[beckylou152]

Originally Posted by Boston-Sean

If you had to choose a retirement community other than TV, what would it be?

We looked over a lot of Florida looking for a place. I think it is such a personal decision. If you are the type of person who wants activities, groups, and variety, I don't think you can beat The Villages. If you are a person who savors quiet time on the beach, then move somewhere on the beach. If you have a limited budget, try a nice park model resort - they are literally everywhere. If you don't want exterior home maintenance, choose a condo resort. My husband and I are extremely active, like many activities, and want to have a variety of things to do, and we don't mind the exterior maintenance, so that is why we chose The Villages. But I don't think it is for everyone. I don't think that central Florida, outside of the manicured beauty of The Villages, is really that pretty; there is limited nearby good shopping, you are at least an hour from the beach, etc. So there are plusses and minuses to everything.

[DAVES]

Originally Posted by Boston-Sean

If you had to choose a retirement community other than TV, what would it be?

I regularly wonder why people ask this sort of question here. People who live here has a bias. That is typical of anything you have bought.

People do not say hey I was wrong to......... People who do not like it here have or should have moved.

Any place, no matter what you will find people living there unless it is abandoned.

You need to decide what you want, what you want to spend etc.

We've been here for eight years. Truth before deciding on The Villages I became aware of an island off North Carolina. It was about 8 acres, had herd of wild horses and a nice house. It was like a million bucks. No neighbor issues unless someone trespasses with a boat. No issues with the power company or if there are you are the power company.
Cable ???? perhaps dish. Go figure my wife vetoed that.

The world is your oyster. Perhaps, too many choices makes it difficult to choose.

[John_W]

I'll make one recommendation. If I didn't live in TV, why would I bother with Leesburg, Clermont or Ocala, they're just clones but with less to do and not as nice, and not near the beaches. If you go Stonecrest 5 miles north of TV in Summerfield, the salesman biggest pitch is, "it's close to The Villages".

If you don't buy in TV, then you must be looking for a bargain. The best are in Hernando and Pasco Counties. My parents retired in 1984 in Spring Hill Florida, 75 minutes southwest of here. The town is a mix of retirees and working people. It's on the coast and there is Weeki Wachee Springs in Spring Hill which has the world famous mermaid show and has a man made white sandy beach and you can swim in the crystal clear spring water. In Spring Hill there is boat launches and you can take your boat out to the Gulf quickly. There is also Pine Island at the end of Route 50, which is a county park and beach on an island and very nice, just doesn't have much commercial development.



The community of Timber Pines was finished around 2000 and is 2.3 square miles, 3,200 homes and 5,800 people. When the community was finished, the developers moved 3 miles south and built Heritage Pines in Hudson Florida. Also a great community but is also built out. The nice part is neither Timber Pines or Heritage Pines won't be getting any bigger, no more influx of people. Both communities are gated with security and a wall around the entire perimeter.

Timber Pines is the larger, with 3 golf courses and the location is right on US Hwy 19. Anything you can find in Orlando is on Hwy 19, it's stretches south to St. Petersburg which 60 miles of shopping, malls, big box stores and restaurants. It also goes north to Tallahassee and gives you quick access to Homosassa Springs and Crystal River. Besides the 3 golf courses inside the community and you can drive your golf cart anywhere inside, there are many courses in Spring Hill and the world famous Innisbrook Resort where the Valspar Golf Tournament is held is in Palm Harbor about 30 miles south on Hwy 19. Tampa is about a 45 minute drive via the new Suncoast Parkway.

Google Maps

In Timber Pines of course all the homes are resales, some were built in the 80's and some in the 90's. This home is $260K, had you asked this question two years ago, this home was probably $200K, they were very reasonable but have gone up in recent years. This is example of what you can get in either community.







Timber Pines Community Association Home - Timber Pines Community Association

Home - Heritage Pines Country Club - Hudson, FL

Here's a villa in Timber Pines for $219K, in 2015 it was $145K, prices are still a great value.



Island green at one of Timber Pines golf courses



Heritage Pines club house

[rlcooper70]

Florida is a long state geographically ..... the temperature is very different in Naples from Tampa or Jacksonville. Think about what percentage of the year you want to be outside. If you are an indoor person it matters less. If you want to be outside, then the northern part of the state offers more months without dramatic heat/humidity

[dhdallas]

Navarre Beach is near Pensacola and is absolutely gorgeous. Sugar white sand with the turquoise water of the Gulf on one side of Santa Rosa Island and the sound on the other. It is in the Central Time Zone. No bugs or alligators (at least on the island).

There is 20 miles of protected seashore with wind swept dunes and sparsely populated beaches with a bike/hike trail almost the entire length of the island. At one end of the island is a historic fort dating back to the civil war and toward the eastern end is a Marine Science Station. Golf carts are used by some residents but not so much as to become crowded. Overall traffic is extremely light on the island. The 4-lane on the mainland can be busy but there are no roundabouts and traffic moves right along. There are many fresh seafood, authentic southern BBQ restaurants and markets. It is NOT a tourist trap.

Beautiful homes and condos (some <$300k) on the waterfront at reasonable prices. The condo amenities/fees are next to nothing compared to TV. From our rental condo's bedroom window, we could watch porpoises playing in the water. I wanted to buy there but my wife insisted on TV.

