Problems with overbuilding The Villages
 

I just read the Sun's editorial comment (saw it on Facebook) regarding the rapid expansion of TV. It is definitely worth reading and they don't pull punches.

I'm sure opinions will vary and I realize that the train is way too far down the tracks to stop or even slow. Never the less, I agree with every word of it.

Please don't bother to insult me just because you disagree with me. It will just roll off my back.

Do you have a link?

I guess that's a way to keep us from disagreeing with him. :icon_wink:

Couldn't read the paper today; sprinkler system soaked the paper this morning so I have no idea what was written...

Didn't see the article. IF there is sour grapes re: the growth, what would griping about it do except raise one's bp? IF not our developer, someone else would purchase the land and put in "who knows what"?! When we lived up north we lived in a small community near a larger city. Eventually growth began to make our town grow and there were many malcontents there---mostly people who'd moved in but didn't want it to change from when they came to town. There was a name for those folks, which was NIMBY (not in my back yard). Growth and change is bound to happen unless a place is depressed. I'm sure many people have seen those towns too, if they've traveled this country a bit. I for one love it here!!

Are you sure it's from The Villages Daily Sun??? I don't think so.

The online news site has an editorial on this subject which was published Feb. 15. It also appears on their Facebook page.

I think you confused the source of the opinion piece.

Yep.


Also it is against the rules here to post any link from that other source.

Steve

It from the other place, under..........Headaches heading our way as The Villages doubles in size over the next 20 years.
Usual clickbait to fire up the locals!

Doesn’t matter what the editorial said or who said it. The growth is going to happen. The snowball is rolling

One of the Issues I worry about...
 

Actually this brings up an excellent point! With all of the "over-building" has the developer (i.e. The Villages) made any kind of conservation plan regarding the animals they are displacing. I watching a program on Nature the other night that focused on the wildlife of central FL and it emphasized that 400 people move to FL everyday and there was fevered building to keep up with it. This building frenzy was displacing the native wildlife and contributing to the rapid extinction of many species.

I couldn't help but wonder if the developer had any thoughts or plan about what to do about the displacement (and I surmise there is no plan and no thought given to destroying so many habitats in the name of the almighty dollar). I have heard that once this building spurt is done with the new acreage that the developer is finished (and there would be plenty of houses bought and sold for many years), but I doubt it greatly. The lure of money is too great...

:bigbow::bigbow: A truer statement has never been said. With TV we know the quality of life and type of development. As it has been said in the past ... Be careful what you wish for, you may get it.

The growth of TV is unprecedented and frankly unforeseen given the fact that when we bought in 2011, we were told by the sales office that the “final build-out” will be 2015. No other retirement community IN THE WORLD has grown in this manner so we had no reason to believe that the beautiful retirement village we were sold would turn out to be a money hungry metropolis. Harold Swartz’s vision was described as a utopia built to serve the residents. His dream was completely derailed by his descendants. So the complaints you read are totally justified.

LOL I did not read the article. Did you ever consider that when you expect to be insulted that your opinion might be a little off base to begin with? There are plenty of exit routes from The Villages as well as the State of Florida!

You can move to a smaller retirement village. With 900 people moving to Florida a day it is highly unlikely that you will find a place that is not experiencing growth

Problems with overbuilding the villages
 

Best statement yet👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻🙏🙏

WOW!

We have many friends that have a common denominator. They say "...they hate what the developer has done to TV..."

Any place worth visiting or attending or shopping or eating, etc. is going to be busy. What percent of the daily life routine is affected because TV is getting bigger? For most of us, most days....not much!!

As I have stated many times before...when we built our home 16 years ago the population was less than 35,000 and 466 (not 466 A) was just completed to 4 lanes. Buena Vista only open to the Arnold Palmer circle....no Arnold Palmer CC yet....no Lake Sumter Landing...No Home Depot...no Target shopping center...no Kohls shopping center....most of the larger restaurant did not exist...just to name a few.

Now the size of TV is about 4 times as big....with much more to offer. The expansion that is taking place South of 466 A and SR 44 have no affect on how we live our lives on a daily basis.

Everything is relative to one's expectations. For example;
Phoenix, AZ 50 years ago was smaller than TV is today!!!
Phoenix as measured in 2018? 1,660,272.....and still growing.

I accept what has come with the growth here in TV...as it has made TV life style even better. Are there some negatives? Of course. More than half of which go away with a little planning and patience.

If we were coming in for the first time today....we would still choose TV....for the same reasons we did in 2003. It was the best option of all we looked at (including several not in FL).

There is no right or wrong....to each his own.

Growth in central FL was and continues to be inevitable.
I think we are fortunate that our surroundings and growth nearby are done and controlled by the "developer".

such nonsense

Billethkid:

Well said.

i'm not so sure the article provided was truly a misunderstanding. there is a sub group of malcontents that try to bring their ire to every social media platform available. i'm SURE they would love to infiltrate this site, which so far, seems to be a positive, polite discussion area for local residents. it's why i choose to be here, among the civilized, where not everything becomes a political argument, or whose side of the villages is better, lol.

Nothing good happens on Facebook, kill your Facebook and be happy!

the problem started when commissioners at large were elected instead of by district. the elected officials do the developers bidding and rezone agricultural land for housing. their vision is sumter county emulating orlando with higher taxes, crime, traffic etc. no more friendly home town.

You think THAT'S the developers vision??????? I doubt many would agree with that view

Expansion
 

amen !!!!!

That is ONE perspective!

