[EdFNJ]

Originally Posted by Rapscallion St Croix

It is not a sales pitch because the sales pitch only claims TV to be Florida's Friendliest Home Town.

As to the validity of the claim. It would be virtually impossible to quantify and rank towns by their friendliness. Surveys are unreliable. One survey ranked TV as the most dangerous place to trick or treat in America because of the lack of children living here.

Another survey said there will never be elephant stampedes here so it is a safe place to live (compared to Zimbawe).

[CFrance]

Chi33, maybe the angry people you encountered saw you sitting in your car drinking in your driveway with the music on.

[EdFNJ]

We met our first TRULY unfriendly one in 2yrs this morning at Panera (Starbucks was closed). There were 2 tables together and no other seats available in the entire place. One G.O.L. was sitting at 1/2 the double table reading a magazine. Wife politely asked her if she'd mind if we used the other table next to her. She looks up at my wife and says "NO, I'D PREFER NOT. A friend might be coming" (who would be sitting ACROSS from her still leaving the 2nd table free). Needless to say there was no friend for at least the 45 mins we were there. That was our first "unfriendly" experience in 2 yrs. Point is sh1t happens but don't paint the entire town with this person.

[OrangeBlossomBaby]

Originally Posted by tophcfa

Like any place in this world, wherever you go there are always some unhappy/unfriendly/angry people, it is unavoidable. However, our observation has been that in the Villages those unhappy people are fewer and further in-between than any other place we have ever experienced (except for possibly the great tiny Caribbean Island of St. John, where just about everyone is on "island time", which is a very happy place. Sure, everyone is entitled to an occasional bad day, but if you are active and enjoy everything the Villages has to offer, it is hard to have many bad days. If you want to experience friendly, try pulling over on the side of a multi-modal path and open up the seat of your golf cart like it's broken down. Within a very short time, multiple people will stop and ask if everything is OK, if you need any help, or if they can do anything for you. It is amazing! We find that one problem we have with the Villages is that sometimes people are actually too friendly. Sometimes we have a free hour or so to go out in our front yard to work on the garden and tidy things up and find that we never get more than a few minutes to actually work. Everyone that walks by the house wants to stop and chat and make friends. Other times I go to a sports pool to swim as many laps as possible during the short times allocated for lap swimming and find that I can't get in many laps because everyone wants to chat and make friends. Don't get me wrong, I am not complaining about this, having people being overly friendly is a great problem to have. Like others have said, the Villages is not for everyone. But there is a reason why it is the largest 55+ retirement community of it's kind in the world and they can keep selling new homes as fast as they can be built. This would not happen in a community filled with angry and unhappy residents.

If I was trying to get work done in my yard and was inundated with folks interrupting the work, I'd just give them a spade or hand-rake or some potting soil and invite them to participate, and then when we're done I'd bring them onto the lanai for some fresh-squeezed lemonade with honey.

[EviesGP]

tophcfa nailed it! Never experienced so many nice, caring, and accommodating folks! Whether it's in our new neighborhood, or during recreational activities. As for the negative posts, that's called sensationalism in the media, and stimuli and boredom on these posts and blogs. You won't see pics and vids of cars and trains passing along. But you'll surely see the wrecks! Enough said.

[Rango]

[bmarlo767]

I think that is the same all over the world, The last several years I have been working in Asia ( China, Korea, Malaysia and Thailand. My brother came to visit in China and while walking through a park commented people do not seem friendly. I told him to smile at them. It was like turning on a switch, almost everyone smiled back and several wanted to talk. I still have many friends in Asia, even married one who is here with me now.

[Schaumburger]

During my visits to The Villages, I have met many, many friendly and helpful people. Including the great man who helped me with a minor problem with my rental car a few years ago who would not take any money for his time. And the great couple who had me follow them in their golf cart when I got lost in my golf cart getting to Spanish Springs.

[jebartle]

Love our Village pardise. Our Village neighbors are the best. Want a friend, BE a friend.

[justjim]

Twelve years in The Villages. If there is a friendlier place on this planet with 120,000 plus people, let me know as I would like to “invest” in such a place. I see “acts of kindness” and hear of them almost everyday in The Villages. Amen.

[BK001]

Originally Posted by fw102807

No one she has met.

Thanks FW -- that is exactly what I meant.

[BK001]

Originally Posted by jebartle

Love our Village pardise. . . . Want a friend, BE a friend.

I couldn't agree more. You reap what you sow and that is so evident here in TV - smile, they smile back. Wave, they wave back. Be nice, they are nice. Be helpful, they are helpful, etc., etc., etc.

[Topspinmo]

If you were unfriendly and nasty before you moved here most likely the villages not going to change you’re personality. It May take while, but sooner or later your old self will rear its ugly head. IMO 90% are friendly people.

[Bay Kid]

Smile and you will receive a smile.

[Retiring]

Originally Posted by Chi33

Is it a sales tool and false or the truth?

Examples of either please.

All I see lately is angry. Snowbirds, roundabouts, noise... where is the good to balance it and even go over the top.

There are many great people in TV. If you’re looking for a place with only Saints, you’ll have to wait a few (or hopefully a lot) years, as that place doesn’t exist on earth.