What was/is Your Biggest Concern about TV
 

Any concerns about The Villages.

TV is no different in than any other place or community in that regard.
Real life creates real concerns and issues.



1)What was your biggest concern about TV before you purchased at TV?




2) What is you biggest concern about TV now that you have made the purchase and have lived there for a while?

Too young and too congested.
 

Concern before we moved here? That we were younger than most and would be hard to find people our age. Not a concern anymore. We have found that a lot of people moving and living here are younger, and have met lots of people our age. We have also grown close to some older folks and know that their years are numbered since they are some 20 years+ ahead of us. It's hard knowing that some day we are going to lose them. I wish we could all live forever!!

Our concern since moving here? That The Villages will grow to be much more populated and congested than we may like and there won't be enough services to handle all of the people.

Like the previous poster, it was my age. I was forced into a permanent early retirement from the military due to illness and injury. I was a little younger than 55. Did not think I would fit in, but Florida is my home and TV seemed like the best fit for me and retirement. My worry was unfounded, and people have been really nice, helpful, and I am quite content. And I could not have asked for better neighbors.

The biggest concern I have now is how the Brownwood area is going to be built out commercially. For example, are we getting the big stores like Lowes, Belks, Bealls, Walmart, ect...like they have on 441? And goodness, we need another grocery store.

Cheers--Katie

No concerns before moving here.

The only concern now is feeling obligated leave here to visit relatives in norteastern and upper midweastern states that feel like Siberia.

Concerns before: Would we make friends? Would we find things to do (we didn't golf and I'm not into "crafts" or cards) Would I miss my 3500+ sf home and large yard?

Concerns now: What should we do with our friends tonight? How can I fit all the fun things I want to do into my already busy schedule? Why did I waste all those years cleaning a big house and caring for a large yard when there is so many more fun things to do with my time.

Our perspective changes as we go through life... I am wondering about that one myself.

My biggest concern was "will I ever sell my condo and be able to move to TV".

My only concern now is the find the perfect house for me. :smiley:

Once you find what you want in life, you want to start that new life right away.

Paraphrase from "When Harry Met Sally"

I just hope it stays as perfect as it is now as future generations move in!

TV population overall is smart, educated, thrifty and commited to sound values. I think we're all committed to keeping the standards established here. Most people are ambitious, too......not just sitting around worrying. Volunteering is huge here.

We aren't there yet, but hoping to be later this year. My greatest personal concerns are twofold--will I fit in, and will I find things I enjoy doing. By nature, I'm really not much of a joiner, so I'm going to have to force myself out of my comfort zone, I think. That will be a challenge.

My one other concern is what I'm going to do about my dogs. I have two. Both on the larger side. One loves everyone and everything. The other loves everyone, but hates other dogs, unless she knows them really well. Even then it's no guarantee. Not sure how we're going to handle her yet. A muzzle during walks, obviously, but we have a fenced yard here, so it will be an adjustment for her to lose her freedom in the yard, as well.

Other than that, I'm ready to move! Really, I can't wait as I loved the area and everyone we met was very nice.

First concern = ditto!!

Second concern modify as follows:

The only concern now is feeling obligated leave here to visit relatives in locations that do not have palm trees!!:D

btk

No concerns prior to moving. Best decision we ever made.

Only concern now is quality of medical care...so far, so good. But we were spoiled with state of the art med care and immediate attention by emergency room, doctors, etc., etc. Have heard horror stories about emergency rooms waits. But thank goodness we haven't needed any of that. Hopefully, the new Health Care Centers will make the quality of care even better.

My post about it feeling like Siberia was not only about the weather for the bulk of the year. To me it feels like Siberia going back to places where everyone is rushing to get back inside the house and not talk to anybody on the street nor in public places because they just weren't raised that way, or they don't associate with "riff-raff".

Here, I think there is little consciousness of social or economic status, because everyone lives in a nice place whether it costs $80,000 or $2 million.

I would say medical care is one of my concerns as well. The other concern is will we sell our house so we can move there already? Can't wait!!

Medical care is my top concern. Most of us from large metropolitan areas have left a different level of medical care behind us and I wish there was an easy answer to making ours here on the same level.

I think that adding to the existing hospital rather than building another one is a good way to attract more good physicians here and possibly attracting some kind of a geriatic teaching facility to come here too. A certain type of good doctors are attracted to affiiation with good medical schools.