We bought in TV in ‘96. Population 15k, and told it would build out to 50k. 23 years later we still have no regrets.

Described by who? His advertising firm? Harold's vision was to make money selling to relocating retirees. His son took over the business and turned it into a success. Developers, including Harold, are businessmen. They are not philanthropists.

I love The Villages, but when Sumter decided to raise the millage rate 25% to pay for the roads the builder wants leading to his future buildings, that is unfair. I also read in the Daily Sun that after The Villages completes the roads leading to his new developing ares, the township is going to reimburse him for his expenses. How fair is that? Am I wrong?

Thank you Bill. I like your post. 😊😊

Ohiobuckeye
 

Npwalters, your comment said it just right, thank you!

Yes.

If the county reimburses the developer for the roads, it is because the county then owns the roads and anyone is free to use them. Otherwise the developer could just build private roads for the exclusive use of residents and this would be a truly gated community. How does the county get the money to pay for the roads?---That's right, taxes.

BTW, the new millage rate is still about 15% lower than it was in 2010.

There is a whole other thread of 17 pages that centers on whether or not county taxpayers as a whole should pay for these roads, some citing that they pay for something that doesn't benefit them. The counter argument was that there is tremendous economic and convenience benefit to non-Villagers.
There is validity to both points of view, but even IF it isn't fair, life is generally unfair anyway

Ohiobuckeye
 

. If you don’t think they read it in TV I’m sure it doesn’t bother them. I’m not trying to be a wise guy but if you like TV’s that’s great, I loved it there but we did move to be nearer to our daughter, grandkids & great grandkids. But TV’s is going to be growing a lot bigger. Rumors are (& I did say rumors) TV did buy more land south of Fenney for 60,000 more homes. But thanks for your comment!

1st year Villagers
 

Thank you for putting into words exactly what my wife & I think!!! 😜

If you think this wasn't Mr. Swartz's idea you're fooling yourself. Developments like The Villages take years or decades to plan and execute. Between March of 2002 and September 2004 CDDs 5 through 10 were established, Mr. Swartz passed in December 2003. He was making the deals for the land many years before his death. If you think he only looked as far as SR44, once again you were fooling yourself, plans have been in the works for many years for what we are seeing now and undoubtedly he had his hand in the pot. If anyone told you about "build out" after 2002 they were either clueless to what was happening around them or lairs.

If you look at were Brownwood sits it would have been stupid to put a premier retail district on the edge of the development (Rohan Rec Center similarly), if SR44 were to be the end, Brownwood would probably be Roosevelt and Truman courses sit today. The question become when was Brownwood planned. Watch this video and pay attention at the 2:10 point.

Making of Brownwood

"...before the first house was built south of 466 we had determined were Brownwood would be..."

Translated - Harold Swartz was a part of the planning of Brownwood and knew and planned to continue on beyond Brownwood.

I never had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Swartz but from what I have read his outward persona was a kind and giving individual, much of which was likely a true reflection. In my digging into the history and progress of The Villages over the years I also see a very smart and long term thinking businessman who knew how to, with the help of his son, see the future and needs of the residents and make long term plans for this business. These skills he and Gary Morse pass on to the next generation and the one after that.

The Villages is a business, a business in the market of making retirement communities in a state who's population is increasing by 900 people a day, a significant portion of which are in the 55+ market. Many here and on other sites apply the moniker of greed to The Villages, is the same used when they pick up their phone, tablet, or laptop, or jump in their car, doubtful. If greed were the motivator the extreme attention to the environment shown in water reclamation, construction techniques, and maintaining the green spaces that has not only continued but increased in the newer sections under construction would not be happening. The current generation running the company continues to raise the bar in every aspect of the development, that is there business. Many seem to have forgotten what it means to work and run a business and now only focus on the "me" factor, too bad, the world continues to turn.

If there is a factor of greed that needs to be controlled here, it would be with those select few on the sales end to perpetuate lies such as "build out" in order to make the next sale, these are the lowest form of their profession and need to be weeded out for the good of all.

Is The Villages (both the community and the developer) perfect, hardly so, there is some room for improvement. But what is certain is that it is unlike any other community in so many positive ways that is hard to beat.

I'm no fanboy of the developer, hardly so, I have had and continue to have many conflicts with them on a personal, political, and professional level. I do however respect and appreciate what they've done, how they do it, and how they continue to evolve. At this point in my life I can't think of a better place I would want to live.

There is growth, and there is GROWTH ! If "they" can continue to plan and coordinate as well as they have in the past, we're OK. On the other hand, it could lose its unique sense of community and atmosphere.

Congratulations … I believe you made the OP's point

Thanks for pulling facts into the discussion, AGAIN.


Some want to ignore facts and just want to complain.


I hope many posters do a CTRL V and a CTRL P and to save this post because it will be used time and time again.


:bigbow:

Actually the piece was in the Villages- News. Too long to repost here but google "Headaches heading our way as The Villages doubles in size over the next 20 years" and you can read it on-line.

It always amazes me how many people immediately default to "if you don't like it blah, blah, blah" One can be in a good situation and still look around and recognize potential problems and how things could be better. Take your head out of the sand.

I know it's just an opinion piece but why didn't the author have the courage to list his/her name?

From a population of 1,000 houses, TV has doubled six times. Yep, Lucky number seven will be a problem.


:1rotfl:

The Villages News is not "The Sun". Many opinion pieces are just that.

The Daily Sun is a newspaper that is owned by the developer. The Villages News is an online news owned by Meta Minton.

The article was from the online news and not The Daily Sun.