Terribly Hot Here in the Summer - Don't come!
 

It's terribly hot here in the summer. You could deeply regret it if you do. It's better not to come over the summer. You can't even breathe outside between 10 am and 9 pm. (P.S. My hubby told me to say that because summer used to be so quiet, peaceful, and fun, but with all the growth, it's starting to become just as busy and crowded as Jan. thru April.) :-(

So true Fred. I do understand the competing with the developer. When you see new concrete courtyards for 191K, I would think it difficult to sell a used one all things being the same. When you compare a brand new home versus an aged one, not that the aged one is bad, but I would think most people would buy the brand new home. I know people will argue the location point, bond VS no bond, added improvements. But all locations in The Villages have there benefit and are good. I think the developer is successful because they know to keep the new ones priced right under the resales.

Depends
 

If 7 months of temperatures in the 90s with high humidity doesn't bother you, then you'll love The Villages. It's a beautiful place with more amenities than you can imagine, friendly people (mostly), loads of activities, and lots of golf courses (if you're a golfer). If, on the other hand, you like moderate summers and cool fall nights, forget Florida--period. As one who hated winter, I moved here enthusiastically from northeast Ohio to escape the snow and ice, but after 12 years, I find myself yearning for cool autumns and white Christmases-- so much so that I spend a lot of money (airfare, hotels, meals, etc.) visiting our kids in the northeast at those times to get a little taste. That's one way to handle the yearning, but I still hate the brutal summers here. Who wants to stay indoors every day after 8:00 a.m. because of the heat? Unfortunately, we couldn't be snowbirds, or we would have opted for that.
As for the squares, in the beginning I was excited at the prospect of having fun there almost every night, but I find that for me and my neighbors who have lived here a while, the luster has worn off. Large crowds and too much drinking have driven us away. The Villages is not what it used to be when the crowds were smaller and you could dine pretty much anywhere, even during snowbird season, without crowds. But if you haven't lived here a while, you won't know the difference, so none of this might bother you. Just want to give an honest answer to your question.

If you like freezing your buttox off, stay up north. WE MOVED FROM MICHIGAN, AND I DON'T MISS IT AT ALL. I LOVE IT IN FLORIDA- THAT'S WHY THEY INVENTED AIR CONDITIONING

Air Conditioner
 

You are spot on regarding air conditioning. It wasn't until the early 60's until air conditioning really became affordable and available to most everybody. The population of Florida was less than 5 million in 1960. By 2000 it reached 16 million. The latest population figures show 20.61 million in 2016.
Air conditioners made much of this population increase possible.

How many would call Florida home without it?

Moved to villages 2004
 

I'M SORRY SORRY SORRY WE MOVED HERE, IN 2004, TOLD BY THE VILLAGE PEOPLE ONLY BUILDING TO 466A BE OUT OF HERE 2013-2014. THE NEW BREED ARE RUDE DON'T CARE ABOUT OTHER PEOPLE NO RESPECT, SO MANY PEOPLE MOVING OUT, ME TOO.:bigbow::a040::MOJE_whot:

We're all free to leave, but to say that a lot of people are moving out is a bit silly seeing as how we have been the fastest growing metropolitan area every year for the past several years.

Are you saying that no one wants to live here anymore because it's too crowded?

Well said. It is hot here almost all the time. Unbearable in the spring, summer and fall.
Winters are great.

No regrets here. I pay attention to my needs and wants, which are more than fulfilled here. I have the home I want in the area I love, so what do I care how many homes they build, how much they sell for, or all the other " wo is me" stuff. As long as you're happy, enjoy what life you have left and don't sweat the things that REALLY don't concern you. As far as home values.... Your kids will probably dump the house when you die anyway..... :)

We Still maintain a home north, so summers like many can be a get out of dodge situation. Traffic, crowds, waiting for a restaurant are irrelevant, up north, 10 miles can take me 15 minutes or an hour depending on the time of day, if we don’t make a reservation for dinner we will wait up to 2 hours.

TV isn’t any different than other places, I am pretty sure if we sell up north I will never forget how long everything took. Of course retirement means you have 24 hours a day to do what you want, no worries on trying to schedule around that 12 hour shift.

No regret. We travel and live abroad in Asia, Costa Rica for 5 years. We regret not to live here sooner. This is the Life Style I want. I have an option seat at home, or attend to zumba, yoga,line dance, golf,tennis, pickel ball.At night go to square lsten to live music, did not cost me any thing. When I get really old, can not drive the car I still can drive the golf cart to grocery, restaurant to maintain my independent.

Not being able to build the style of home I preferred on Lake Miona with a dock and such, otherwise quite content. I wish they would pick-up my storm refuse though, I am not going to break the rules and dump it by the mailbox. I also wish the roadways and cart paths were not continually wet with sprinkler water fouling my vehicles, otherwise....happy camper. They do a great job otherwise, thank you very much.

And IMHO, if you are here for the long haul, your highlighted sentence says it all. Now you can also add in that Publix are delivering orders.

In my opinion, if a person doesn't golf, doesn't enjoy driving a golf cart along the beautiful golf cart trails, belong to some clubs, enjoy the rec centers, attend some square celebrations, look around and see all the beauty that The Villages gives to a person and more, then I guess it's not worthy for a person to live and own a home here.

Sounds great!