Villages Guest issued Passes Soars in March
 

In case you missed it, the Daily Sun compared guest passes issued in 2015 to 2016.
January (2015) 23427 (2016) 22548
February 32785 36900
March 49369 51362

And your point is?

Well that is why we had so many folks ahead of us in line and clogging the streets. Yesterday I saw something that I have never seen before here in The Villages. On 466 cars in the middle of the intersection at Buena Vista blocking a green light. Just like Orlando. Booo.


It was nice of you to visit y'all. Now go home.

I was just giving this information to those who don't get the DS, seasonal folks and those unfamiliar to The Villages. I thought it was interesting and was new to me....and maybe others.
Why do you ask? Or better still what is your point?

I believe that comment is uncalled for and very surprising coming from Graciegirl. As The Villages grows so will the number of residents and families who visit them. Frankly I love to see all the visitors especially the children having fun in The Villages. And I am sure you do too. :welcome:

No offense. As the Villages grows so will the number of families and children who visit. All support the local businesses so we can have these businesses open all year long. It will be up again next year if we are all still lucky enough to be here.

B
Educate me...............does this include renters??.........or just guests.
Thanx
dew

I for one love the snowbirds and renters. Without them we would not have the stores & restaurants that we have here. They spend a lot of money while they are here so businesses, restaurants & wait staff can make some good money.
Also, keep in mind that almost all places around the world deal with seasonal people.
We are going to St, Maarten in May for 3 weeks. We always take our big vacations in May because every where is coming out of high season. May is always perfect. Not too busy, but not too dead.
They will all be gone soon and we will have it all to ourselves til next season. :D

I heard that next year everyone who rents will have to wear a big red R on their back so we can easily identify them. This will be on a trial basis until we figure out why we really want to do this in the first place. This action, of course will confuse all those folks from NJ will will be wondering why we have so many Rutgers Fans in The Villages.

I suspect guest passes will be down in April 2016 this year compared to last year. Why? Easter was in April last year and in March this year.

The article indicated guest ID's.

50,000 in March, that's a nice sized city.

:clap2:

I was surprised at the attacks on the OP and Gracie for just giving out interesting stats. What's going on?

Unfortunately, it happens..............happens too much.

Agree....:BigApplause:

Yea..MSU....:clap2:

Can you point out the "attacks" so appropriate comments can be made?

What happens too much?

not surprising, it's called spring break. As the population continues to grow so will the spring break visitors.

You are probably correct. I got a couple of PMs from some folks on the forum who wanted to know why I was grumpy.


I love the visitors but I also love having this place to ourselves.

especially now before the weather gets worse

Interesting information. Thanks for sharing.

What about their good looks and personalities? Just kidding Bonnie, you are right on. And we cannot forget that Seasonal residents pay Anenity Fees all year long, without which we would not have half the amenities we all enjoy in this wonderful place. I am happy that I have lived another year to enjoy the fun and witness the fun others are having in The Villages. Now if we could just keep those pesky permanent residents off 466? Can't they see that the seasonal residents want to get by?:1rotfl::1rotfl::clap2::1rotfl:

LOL :clap2:

How does one become a member of "ourselves"? Is there a club and if so what kind of credentials does one have to show? Would a deed to a home be sufficient?

I think the point is that snow birds are not the only cause of traffic etc in The Villages.

Exactly. Permanent residents also use their cars.

I really wouldn't consider a 4% increase to be a soaring increase!

I find stats interesting. Bogie, please keep them coming for those of us that find there is more to the forum than complaining.

I think by "ourselves," Gracie is referirng to permanent residents. And I don't think she is intending any kind of slam on non-permanent residents. As far as traffic and crowded-ness is concerned, it just is what it is. No judgements.

C is right. It is fun and exciting to be at full capacity and good and nice too to have less of crowds and traffic. It is a cycle. We were snowbirds and became frogs and then we will perhaps leave for the village of Heavenly. Then more snowbirds will come and the old snowbirds will become frogs except for folks like our beloved Barefoot who goes home to Canada. And on and on. There are few folks who don't love company and then enjoy the peace of not having to be so busy.


No offense meant. I wasn't trying to be mean. If any of you go from being a snowbird or a snowflake or a fruit fly to being a frog, then you will see the delight the whole year brings.

I was thinking that these guest passes may have actually been for guests... not renters. My guess is new owners have many guests over the course of the year, especially the first few as their family and friends want to see where they have settled in retirement. This is not a linear relationship with the number of new homes being built and more a function of demographics.

With all the baby boomers just starting to retire I would think the number of passes used for this purpose will go up significantly.

We are not contributing to numbers in January, February, March or April. Boys come in May, no kids in tow. How do the guest pass numbers look in summer?

Florida's Friendliest HomeTown
 

In the event it escaped some the marketing from The Villages has and continues to depict idyllic retirement living worthy of a millionaire and on retirement savings.

How any one can celebrate a departure from that implied promise is surprising. Perhaps overcrowded streets, multi-modal paths, restaurants, stores, golf courses etc is someone's idea of a good time but to me there is this thing called over saturation. Beauty is indeed in the eye of the beholder and many of us left congested cities for a more relax life style but for the previous four or five month I was just not feeling the love.

As to the economic benefit I do understand but The Villages and surrounding area has grown so much I suspect the year around population would sufficiently support the business community without many businesses missing a beat. And as to your personal investment does all of this add or subtract from it?

The saddest aspect of all is that build out continues ad nauseam

Cést la vie

Totally disagree with this. In the summertime the restaurants & shops are not busy at all. I see so many of the young service staff struggling to make ends meet as their hours get cut or they drive all the way here just to be cut early and told to go home. Several of the restaurants cut down on the entertainment a few nights a week because not as much money coming in. Thank goodness for season when they can make some money.

That is a very good point. It is of course what it is. I like it when we have things busy and I like the less busy times.


The whole state of Florida has experienced an uptick in population. Florida is now the third most populous state.

Passes
 

Maybe when the snowbirds are here reflects how busy the villages would be if they ere here year round. Would reflect the true population.

I wonder if that will ever be, all of us who own living here all of the time. Some of us are leaving all of the time. This has been a sad week for us for friends leaving us. They say it happens in threes and it did.


And as we age and die, new folks will come and join The Villages, probably at first as part timers.


I hope in the future that some of the changes some folks want to make here won't make this place just ordinary. I hope that when the inmates run the asylum that somehow it will stay the same. I hope Janet Tutt lives forever so generation after generation of people who carefully planned and sacrificed will have the same kind of fourth quarter to their game of life that we all do now.

Yep!

I do find it much quieter on the lanai mid April

Perhaps you would be so kind as to explain your definition of complaining vis a vis disagreement/and difference of opinion? And perhaps you would further qualify it with the difference between either it being legitimate or illegitimate?

I politely ask this because it seems too often on this forum if one does not conform with the opinion of some members then it is taken as an affront, and an illegitimate one at that. It seems some favor collective thought rather than individual thought. Do you suppose this is a byproduct of political correctness?

Do you suppose that if one labels an opposing opinion as "complaining" it accomplishes the same goal as political correctness ending free speech in its tracks?

Personal Best Regards: