What do 'quiet' , 'relaxing', and 'tranquil' mean?
 

I am not a resident of The Villages (yet).

I was reading a review of The Villages (at An Honest Review About Living In the Villages Florida) which includes comments about specific 'best' neighborhoods.

In the neighborhood descriptions are adjectives 'quite', 'relaxing', and 'tranquil'.

I'm not sure what those terms mean in the context of certain neighborhoods in The Villages. Do they mean that the neighborhoods are away from busy roads and freeways? Does it mean that there aren't any (or many) pickleball courts? That there aren't live, outdoor music venues in those neighborhood?

I hope I am not inadvertently 'stepping onto a controversy landmine' by asking these questions....

By the way, I am not asking whether you agree with the review that I referenced, above. I am only trying to understand the reviewer's terminology.

Thanks in advance for educating me about these terms.

We can hear the train whistle, and the wheels clacking, even though it’s many miles away. Tranquil is after the neighborhood party has ended, and everyone is driving home. (If you live in Wildwood cars will be ticketed if on the street at 10pm)

Quite is 3am run cause the only person out is you, the guy delivering the daily sun, and the Wildwood officer sitting in is car at 44 and BV.

Otherwise I got nothing

Your questions and concerns hit the nail on the head. You answered your own queries. Those possibilities you mentioned are exactly what that review was probably referring to.

These terms mean different things to different people. Best you can do is a Lifestyle Visit and see for yourself.

Quiet : All in bed by 10.
Relaxing: Medical marijuana readily available
Tranquil: Depressed neighbors on Xanax

What you won't see is:
Arresting: DUIs aplenty
Playful: Grandkids never left
Fresh: New neighbors every two days in Airbnb rentals.

//////

The reasons you stated is what quiet and tranquil mean in the villages. But, homes are very close to one another. You can have noisy neighbors or barking dogs. Drive through a neighborhood several times before buying.

Homes on golf courses can be noisy. You can hear the conversations of those playing and they can hear yours. Grass on the courses gets mowed at 5:30 a.m. Will wake you from your tranquil sleep.

And don't be confused by the language coming off the golf courses because those words are not in the dictionary. :cus:

Although we had visited friends several times before retiring and starting to spend winters in TV, when we did reach that point we rented in two different locations, and explored many others before we decided on where we wanted to be.

Examples of not relaxing, peaceful, quiet or tranquil: a residence with backyard abutting Canal St. Car traffic is one thing, but the steady flow of golf cars and trucks made that place anything but quiet or tranquil, and proximity to pickleball courts during daylight hours, and proximity to the squares in the evening.
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Anyplace where the MMPs, or busy streets with golf car lane, close to your home will not be quiet or tranquil.

On the other hand, we walked in many neighborhoods where you could hear the birds, and the breezes in the palm trees. Keep in mind however, that the sounds of lawn work are common. Not as incessant as car, truck and golf car traffic on roads like Canal, Bailey Trail, Odell Circle, to name a few in my neck of the woods north of 466A. I'm sure there are equally noisy counterparts in other areas of TV.

After the working day is over for the folks who do roofs, lawn maintenance and shrub trimming, most neighborhoods away from the busy roads get very quiet and peaceful. There is live music at the squares every night, so if you don't want to hear that going until 9PM, don't buy near a square.

I can hear pickleball being played, but just barely, as I am not really close to any courts. However I was experienced enough to make sure I didn't buy very close to PB courts.

"An Honest Review About Living In the Villages Florida" Honest? They recommend to "Connect With The Villages Real Estate Experts". These are the "experts" who have sold homes to buyers that believed everything the realtor told them and then after the sale, found their home was out of compliance with the deed restrictions and it is costing them thousands to get their home back into compliance. They tried to sell me an overpriced dump that didn't even have any interior doors. If you ever hear the phrase "No problem" or "Nothing to worry about" run away. You should also ignore all the sappy videos on YouTube like "The Village Newcomers" and similar as these people have "drank the Kool-Aid" & gush about how wonderful everything is here in TV. TV has more than its share of drunks, adult criminals living with their parents, pedophiles, and more. You will never read about any of this in the local propaganda rag, "The Daily Sun" where nothing bad ever happens. The Villages is to a trailer park like Target is to Walmart; same crap, just more expensive. So why am I here? My wife loves it so I caved. Otherwise I'd have a nice beach home on one of Florida's lakes or on the Gulf coast (anywhere but here).