[chrissy2231]

Top of the world

[Barborv]

I have visited a lot of 55 + places in

[Bitsee]

We moved to Ocala OTOW 3 yrs. ago this week from The Villages.
OTOW has outstanding amenities; state of the art " new " recreation center (s), indoor/ outdoor pools, hot tubs "new" pickleball courts, wood hobby shop, clubs, R/C flying field, RV storage, free Gym membership, Lifelong Learning Center, miniature golf, several new dog friendly parks, beautiful walking trails, weekend entertainment at the square, farmers market , and golf courses just to name a few.
The homes here a better quality, less expensive with no bonds. They actually have green space behind each home for privacy...amazing.
A person has to rent at least 6 months in OTOW so there is no constant revolving renters in here.
You can actually ride a bike here without fear of being mowed down by a drunk driver.
The 3 gates have a 24 hr. attendant every single day.
Ocala shopping, restaurants, and medical facilities are way above what the The Villages offers.
People here in OTOW seem very relaxed and down to earth...they don't feel the need to impress anyone else.
The one thing we absolutely love here is the fact that there is a build-out plan in here after Longleaf and Weybourne. The next project will be Calesa across the way which does not affect our lifestyle what so ever.
Anyone from The Villages would quite impressed if they took a tour of OTOW today, I would bet money on that !
Oh, and if this is prison..sign me up !!

[Barborv]

I have visited a lot of 55 + places in Fla and I visited the Hilton Head Sun city. It had more amenities than other communities. Now back to Fla. When we were first looking , it spanned over 2 summers. I liked Solivita, BUT i wouldn't want to leave the community at night! Went to a lot of Del Webbs along the way, very nice but boring. One large clubhouse. The villages of Citrus Hills was also very nice. On top of the world seemed like they had more to do than other communities, but a lot of those classes they advertise you have to pay for including that really nice gym they show on line. We visited Mt Dora and was also nice, but boring and the surrounding area was eh. Now I heard Margaritaville was really nice, but wasn't there and cant say. Visited Sun city in Tampa. Large community, but the main recreation building at that time (8 years ago) seemed like I was in a school building. Wasn't appealing to me. Plus when you drove into the community you drove through the very OLD section to get to the newer homes and it wasn't aesthetically pleasing. Went to 2 communities in Naples, beautiful area but also one big beautiful club house. Other communities along the way were older, and some even felt like a nursing home. We stayed by a friends house in Clermont called Heritage Hills. Also very nice, One clubhouse and boring as anything. all I have to say is at the end of the 2nd summer of looking into communities, our last stop before heading home was the Villages and the rest is history!!!
Go on 55 places.com as someone else mentioned. Its a good place to start. Go visit other communities. What might be pleasing to one , won't be for another. I like BIG AND VERY ACTIVE! Love the accessibility to shopping and dining and all the recreation and clubs and all by golf cart! For me, The Villages was it.

[sdfarr]

I picked Sun City West in AZ.

Originally Posted by vintageogauge

Stuart is a very high crime area, we stayed there a couple times when we were traveling in a Class A motorhome. We were warned to stay out of a lot of areas. As of today only 17% of all US cities have a higher crime rate per capita and in florida 70% of all cities and towns have a lower crime rate than Stuart. It may look nice but there are better places to go over there that are much safer such as Vero Beach.

We lived in Stuart for 20 years and the crime is in the area East of Rt 1 in the south part of town. Jack Nicklaus has his retirement community in the good area.

Consider the new area of The Villages. Would you feel safe there knowing a few miles away is Wildwood with its high crime rate twice the average of Florida? And some of the new TV homes are actually in Wildwood.
————————————————†”—————

Based on FBI crime data, Wildwood is not one of the safest communities in America. Relative to Florida, Wildwood has a crime rate that is higher than 75% of the state's cities and towns of all sizes.

[PugMom]

Originally Posted by John_W

For some quick results it's a good idea to use the 'search' button at the top of the website. When I moved here ten years ago I had a 20 page pad filled with answers to everything I would need. From painters, to golf cart stores, handyman, etc. Of course, I had already decided on moving here, I have lived in Florida off and on since I was 9 years old.

There's probably not a question that hasn't been asked before, so the search button is the most important features of this site. Slow responses might be because some people are getting tired of answering the same questions, so I did a search for you. Here are some results, this should keep you busy.

Thoughts on other 55+ communities?

T V or ?

What if "The Villages" never happened?

Hi! Future Resident Here!

Would you continue living here after your spouse passes ?

Curious About the Villages

Exploring The Villages in October, 2020 - are there any singles groups?

Rent first before you buy?

Retirement Community Choices

Did you research other communities?

this is why i read your posts for accurate info.

[cj1040]

Probably Latitude Margaritaville...lovely homes, golf cart friendly, private beach access, close to airport and shopping, great indoor fitness center...golf is public courses nearby but that it not our main thing anyway.

[cj1040]

Probably Latitude Margaritaville, Daytona..lovely homes and pool and town center, indoor fitness center, private beach access, airport and shopping close by. Golf is at public courses nearby but that is not our main thing....

[Dlbonivich]

I’m 54 and I visited and sold other retirement communities and I would choose only The Villages.