[eweissenbach]

My wife and I are planning to take a lifestyle visit soon (probably April) and we will be able to judge for ourselves whether the Villages lifestyle is for us (will take less persuading for me than for the misses I'm afraid). However it is obvious to me that a 5 or 6 day visit with all the freebies you get, will quite possibly offer a rather unrealistically positive view. For example, practically every time we go on a vacation we fall in love with the area and feel we would love to live there full or part time - after all, who doesn't have fun on vacation?

I have spent a lot of time on TOTV the last month and have learned a lot, while feeling I have virtually (literally) gotten to know some of you well. Almost everyone on TOTV is wildly positive about the villages, but that stands to reason -- who is going to spend time on a site about a place they are ambivalent about or downright dislike?

So my question, at last: Do you really feel that the vast majority of people in the Villages seem as pleased with it as you do? Do you think the regular contributors to TOTV offer a good and representative cross-section of TV or a skewed view to the positive? I am not trying to start a war of words, but the TV view on this site is very rosy, and I am trying to get a balanced view. Thanks! Ed

[redwitch]

Honest answer -- it is hard to not love living here. If you're retired, you can fill your days with non-stop activities. If you're not, you can find time to earn a living and still find things to do. The only way to be bored is if you choose to do nothing.

I'm not a gusher, but I've truly not found people as kind and warm as those in TV. It is common to hear and read of random acts of kindness. There truly is a huge generosity of spirit here.

Are there things we don't like about TV? Yup, we all have our pet peeves but it beats the alternative for most of us. Of course there are some that are genuinely unhappy here -- I know of one couple who just sold their home and moved to Spruce Creek for the simple reason they wanted a heated pool they could use at night. Most people who leave here do so because of personal issues (health, finances, family). Some leave because they don't like it here -- too large, too many young people, too much traffic .... TV isn't perfect, but it is pretty dang good!

Enjoy your preview, get the missus to drink the water and plan to enjoy the next phase of your life.

[bxmt54]

As someone who owns a home in TV but hasn't been lucky enough to get to live in it full time yet, I think the 'rosy' picture you get here is pretty much the overall frame of mind of most everyone who lives there. About the only response I get when I talk to people that live there full time is "my only regret is we didn't do it sooner" or 'I wish we'd moved sooner'. Honestly, I have yet to meet anyone who says that they regret coming there to live. I too had my doubts and thought it was just too good to be true. We came down for LSP in May of 2007 and bought a house in November of that year. So far, we've just gotten to come down for vacations to 'visit it'. We have been lucky with renting it out a lot of the time when we're not there to help it pay for itself until we get to move in permanently. I'm really, really hoping that will be only about a year away. Have fun during your stay - I know you will! If you're interested in renting awhile - let me know...lol

[784caroline]

You ask a good question and I think this can be answered during your 5-6 day lifestyle visit. HOW...by going to the town squares in the evening (especailly tuesday thursday or sunday) and just starting a conversation with people, or when you are waiting in line at TooJays, Katie Bells or some other resturant just ask the people what they think. You will want to know if they themselves are on a life style visit or are they full or seasonal residents. Im sure you will be visiting open houses or possibly enjoy a round of golf wile you are here.....dont be baseful.
Im sure this "scientific" aproach to learning how people feel about TV plus the views and issues you are learning about from TOTV should give you a better perspective. Also make sure you compare your results to other locations you have visited or are considering to relocate to.

Not everyone who moves to TV is as happy as everyone else..there are a fair number of resales that are less than 1 -2 years old and BTW these are probably some of the BEST buys in TV. Biggest issues for people selling shortly after comming to TV, for the most part, have nothing to do with TV....One spouse misses the grandkids, its too hot in the summer, miss our friends, too far from home, family illness either with a spouse of family member back home. You may hear that TV itself is TOO BIG, but rarely will you hear there is NOT something to do, or NOt enough Clubs or activities , Not enough golf courses etc. If someone is not open minded and in the right frame of mind in where they are going to relocate, no place but back home could satisfy them.

[Pturner]

Originally Posted by eweissenbach

My wife and I are planning to take a lifestyle visit soon (probably April) and we will be able to judge for ourselves whether the Villages lifestyle is for us (will take less persuading for me than for the misses I'm afraid). However it is obvious to me that a 5 or 6 day visit with all the freebies you get, will quite possibly offer a rather unrealistically positive view. For example, practically every time we go on a vacation we fall in the area and feel we would love to live there full or part time - after all, who doesn't have fun on vacation?

I have spent a lot of time on TOTV the last month and have learned a lot, while feeling I have virtually (literally) gotten to know some of you well. Almost everyone on TOTV is wildly positive about the villages, but that stands to reason -- who is going to spend time on a site about a place they are ambivalent about or downright dislike?

So my question, at last: Do you really feel that the vast majority of people in the Villages seem as pleased with it as you do? Do you think the regular contributors to TOTV offer a good and representative cross-section of TV or a skewed view to the positive? I am not trying to start a war of words, but the TV view on this site is very rosy, and I am trying to get a balanced view. Thanks! Ed

Hi Eweissenbach, I do think the vast majority of people in TV are pleased with it. It's hard to be objective about this, but here's a try:

1) When we came down for visits before buying, every chance we got, we asked Villagers how they felt about living there. Guess what percentage said they loved it? Not 50% or 60% or 80%. It was actually 100%!

2) We bought in an established neighborhood where many of our neighbors have lived for 6+ years. All of them that we have met are still enthusastic after all these years.