Our concern has not changed since we purchased.

Will things stay the same over time after/if build out occurs.

My biggest concern was my age under 55 and didn't know how I would fit in. Biggest concern since moving here is getting a seat at the bar at Cody's . It's a tough life!

Before, excellent medical care.

After, still not here full time, but come at least monthly. To crowded, to many people, and services, restaurants, shops, stores, traffic, golf, that are overwhelmed by the January to April influx. It gets so bad that we question whether this is really the best place to be for us.

concern before-medical, concern now-being able to make a left turn on Morse Blvd as I exit De La Vista West.

Unfortunately, have to agree ........ This winter has been the most congested since we moved here.

I'm becoming a FROG this summer, and my biggest concern is outliving my savings.

Swampy

My concerns before we moved were (1) the eventual over-crowding and its affect on quality of life (2) TV form of government. ( fees and taxes creep)

My concerns after living here 6.5 years (1) overcrowding and its affect on the quality of life (2) TV's form of government (3) fees and taxes creep).

Have to agree in part. Best decision we ever made moving here. We had 2 concerns about moving here. One was could we afford to move and afford the lifestyle and two medical care for a new cancer survivor.

We have since found out that yes we can afford to move and live here quite nicely. Good medical care is still a concern. I don't like hearing the horror stories about the hospital and it has been a challange for me personnaly to find the right doctor. I now have 2 that I like. I am not so keen on hubby's choice of doctors but he is happy. I am skeptical of the new health care centers and prefer to wait and see how they pan out. Why is it they don't want to tell you who the doctors are and their medical training etc. ahead of time before signing up? We were invited to Colony. We were blessed to have come from an area with access to great medical care. But we both have faith in God that He sent us on this journey and He will provide. In the mean time, we are having a blast meeting new folks and enjoying the lifestyle!

Overcrowding is an issue with me. From Jan-April, traffic is at a stand still and there are SO many people down here, you can't move. I worry about more and more coming down over the next few years to the point where it will be impossible to get around, even in a cart.

So it seems "the season" is getting worse each year as it goes on. What will happen when the majority are living here full time??? Hopefully the southern part of 466A will develop with the shopping that is needed which will relieve the congestion on 441/27.
This is our first winter here and I'm thinking we should rent the house out in "high season" and enjoy TV the rest of the year!

I fall in line with the bolded text above. Since we first visted as guests in 2002 that was my worry. It is still ok in 2013...time will tell....

Really? Today, the last Friday in March, I played tennis in the a.m., bridge at a rec center in the p.m. and met friends for dinner at a country club. Didn't have to wait for courts, plenty of tables left at bridge, and only a short wait for dinner. Tried Havana again and most of us were quite pleased with our dinner and service - and there was good entertainment.

Drove my golf cart to all of these, maybe had to wait for 1 or 2 carts at busy intersections - at what would be rush hour anywhere else. No traffic lights to pass through. Maybe I had to wait 30 seconds to make a left turn onto Canal St. Sorry, but I was able to move just fine, and didn't find it impossible, or even slightly difficult, to get anywhere I went today.

By the way, none of these location was in my village, or the next one or two adjacent ones.

........

We live in Sabal Chase, just off Canal St. Like many others in many different Villages, we think we live in an ideal location. And really, after you move in and start doing things, most locations probably are ideal, because you naturally start doing things that are located nearby.

After all, you can play tennis, pickle ball, bocce, etc. anywhere, same with cards/games/exercise classes/crafts.

If you are a gym person, decide if you want the MVP center at Spanish Springs or the gyms in some (not all) regional rec centers. I'm not a gym person, but would imagine that if you are and go several days a week, that you would want this to be convenient.

For monthly club meetings, and some weekly stuff, we go all over the place, usually by golf cart unless it's at night (we don't feel super safe driving the golf cart at night if it's very far).

Probably the least congested area is up north by Nancy Lopez or the historic side. Many love it there - bigger lots, less traffic. It is a long golf cart ride to stuff in the southern reaches, but again, just depends on what you do, and what you do will partly be affected by where you live. Nancy Lopez is a great restaurant, but we don't go much because for us, it IS far away. Truly, there is no really bad location here, but figure out what's most important to you. Someone who expects to say, volunteer at their church several days a week will want to be close to that.

I don't think it is necessarily any Village that is congested, but rather the places people shop and eat. Traffic on 441/27, 466, and around Colony Plaza is really bad in high season. I haven't found navigating throughout TV to be a problem even in high season.

Great Observation!
 

After being here for a number of years, this is one of the most attractive features of Villagers. No one seems to care or be impressed with what position you held, how much money you made, who your important friends were, or how big your house was before you moved to The Villages.

When's the last time anyone asked you much more than where you were from and what village you live in? All that stuff s unimportant here and everyone soon realizes that fact.

cahweh1975, you might want to consider an invisible fence for the dogs. Our dog is very apt to get excited and RUN, so always had to keep her on the leash in the yard. But based on reviews on this site, we bought an invisible fence from DogWatch, and it has transformed her. She runs around and explores and has a grand old time. She's relaxed and happy and won't even consider nearing the 'fence'. We love spending time in the yard and now she can hang out with us without always having to be secured to a leash or a yard line. Never thought it would work for our little runner, but it's been a miraculous success.

HI
I"m wondering... do people ever go over to Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville for their care? We are Mayo patients up north and that is where I was thinking would go for care. It is good system and well coordinated with specialists etc.

Well, just a HINT...any new-build village will have ALOT of construction traffic at first...it WILL ease after most of the homes in you village are built.

Sorry, it's a bit off topic, but I thought I'd add to Parker's post.

The Villages permits two large dogs per household, and it's one of the few retirement communities that doesn't have size restrictions. cahweh1975, you can have a fenced yard for your dogs with a Courtyard Villa. We originally had a CYV and it works great for dogs. Now we have a house and an invisible fence. As Parker says, it works really well. The key is training the dogs before the current is activated. DogWatch was great about helping with the training. I always thought invisible fencing was inhumane, but it isn't at all. If trained properly, your dogs will always avoid the boundaries.

And that's the way it should be.

Can you give me an idea on the cost of an electric fence?

I think everyone has concerns about relocating to any area! I wish my concern was because I thought I might be too young! Alas

After living here two years and both of us dealing with health issues I have concerns about medical care. In our case the doctors are well qualified but for some reason I have had issues with small things like getting renewals on prescriptions (more than once). They can't seem to keep good, reliable help! Im still working on that and feel sure I will find the right one!

I guess Mayo might be an option for some but their website says they do not accept Medicare so that would put it out of reach for us not to mention the distance from TV. I think it's important to have a good, dependable primary physician that's within easy reach, especially at our age.

While the vast majority of the people here are more than friendly, this is our second "high season" and is certainly more congested than last year! I'm a patient person and I do not mind waiting in line or at a stop sign but I do mind BEING TOOTED AT! Thankfully that doesn't seem to be a problem during "slow season"!

I think you will find similar problems with any city of 100,000 but it would be hard to find another retirement area that offers what we have here in TV!

Nope Cincinnati folks don't honk at you at stop signs.

Wendy...does Mayo not accept Medicare or do you have to pay and have them submit the bill to be PARTIALLY reimbursed to you? I know you always have to pay MORE when that happens but just wondered.

I too worry about really REALLY good geriatric care especially if I get pregnant. ;)

No. I was teasing of course but I am very serious and I have said more than once that what this place lacks is a nearby teaching institution because medical teaching facilities draw excellent physicans. I have found a very good dermatologist and an excellent dentist but not the same quality in the general care physician we have so far. I don't blame doctors going where the money is, but in this case I would treasure a little pity.

I was referred to Mayo in Jacksonville as they are the #1 hospital in the USA for my condition, on top of which there was no one in the immediate area who could properly diagnose and treat my problem. I was back and forth from TV to Mayo for two years, went through four minor and one major surgery and my out of pocket expense was $72.

I cannot explain the medicare part of Mayo completely as my other half handled the finances, but I think I am correct in saying that Mayo do not follow and accept Medicare's reimbursements and, therefore, your primary needs to pick up the excess amount not covered by Medicare. I am fortunate to have AARP's United Health Coverage "J" which is no longer available, it covered everything other than $72.

I am sure there are other people around who can more fully explain Mayo/Medicare/Primary payments, but all you need to do is call your Primary and they will help with any queries you might have.

I will add that in my opinion there is NOTHING to compare with the treatment, the quality of staff, the exceptional specialists and every other aspect of The Mayo Clinic. If the need arose again, I would most certainly go there for treatment.