Liveliest Village?
 

What do you think is the liveliest village? The village where always something going on with the neighbors (in a good way), get togethers, block parties, everyone knows everyone, holiday parties, etc.:popcorn:

I think I live in the best village, with the best neighbors, who've become great friends and we have a blast together on the golf course, at social gatherings and more.

But invariable when you meet new people, they will tell you they live in the best village for the same reasons.

Hi mgm444,
Another factor is that new villages tend to have lots of neighborhood activities as everyone in the Village is... well, new and anxious to meet people.

As the particular Village matures and its residents get involved in many of the zillion things there are to do in TV, those residents tend to build their social calendars more around people who participate in the same activities and less just in the hood. So hood activity diminishes somewhat.

Therefore, the answer depends not only upon whom you ask, but sometimes upon when.

Last Saturday my wife and I went to check on a house in La Reynalda for friends who are moving here from NJ. We'd like them to be in our neighborhood of Bonita and become part of our tight social circle, but they want a more inexpensive house preferably with no bond so that they can keep their NJ home.

While there looking at the home, a young woman in her early 50's, maybe, chatted with us and told us "I don't know about Bonita, but La Reynalda is the best village there is; the people here are so friendly and fun". She's only lived in that older village about a year and a half, she told us, and she's been accepted and made good friends.

So P, I guess any village can be what you make it.

Liveliest Villages
 

We have no idea where we might live at this point but hope to make every effort to be "inviting" to all our neighbors and are "welcomed" in return. Nice to read that buying into an older established area can be a good fit as well as new construction.
USNRet~Dave

You've got a great attitude and that makes a world of difference. No worries, you'll be welcomed with open arms wherever you buy!

I'm coming down in a few weeks and always stayed near LSL. More comfortable in LSL. So, leaving my comfort zone. THIS time it's going to be SS. SS square always seems like it's jumpin' and packed to the gills at night. I heard it's a more established community. Is the kool-aid sweeter in SS?

live in the very best village --- but we are all sworn to secrecy

Every village is great. They are all wonderful.

Don't sit and wait.

Got to Publix and get several sweet rolls. If this doesn' work you can freeze them.

Put a sign in your yard or make little notes that say.
"We are new. We want to meet everyone. Coffee at our house on Wednesday at ten." You can pass them around to the ten-fifteen houses right around you.

That is what we did. Just knocked on doors with an invite for coffee.

Don't be shy. Trust me. It is a Villages thing to do.

Villages tend to be huge and hence are not the hub of social activities in my opinion. From our perspective, the neighborhood is the hub of activity. My guess is that most neighborhoods are great but a key ingredient is a few residents who are willing to assume leadership roles. The golf outings and block parties don't just "happen" - someone has to take charge to make it happen.

While it never occurred to us when we selected our neighborhood, others who moved here from elsewhere in TV said that what attracted them to this neighborhood was its small, well-defined area. We have just a couple of streets off from a main feeder-road with a total of about 75 houses in the entire neighborhood. This makes it easy to define our neighborhood versus some which have no distinct boundaries.

GG do you have any of those sweet rolls left? I just checked the freezer we are out of ice cream and I could use a little something sweet.

Jim :wave:

That's so true Richie. My own (old) Village of Springdale is the best. The people in my Village are friendly and fun, and although we have only owned there about a year and a half, we have been accepted in the hood and made good friends.

As to the question about which Villages have the most block parties, my sense is that the newer ones "tend" to have the most. That doesn't mean they are the best or friendliest.

Plus, I hope it wasn't taken as a scientific answer. The wonderful Village of La Reynalda might hold the current honors for most block parties for all I know. :thumbup:

Though I doubt it. ;)

Question along the same lines as original post: do the older neighborhoods tend to have older residents and thus slightly less going on socially? Thx.

wonderful
 

Gracie - I just love your post's. What a wonderful way to break the ice in the new neighborhood..

Most of the old neighborhoods are changing. New younger people are moving into these neighborhoods as some of the original residents are moving out for various reasons. Before I bought my new home in Bonita I almost closed on a pre-owned in Santiago. The neighborhood as we drove around seemed to have enough people in our age group. The couple that were selling that home were beginning to be unable to live alone, and their children were bringing them back to Sarasota.

We didn't close on the deal after we found out Santiago didn't have an adult only pool, and also the fact that my wife was going to be in a perpetual pout if I didn't buy for us, her first brand new home.

It all worked out great.