In Search Of The Good Life
 

The November AARP Bulletin has an article entitled "In Search of The Good life" that has a rather lengthy article regarding The Villages. The article, with some photos, includes comments from several Villagers. "If you are bored it's your fault", and "and it's like a kid in a candy store", "what's going to happen when the baby boomers are done with this, what will happen to this place?" are some of the resident's comments.

The author of "Leisureville" Author Blechman, had to get his two cents worth in by calling TV "a privately owned city" and saying "these places will turn into necropolises". "The current young retirees coming to The Villages are the last of the lucky pensioners".

The article written by David Dudley says "this is a problem for tomorrow's Villagers". Meanwhile, us lucky Villagers will just enjoy......

Overall, I thought the article was interesting and as they say overall "fair and balanced". Perhaps the question, "what's going to happen to this place" left me with a slight chilling feeling but then I quickly forgot that and thought about my next round of golf----Fore!

Aarp
 

I agree with you. It is more balanced than most recent articles. But, wouldn't it be great to get inside the developer's head to see what long term vision he has?

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I don't agree with Andrew Blechman's assessment based on a two week stay and his bias for wanting to live in a diverse community. His portrayal of Mr. Midnight being the average male was totally out of whack. His book "Leisure" was slanted towards the lack of children and makes a good door stop. If that is balance, I would tend to disagree.

Some people on TOTV years ago said TV would become a ghost town after build out. I'm still waiting for build-out to occur and the place hasn't gotten run down as they predicted it would.

I guess some people have a gloomy outlook on life and can see only the negative. I saw TV about ten years ago and it's still kept in immaculate condition and has gotten much bigger and better.

my son is 29 and wants my house in the villages now. I think this place we call the villages will be around a long long time from now.

For those children waiting to inherit their parents home, it will be definitely worth more than want the parents paid for it.

I don't it changing much for the forseeable future as this is a party type town with a lot of activities. Anyone can do as much as they want or as little as they want.

Blechman
 

2BNTV, I agree with your assessment of Blechman and his book. What you mention that is in his book isn't in the article except his prediction of TV becoming a ghost town. Although Mr. Midnight sounds like a fabulous character, I have yet to meet him in TV. Speaking of meeting someone, I think what upset Blechman the most about his visit to TV was his inability to get an appointment and interview Gary Morse. That fact is mentioned "in Search of The Good Life". Maybe that is why so much embellishment regarding The Villages in his book "lesureville".

I've always thought one phrase---An Adult Disney World" best described The Villages. Fore.

Who knows?
 

Predictions about what our kids are going to want in the future are like predicting the stock market - good luck. My kids are 27 and 30. They are blown away by The Villages, and can see themselves living in a place like this . . . "someday". But the trajectory of changes in their lifestyles, medical advances, technology innovations, etc. is exponential, making us unable to predict what life might be like in The Villages 20-30 years from now. One concern: millennials are not warming up to golf nearly as much as boomers. This opens up many possibilities here, both good and bad. Maybe massive 3D virtual reality zones on some former golf courses in 2040? Thoughts?

A famous quote: "If you build it, they will come"

As far as a "ghost town" goes, there will always be a need for clean, safe, well designed retirement property, and the population is only growing

As far as Blechman goes, I guess he didn't notice TV shuts down at 9PM when he named "Mr. Midnight"

In search of a good life means different things to different people. I had a good life anywhere I lived.

Here's the link:


Lush Retirement: The Villages, Florida - AARP

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Great reply, Rubicon.

I hope the amenities are kept up once there is no more land to build on.

That's where the amenity fees come in. This community was designed to be self perpetuating, with costs covered by the monthly and annual fees. You can easily see the northern most parts of TV have been maintained and upgraded as needed overtime. The CDD concept is what convinced us that this place would remain viable for decades to come.