Lady Lake driver crashes into Burger King

More about Crash

ARTICLE: Investigation nearly complete in death of 3 workers
ARTICLE: Motorist dies after being pulled from water following crash
ARTICLE: DeLand motorist killed in crash in east Lake
ARTICLE: No injuries in 3-vehicle, Leesburg crash

I am pretty sure that you are trying to make a point that we are too big, but I don't understand this post.

Speaking of commercial establishments........COSTCO PLEASE!

I go through the Mallory gate and Odell gate at Morse Blvd. regularly. My gate pass opens both of those gates without having to open my window. I just pull close enough to the pad and put my gate pass up to the window. Both gates open every time without having to roll down the window.

Are there lighted pools north of 466? If not, why not include those folks for being able to use the pools after dark?

Those lighted pools are for everyone who lives here. You just need to drive to them if you want to swim at night.

Uh....not even close. Have you been to NYC?

We now have a PAC. That was a frequent request every year on the survey.

Which pools are lit at night, north of 466? Wonder why none of the pools south of 466 aren't lit? Swimming at night, especially in the summer, has to be one of the luxuries in life (if you're a swimmer).

4 pools in the historic district are open at night. There is no good reason at least 4 south of 466 couldn't be lit also. It would not be a "freebie" and a much needed amenity for those less heat tolerant or for those that have o avoid the sun. Grace it is a twenty minute drive for those of us in the south and that's by car.

The male/female ratio seems more interesting :coolsmiley: