I believe Brownwood will create an array of jobs for all sorts of people that want to work. Thats America, but the bubble and driving my golf cart to area businesses and restaurants was the draw for me. Living in a 2 BIG cities in my entire life is getting old as am I, so not going mach 2 with my hair on fire is agreeing with me. I can drive my cars to cruise nights and some twisty back roads but to go to a nice dinner at a country club I prefer my tire smokin golf cart.

I understand the reasoning for placing Brownwood where it is. We need non-TV residents to help support the businesses. If it were located further in the interior of TV, then that would increase the non-TV resident traffic through residential areas. What I really wish though was that they had put an additional tunnel beneath 466a further to the west. Anyone living on the Buena Vista corridor will have to travel east for quite a distance to get to the tunnel and then travel back west to get to Brownwood.

Kentucky Blue: I try to drive my golf cart as much as possible. It saves on gas and makes parking much easier when the squares are crowded. Plus it’s fun and relaxing ... something that driving a car through the villages is NOT.

Isn't there a tunnel under 466a just a tad east of Buena Vista (close to the new assisted living center)?

Bill :)

Yes.:shocked:

Well, “tad” is a relative term. That’s the tunnel I use, but it seems like I have to travel east for quite a distance before I get to the tunnel. No biggie, I’m not really complaining, just wishing.

I am glad that Brownwood is going to be larger than LSL and further down Buena Vista as it will take pressure off of LSL. And I am not concerned about tunnels because I only use my golf cart for golf .

When I read the *police news* in the paper, the few people arrested in Wildwood are not often involved in violent crimes. It is mostly drugs, petty theft, and family disputes.
Every city has these things going on, but from what I am reading, there is nothing happening in Wildwood like the city I left to come here! The news spoke of murders, gangs, and violent crimes nearly every night. Maybe not in my neighborhood, but in my city. I think a lot of the people in Wildwood are poor, and just scraping by, and maybe Brownwood will give some of these people some employment. The businesses I have been to in Wildwood are very nice and welcome Villagers. The Villages has been good for the surrounding areas, and I truly believe Wildwood will benefit, as well, and maybe Brownwood will benefit from giving Wildwood a leg up, too. Relax and Enjoy!

The Brownwood location makes sense to me. The first two squares were off Morse, so it seems sensible that the final one would be off of Buena Vista.

Not sure the relevants of it not being close to Sanibel. It will be quite close and convenient to the Villages built on the western end of third phase of TV. It's no different than say, LSL not being as close to Buttonwood on the current south side or SS not being that close to Chatham on the north side.

It's definitely not surprising that the new square would be either close to Morse or close to Buena Vista because the squares do need to attract area residents.

As for Wildwood being a poorer community, Sumter County was one of the poorer counties in Florida until The Villages took up so much of the land in the county. Now Sumter is one of the richer FL counties. The soon-to-be SW residential section of TV, the Brownwood Town Square and resulting ancillory development nearby will do the same for Wildwood.

Many of us who hail from suburbs throughout the country live in territory that was rural and poorer before the suburbs expanded to include it.

Here's to the upcoming Brownwood Square!

:beer3:

:agree:

1. I for one, would never question the Morses business acumen.
2. With the aquistion of more land in the offing, this pushes the build-out date to?
3. I think there might be more even distribution of people in the town squares with the addition of Brownwood as people have complained about square crowding during popular events.

Who knows if one day, the northwest corner will have a square and everyone will have a short trip to the squares? Bring on Brownwood. TV just keeps on getting better. :)

Spanish Springs is a Tad off Morse.


.

:bigbow:

While I still retain some reservations as to the overall safety of areas south of CR466-A, I am increasingly comfortable with TV's overall plan!

Personally, I find that my distances from either square dictate what I'm likely to do! That means that going to Spanish Springs' Town Square (SSTS), Lake Sumter Landing's Market Square (LSLMS) or Brownwood's Paddock Square (BPS) rule.

Physically, I am closer to both SSTS and LSLMS than BPS, and am frankly likely to watch those guidelines!

SWR
:beer3:

I agree too. And most people everywhere are good people.

Give me 5 for that one.....:highfive:

By a tad off Morse do you mean it's real close or real far. Unless they moved Spanish Springs since we went there via Morse just yesterday, its less that a mile off of Morse to the Town Square in SS. I've taken my mobility scooter further than that one way just to get our mail in Hadley.

As for the issue of where Brownwood is located, it's no more a distance issue for those in the older sections of TV or those concerned about the distance from their home than it is for those of us near or below 466a to Spanish Springs! Even discussing the issue is little more than an exercise in futility since Brownwood or the other two town squares are where they are and will stay there, not be moved... unless of course there's an earthquake of epic proportions.
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e3...orthehills.gif

Although Brownwood seems a little far from 466-A/Morse area, I trust that the developers know what they're doing. I'm always amazed at their productivity and quality of construction and communities. Driving on 446-A and looking to the south, it's workers and construction going up as far as the eye can see for miles.

Can you imagine elected officials and a local governing body accomplishing in 5 years what the developers accomplish here in 5 MONTHS??? No way!!!

I remember the day back in 2002 when The Villages development plans came grinding to a halt. Dan Farnsworth, a farmer from Oxford, didn't like what he was hearing about The Villages' proposed plans to develop land south of Rt. 466. After witnessing so much building and site work, since moving here in 1998, it seemed surreal to see huge earth-moving machines sitting silent in the middle of half-developed fields. Piles of pipes and reels of wire lay covered with dust. Contractors and sub contractors laid off workers and many of them sought work elsewhere. For months the landscape looked eerie and it seemed like a plague of some kind had gone through the whole area. I was able to find an old article that the Orlando Sentinel printed in 2002. Perhaps someone on this forum knows exactly what happened to end the standoff. The word around town was that The Villages settled on a "deal" with Farnsworth. "You stop this nonsense and we'll stop our lawsuit against you".

Speaking Out Has Its Price - Orlando Sentinel

Thank you for posting the link to this article. Interesting reading from almost 10 years ago. Wonder if a deal was cut with Mr. Farnsworth to make him go away? Does every man have his price?

I am quite sure, if my memory serves me correctly, that a "deal" of some sort is what quieted Dan Farnsworth and allowed building to move forward. There is likely an article explaining just what happened but I have not been able to locate it on the net anywhere....yet. Also, I could swear that back then I read somewhere that Dan Farnsworth had made his fortune, whatever that is or was, doing some kind of developing in S. Florida. At the time I remember thinking that it was OK for him to be a successful developer but not OK for the Morse family. I have saved some Daily Sun newspapers over the years that reported on major development news in the community here. I do not think I have any articles pertaining to Farnsworth but I will go through them when I get a chance.

A few news items I found. Do google search on Dan Farnsworth the villages.


From POA archives:
The CEEB Articles - Resident living here about three years ago will remember the legal fight with Dan Farnsworth, an Oxford farmer, over whether the Villages developer should be allowed to build south of highway 466.

An organization of suppliers, vendors, workers, construction firms, Villages employees, etc., formed a group known as CEEB. The group's main function was to agitate and demonstrate for proceeding with the development and construction work. Many believed that the developer of The Villages was ultimately behind the group. Many, if not most, of the CEEB members were from outside either The Villages, Sumter County, or even the state. Most had a direct financial involvement with the planned construction.

You could scarcely not pick up a copy of the Daily Sun without seeing story after story describing the CEEB goals of starting the construction and discrediting Dan Farnsworth. Farnsworth was effectively ridiculed for his belief that the development would destroy the rural way of life in Sumter County that he and many others valued. Many residents could see what appeared to be the Daily Sun's one-sided coverage. Farnsworth's reasoning was never given much if any coverage in the paper. You might not have agreed with his reasoning, but you never saw it fully explained in the Sun

Was this fair and balanced? Don't think so!

================================
Daily Commercial 3/19/02
Villages angered by neighbor delaying expansion

=====================
Orlando Sentinel 11/2002 Covers the settlement
Towns See Villages As Mixed Blessing - Page 3 - Orlando Sentinel

"You could scarcely not pick up a copy of the Daily Sun without seeing story after story describing the CEEB goals of starting the construction and discrediting Dan Farnsworth. Farnsworth was effectively ridiculed for his belief that the development would destroy the rural way of life in Sumter County that he and many others valued. Many residents could see what appeared to be the Daily Sun's one-sided coverage. Farnsworth's reasoning was never given much if any coverage in the paper. You might not have agreed with his reasoning, but you never saw it fully explained in the Sun"



That's right, the only time we ever saw any real details in print as to Dan Farnsworth's reasons for bucking The Villages was in other newspapers, not in The Daily Sun. Maybe that is why I may NOT have saved any of those articles!

That would be great with all the bulding going on, but it won't be free ....I can imagine an electric station with a meter alot like a parking meter....Cash or charge for juice....Still good idea..

Thanks VillagesFlorida and Bogie Shooter for the historical perspective. Change is often resisted before being eventually embraced, if not just taken for granted.

Oh P...and there is a P in PTurner....P, everytime you open your mouth, pearls of wisdom fall from it.

That wasn't your teeth, was it?

I wubs you P.:bigbow:

I remember the Farnsworth episode quite well. One of his arguments against development was that there is not enough water available to sustain a large population. I guess we'll find out if he was right when more sinkholes develop. It was inferred that he got a large settlement, although no amount was ever mentioned. He was still living on 466 out toward I-75 the last I heard, and he made his money laying cables in south Florida.

MAN! And I thought I could get my transformer moved. Pretty funny.

It doesn't look like Farnsworth was paid off. It appears (from the Orlando Sentinel article) that lawsuits brought forth by TV made both sides reach an agreement. My guess is that TV tried to buy him out long before they reached a 'settlement' since they said it was costing 50K per day delay and he wouldn't back down. The threat of TV winning the lawsuit (along with some cash maybe) made Farnsworth back off. Who really knows! But in the end it's tough for any local to stand up to progress. It's an age old story and one that never comes out well for the NIMBY crowd.

There is an electric outlet in a parking space outside of Kohl's for car recharging. Maybe there will be some at Brownwood.

We will never know if he was concerned about the cows and farms and bucolic atmosphere going away as it talks about in the Sentinel or whether he was concerned about getting top dollar for his property.

Since I think The Villages is a wonderful place to be and most of us agree, I think it turned out great. Angie Fox is probably living right where his chickens were.

Life continues and then it's history.

As I recollect, Farnsworth didn't own the property where The Villages now sits. His acreage is on 466 west of 301 towards I-75. He just was opposed to over-development. When he settled with the developer, he signed a confidentialty agreement so no amount was ever made public.

I heard a rumor that when they've sold all the properties in Sanabel that their going to put those chickens right back there again! :shocked:

Then the Sanibelers can sell fresh eggs at the squares on market nights. I can hear the roosters crowing now :).

All's well that ends well.

Cock-a-doodle-doo - YouTube :a040:

Oh no, not another rumor....................

Oh no, don't tell me - now "the chicken pooped on my lawn" threads will start up . . . . .

I can only hope the chickens know how to properly navigate the roundabouts.........

:popcorn:

Bill :)

.... or poop on someone's lawn . . . :shocked:

.... or limit their speed when crossing to the other side of the road to 20 MPH, or sometimes 15 MPH:ohdear:

Or not bringing their dogs to the squares..........

Well, the only reason the chicken crossed the road in the first place was... to prove to the possum that it could be done.