Contrafabularaties? Biffleschnipler? Thesbonarium?
Look those up in your Funk and Wagnalls.

I can tell you what is not relaxing in the Villages. Summers! Year after year, 5 long months of hot, humid, and plenty of lightening storms. Some homes get a direct hit and burn down. Other homes, appliances get struck and they need to be replaced. Bugs! Bugs! Bugs! And now, hurricanes stirring in the gulf. If you are looking for a relaxing place, the Villages might not be right for you.

NO kids crying, screaming, carrying on, no teenagers causing trouble and destruction. That's MY definition. No firecrackers, no M80"s on July 4. That's MY definition.

I like July 4th, and I am patriotic to my country, but I'm not too fond of loud fireworks. Not mainly for myself, but my poor dog. Not hearing loud fireworks is a plus for me.

In my little neighborhood of courtyard villas in the Village of Tamarind Grove, I’ve heard one neighbor’s big dog say “woof” twice. Generally when I drive down the street, I see no one. I’ve never seen any children here. There don’t seem to be any rentals. I’ve never heard any music. The lawns get mowed, but only once a week, and it just takes a few minutes. The trash gets picked up twice a week. I can sometimes hear delivery trucks outside, but not always. If the wind is blowing the right direction, I can sometimes hear a distant train whistle. It’s about as quiet and relaxing and tranquil as a home could be.

To answer your question, most residential areas in TV can be considered all those things, just not all hours of the day. As others have mentioned there is the noise of lawn service equipment, garbage collection, the occasional train whistle--in fact the sort of suburban noise you'd hear anywhere. The rest of the time it's quiet as long as your neighbors are! Ha! This article gives a good overview, though it is a bit out of date (no longer three theaters here). As for the designation of "best" neighborhoods, again, this is in the eye of the beholder. This writer seems to indicate that proximity to services and entertainment gets the neighborhood in the best category. TV is a very well-designed concept. Though some neighborhoods may feel too close to noise centers, all are generally well located with access to all the things we like to have access to--pools, golf, services, restaurants, etc. TV even anticipates hesitation for those who might want to retire here and offer a Lifestyles program so you can try before you buy (or rent).

Not at all quiet and tranquil.
Loud golf carts with drunken fools constantly speeding through the neighborhood.
Delivery trucks several times a day also speeding
Mowers and Trimmers at different neighbors every day at different times - buzz buzz buzz
Landscapers, Roofers, Pool Builders, Power washers, noise all the time.
But the worst are the loud stinky gas carts.
And don't forget the comm standards looking to charge you to correct architectural violations that were present prior to your purchase.

Wow...I can only imagine the stress of living in your house. My wife would never want me to "cave," and live somewhere I hated. Nor would I do that to her. To me, that sounds like a recipe for disaster.

The Villages is all about options. If you enjoy staying busy, with various activities lined up on a daily basis, you can do that. If you would rather spend time doing nothing at all, you can do that too. Is the Villages lifestyle right for everybody? Certainly not, and you may be one of those who will never be happy here. The fact remains, most are happy.

When you set out on a journey, and retirement living is definitely that, you can either take in the beautiful vistas you are passing through, or you can fixate on the potholes in the road. Again, it's all about options.

My block and Village are spooky quiet, especially in the summer.

Sounds wonderful!