3) Sometimes we live where we do because we were born there, or have family, or found work there or were tranferred. Living in TV is more of an unconstrained choice than living in most places is. Likewise, people would probably be less constrained by family or jobs to stay in TV if somehow, unimaginably, they didn't like it. (oops, so much for objectivity)

4) And now over Bogie Shooter's objections and putting all objectivity aside, I will say again, TV serves way better Koolaid. There just does not seem to be another place to live that measures up, imo.

5) Ask yourself, "what's not to like"? If you figure it out, let me know.

[Allen]

My wife and I did the Lifestyle Preview this last Summer. She was also more dubious than I was initially, so we asked a lot of people who live there what they thought... and you guessed it... every single person we talked to loved the place. We actually did wonder out loud if there was some sort of "happy juice" in the water!

Then we went to play golf (she had only been out once or twice before in her lifetime) and now she has her own set of clubs, and can not wait to retire and get back there.

I'm sure this is no help at all if you are looking for some balance, but that's our story.

P.S. We came at this question a little differently, so you might like to read some of the replies when we asked "What would you do differently if you had it to do all over again?" in this thread:

If I had it to do all over again...

[sschuler1]

As Pturner said this is a place that you move to because you want to, not because of a work transfer or family situation....so if someone finds they don't like it here, they leave. So it only makes sense that the majority of the people that are here like the place. Now that my level headed answer is out of the way: WE LOVE IT HERE!!!!!

[l2ridehd]

I did research on about 80 retirement communities. From that I narrowed it down to 8. I visited 6 of those. I found nothing that even came close to TV. There is so much more to do, golf, clubs college, and much more. No one had the golf cart life style that was anything like this. Many said they did, but it was not. It is the only place I have every been where the reality far exceeded the marketing hype.

[swrinfla]

I keep telling people that I've never met a grouch in The Villages!

Sure, there are some who are "unhappy," but they are few and far between.

If you are so enamored of where you are now that you just know you are going to miss "everything," then it's possible that you may be unhappy here.

But, if you're flexible and open to new experiences, then this is where you want to be!

By the way, the last grouch I ran across didn't even know that The Villages existed!

SWR

[pooh]

I was the one who had to be convinced to visit TV when we were visiting with our children in Florida. Honest answer....we decided to buy before we headed back to CA....it was one week from visit till we asked the agent to start looking for a house for us.

We walked around town, met someone in a local restaurant that turned out to have lived about 15 miles or so from us in CA. He loves it here and was very kind in telling us much about the community. We talked to people while standing around and they, too, loved it. I have a cyberfriend who lives here, she and her husband loved the place. He has since passed away and she wouldn't think of leaving the community...so much to do, so many great people. We brought hubby's Mom out for a visit (it was to be our LSV, but we had just closed on our house but since we had already paid, we took the visit.). Mom in law fell in love with the place and had an agent looking for a house for her, too. We all moved here in Oct of 06. It really is like being on vacation, at least for a few years or so. After that, it's more like you've lived here forever and love the place.

It's not in the water, it's the music one hears throughout the squares...

Come, have fun, take lots of pictures, talk to lots of people, visit a club or two, ask questions. As has been said, you live here because you want to.

[tpop1]

I am a skeptical person by nature so I had to do a lot of research before I bought in T.V.

During our decision process, I tried asking as many owners as I could, from The Villages, in as many ways as possible, "If they were happy with their decision?"

Reviewing posts on TOTV, provided the same basic answer as the overwhelming majority of the people I asked, that "They would never leave!"

Also, the number of people who have sold homes in T.V. & purchased another here was impressive.

It helped assure me that a move to The Villages was correct for us. Now that we are here, it seems to have been a great decision.

Hope you come to the decision that meets your desires! Good luck.

[downeaster]

Originally Posted by swrinfla

I keep telling people that I've never met a grouch in The Villages!

Sure, there are some who are "unhappy," but they are few and far between.

If you are so enamored of where you are now that you just know you are going to miss "everything," then it's possible that you may be unhappy here.

But, if you're flexible and open to new experiences, then this is where you want to be!

By the way, the last grouch I ran across didn't even know that The Villages existed!

SWR

I met a grouch here once. Ignored him.

Had a single neighbor who was unhappy here. About six years ago he moved on to greener pastures. Two years later he was back here.

About the only deal breaker here that I am aware of is grand children. Once in a while I hear of someone moving back to be close to family.

Can't say I know of anyone who moved to a place they felt more desirable.

We gotta' be careful here. If the developer is reading this thread he may increase prices.

Come on down, Mr. and Mrs. Ed. Five days should suffice for making a decision.

[Mikitv]

We have visited many retirement communities and kept coming back to The Villages for short visits. We did a week preview in 2007 and just spent three weeks Dec 2009. Before December we knew we would buy in The Villages and this trip we bought our lot and are now building our house. All the friends I met on TOTV Chat have been wonderful and full of great information. This is not a retirement community but an adult active community. We are so excited about relocating to The Villages and the life style it offers.

[saratogaman]

We know some people who thought The Villages was too big, so they bought in a new subdivision outside of Ocala. When asked how long do they drive to do grocery shopping, they proudly said "only 15-20 minutes." When asked what they do for entertainment, they said: "Oh, we drive to The Villages. It's only 25 or 30 minutes." Go figure.

[graciegirl]

People who like people are the luckiest people in the world and they will probably choose The Villages for their continued happiness. I know of one neighbor who misses New York City. I have not run into anyone else who isn't estatic. I talk myself into...."it's not that great, it can't be that great" when I am in our Northern home for six months and I am not back in TV for ten minutes when I realize it IS THAT GREAT! A wonderful calm feeling that I hadn't felt since I was a kid comes over me in TV. I don't know whether it is the like minded, fun loving, sweet, kind people or the beautiful flora or all there is to do.

I still can't believe it. I don't like Florida but I love The Villages....It makes me feel like a kid again.