Amen
 

;2250764]In my little neighborhood of courtyard villas in the Village of Tamarind Grove, I’ve heard one neighbor’s big dog say “woof” twice. Generally when I drive down the street, I see no one. I’ve never seen any children here. There don’t seem to be any rentals. I’ve never heard any music. The lawns get mowed, but only once a week, and it just takes a few minutes. The trash gets picked up twice a week. I can sometimes hear delivery trucks outside, but not always. If the wind is blowing the right direction, I can sometimes hear a distant train whistle. It’s about as quiet and relaxing and tranquil as a home could be.[/QUOTE]

There is no place I would rather be

You really need to come down for at least a month and drive around yourself to see what neighborhood you like and be sure to visit them several different times a day to get a better feel. Some posters are correct about the music from downtown, train tracks and pickleball sounds, and that some Villages have lots of arb&bs with loud parties. I live north of 466 on a championship golf course and love it, large lot, golf course closed 2 days a week, quieter golfers and no where near as many, and golf course mowed and maintained on days it's closed and done during the day, not early mornings. There is a lot of difference neighborhood to neighborhood. I dislike the newest areas, tiny lots, houses very close together, but that's me. You need to take time to see what you like and dislike and then decide about, peace, quiet and tranquility.

Our experiences after buying south (near Sawgrass Grove music venue, is very positive. We bought new and really love our neighborhood and friends we’ve made. We do have driveway parties that are always done by 9 (so much fun). As to the police in Wildwood stopping anyone out after 10, this sounds like something made up to shed a bad light on the area. My opinion.

I see that advice a lot on this forum, so I assume that it is excellent advice.

However....I looked it up and it appears that there are about 750 miles of streets and roads in The Villages. To drive them all would take, I think, 1,500 or so hours of driving. Do people actually show up in The Villages and then just randomly drive around?

I am asking questions in this forum so that I can narrow my focus to a small enough number of neighborhoods that it is feasible to drive around and look at them.

Sounds like our villas in Springdale. Love living up here (northern end — Springdale ) as we also have established trees and flora. We can hear a distant train horn if we listen (we got used to the one at night and sleep right through it now), but other than that it’s really quiet and we love it.

same here in village of mc clure. even with the plaza across the street, i am rarely bothered by noises other than the ones you mention. i'm very happy here, & should've done it years ago. welcome!!

when homes are for sale, yes, i've seen random folk driving around checking out the neighborhood. is not strange @ all. you can even speak to us as you wander, getting ideas about the area. i've only met 1 negative person in my 5 years here, :smiley:

Not if you wear earplugs!

It sounds like you bought in the wrong place! We are very happy with our quiet neighborhood and tranquil surroundings with birds and sunsets and the most beautiful landscaping you’ll ever find in any town!!

I feel sorry for you! You need to move out to the country away from all of life and fun!

ALL those things you mentioned are things people DO need to know, and only you know which matter to you. All I can say is TAKE YOUR TIME. Also, do intense lights on the school stadiums and sports fields bother you, then do NOT buy a villa right next to the football stadium like our friends did... between games, and band practice on the field and other "events", they are incredibly unhappy, bought before thinking. Others, love just hearing the game announcers, the band marching, the lights that make night look just like day. Some hate the newer villages near the toll way, others don't even hear it they are so used to it. Pickle-ball is so much fun, but our focus was NOT being adjacent to courts. Again, others would not care at all. For us it was like a faucet dripping, just constant annoying noise that begins early. We would never have know if we hadn't rented for several years before moving permanently. Villages closer to Oxford... look on a map around the Churchill golf course hear train sounds from some VERY long trains... others never wake up. No one, I'm afraid, can answer your questions, only YOU know YOU...LOL !

So, to you, the about to be new villager, this post illustrates what I was trying to portray in my post. Everything this poster wrote it true.. well, except we JUST bought a new gas cart last week and have they ever changed since our last one... no smell at all compared to our older one, which still did not compare to gas or diesel cars and trucks...but off topic. You can see how very unhappy some people are here. It is constant lawn services every day of the week (do NOT expect it to be limited to certain days and hours like some sub divisions we've lived in), and it's deliveries, it's all day pounding as new roofs are a "thing" here, even if yours is in fine condition, even in the summer, constant roofing pool building.. sometimes people have their yards torn up for 3, 4 months or more building pools, and so on. It's kind of called being alive and living in a community... we have garbage trucks that beep backing up, we have all manner of delivery trucks and appliance repair, etc. and yes, do the ever speed... definitely and you will live here for years and never see one of them being written a ticket. We just "roll with the punches" as they say, others, like this person will probably soon move as there are some VERY nice rural homes in this very area, had relatives just move to one near Inverness, just to escape the Villages, the LOVE it, peace, tranquil, so quiet only birds in the morning. For them, escaping the villages is like heaven, for others, they want the constant sounds of the "city".. and it's true, there are plenty of sounds.....LOL !

What a dump The Villages must be.
How my wife and I survived 20+winters golfing, relaxing, etc. in various Village locations, I will never know.
From remarks and experiences of some posters, we were lucky to get out alive!

Well, you don't need to walk every street, but here is how I would suggest you approach the puzzle.

1.Ask yourself a few questions about what you think you want to be near, and what "ambience" you desire. For example, I have a good friend who is single, who lives in Creekside, which is walking distance from Lake Sumter Landing. He loves it. He loves being able to go to the square a lot. And he does. It's not the quietest place in the evenings, but that's what he likes.

Another question: Do you want to be in the middle of where most of the championship courses are? If so, you might steer away from the brand new areas south of 44. While the plan is for more courses down there, they already exist in proximity to the area "between the sixes" (between 466 and 466A gets you pretty centrally located between the northern-most courses and the courses south of 466A).

Another question: if you don't care about golf but want to be closer to the more abundant hiking and biking trails of the newer areas, look at the neighborhoods south of 44.

Another question: age demographic, and what does it mean to you. Generally speaking, the newer areas have more younger retirees and folks still working. The older the village (and more north) generally the older the demographic. While there is a process of turnover as older folks move out or move on, the concentration of age demographic generally follows that trend.

What type of housing are you interested in? You can choose between neighborhoods with designer homes, premier homes, or villas depending upon your desires and your budget. Just be warned that there seems to be a trend in the newer villa neighborhoods for them to be heavily populated with investment ,i.e. rental , properties. Is that your bag, or would you rather be surrounded by resident-owners?

Do you want proximity to water features? Golf course lot?

Getting back to your original question, I would assume that by using the terms "relaxing", "peaceful" and "tranquil", they are using them as comparative terms. Close to squares and/or busy roads or MMPs will be less so, and away from those entities will be more so.

So, by asking these questions you can, bit by bit, slice the pie up into more bite-size chunks.

Happy Hunting!

Where I live it is often like a place where they set off a neutron bomb most of the time. Extremely quiet and most cars are parked in the garages at night. And there is no noise from traffic, trains or recreational amenities.

There are probably sections in every village which have areas like that. I can speak about the center section of Brownwood. Here they have 4 major roads, that have the most traffic that create the most noise. They are easy to determine by looking at a map. The neighborhoods with Villas are probably the quietest as they are mostly in loops and do not have drive through traffic.

To pick the most tranquil home, follow the advice of others and stay away from roads with speed limits 30 mph and over. By that I mean, make sure there is at least one 20 mph road between your street at the main road. And of course check it out at night.

I live on a course and even when I yell someone left a club behind they can't hear me. It all depends on how close the course is.

Once you decide on a house, before committing, I suggest you knock on the doors of the neighbors and ask them what they think of the area. Most Villagers are happy and friendly and love to share their impressions of this wonderful place. Good luck!

Every village has its own character, caused mainly by location. The Villages grew from north to south. The first areas north of CR. 466 are generally a bit more spacious and denser south of 466. Traffic noise depends on closeness to major roads—Morse, Buena Vista. 466 & 466A, etc. some residential streets have a lot of golf cart traffic as they offer a short cut between golf cart paths. Other than lawn mowing and trash pickup which seem to start at 7 a.m. it is very quiet. The villages has a lot to offer, take advantage of it. Been here for 14 years.

I would say that the review mentioned was very good - it described accurately the good points and the bad points of living in TV Land (which I sometimes call it because it is a little like La, La, Land). If you can afford 2 homes, one here and one up north, then you avoid the big problem of the summer HEAT. If you plan on having ONLY one home, then I would recommend looking in Tn. or the Carolinas. To understand this, you need to familiarize yourself with Global Warming and how it is affecting Fl. You need to Google scientific information about the future (at least 7 years) predictions for increasing HOTTER summers in Fl. and actually worldwide. For example, this JULY was the hottest on record worldwide and in Fl. There is a lot more to that story, but if Fl. is going to be your year-round home, then it is worth the climate research.

A good, honest review.