Gee, much different then you imagined? Really? This place has always grown like crazy and why would they change that? They have a successful model. The only thing that could change is that people stop wanting to come here. I do not understand why people always want to buy THEIR house and want everything to stop for anyone else.

It doesn’t make sense to build infrastructure (courses, restaurants, stores, roads, etc.) for the maximum population. If everyone lived here year round, more infrastructure would be added to meet demand. But it’s too expensive to have most of it go unused for most of the year. This is why the year rounders dread winter because of the influx of snowbirds. This place is great from May to December. If so many would quit going north in the spring, this would be a much better place.

And, please don’t tell me that snowbirds help fund my lifestyle. I’d rather pay more than deal with the short-term influx that prevents me from playing golf or forces me to wait an hour to get a table at a restaurant. I really don’t want to eat at dinner 4:30.

Bradford is Open
 

The Village of Bradford is open. Still construction going on, but quite a large area before you hit the 'no trespassing' signs.

It's the eternal debate between progress vs economic stagnation, isn't it. I understand questions about finite natural resources, environmental concerns, and sustainability, but those aren't unique to The Villages. Traffic to me remains quite low compared to the congested cities I'm most familiar with.

The Morse family has provided housing and amenities that many people find quite desirable. I personally neither laud nor castigate them for it. Other than reading here, I don't much think about them at all.

On another note, I'm very happy to see so many posters coming out of lurk mode to chime in over the last few weeks, both about COVID and other issues. Just because someone has an idea that's been expressed before doesn't make them a troll or sock puppet. Goodness. So much suspicion and antagonism.

Yeah, we saw several cars driving through Bradford yesterday evening and I think they were going down as far as the under-construction Aviary rec center.

If you get off the main road you will have more chance of getting a nail in your tire. We saw nails in the roads as we were walking.

In 2003/2004 TV population was around 30,000+.
Buena Vista was only open heading South to the circle where Arnold Palmer is (then, going to be!).

I wonder what our reactions then would have been if we saw information that TV was going to add 100,000 new residents.

Fast forward to today we can happily say it only got better. Our daily world and how we navigated in it did not change much at all as TV expanded RAPIDLY toward 466A......then onto to CR 44.....and now points south (and more).....

Yes there is more traffic in some places at times. One learns alternative times and routes.

And yes we would do it again today.

The developer has been doing this for a long time. Pretty sure they understand more than we do.

Greed
 

You are correct, the infrastructure cannot handle all the new homes. Going up and down Morse Blvd is a nightmare at certain times of the day, because that is where most of the docs and the hospital are. They are starting to build some further down but it will take awhile. When we moved here in 2010 they told us the Villages would end at 466A and you see how that went.:ho::ho::ho:

In both brand new homes it took awhile for all the geckos and snakes and birds and butterflies to find us. Both times we watched the critters reappear in less than a year and now we watch them comfortably from the lanai and front porch.

My husband and I are trying to help with the general over population and have ditched plans for a baby. There is a lot of water around us, under us and being taken up to the clouds and down in the rain here in Florida. We love to live here in The Villages, the lots are smaller and not so hard to keep nice. The common areas are profuse and lovely and trimmed and maintained regularly. Flowers are planted for all of us to enjoy five times a year and the butterflies love them too.

I hope it will not collapse. The building and maintenance and food suppliers and lawn people are all depending on this beautiful area for their bread and butter.

The plans South of 44 had already begun if you moved here a couple of years ago. The new growth should have been no surprise to you after you moved here.
We just moved here but have been coming for 3 years for short visits. All we heard from everyone was the new growth coming and how fast the homes & properties we're selling.
People have been complaining about snowbirds for years adding to the traffic, taking up tee times & filling up Restaurants. Many of those snowbirds own homes here. If it wasn't for the snowbirds the restaurants, businesses & golf courses would not survive.
No other places offer the amenities the Villages do. Baby Boomers are now retiring so that also is the reason for the growth all over Florida.

CDDs 9 & 10 were both established on September 28, 2004. Anyone shocked or surprised of growth down to SR44 was either uninformed, not paying attention, or didn't do their due diligence to find out what was happening around them. This didn't just happen overnight, it took years of planning.

Brownwood and Rohan Rec Center being built at the very southern edge of the know growth didn't bother to ask WHY? Why would you put a primary commercial property on the far edge away from most of the customers and not in a location surrounded by potential customers? Brownwood was planned in the late 90's, HS and GM were involved and knew exactly what they were doing.

Listen to the next 2 minutes of this video on the Making of Brownwood with Tracy Mathews and Mike Pape. The Building of Brownwood - Exciting Construction Plans - YouTube

This long term planning reflects decades of work and effort by HS, GM, and the entire development team. Did they know they would be developing the land south of SR44 like they are now? Of course they did, they knew exactly what they were doing long before most of us had even heard of The Villages.

If there was any surprises along the way, it was probably gaining control of the Wildwood Springs development that had most of the development planning and agreements in place. This allowed movement on development to happen quickly and probably ahead of schedule. As it turned out, it was an incredible success but it resulted in some problems they are now aggressively trying to address, connectivity. Wildwood Springs is a development that most have not heard of, but everyone knows the new monikers it took on, the Village of Fenney and the Village of DeSoto. The rest is pretty much history and some current events.

Has The Villages changed and does the current generation have different vision of the future, absolutely! Travel to the areas south of SR44 and you see a different kind of Villages, one more environmentally friendly, one more focused on being active, with more green spaces and preservation of the natural resources that were present before the first shovel of dirt was ever moved moved. A strong vision of environmental stewardship now exists. Nowhere else in The Villages is there this large an effort to maintain the environment and beauty of the land, simply look at a map of all the areas and you will see a profound difference, for the better.

The vocal few complain of "too big", "too crowded", "not in my back yard", "greedy", and "I want" with their digital courage from behind the keyboard. The typical, "I've got mine, now it's too big, they need to stop building" crowd. I say the "vocal few" because the vast majority of us our too busy out having fun, enjoying our retirements, and living to be sitting on the couch complaining on social media, I raise my glass to this silent majority! As for me now, the winds are a little too high to fly this afternoon, so I'm off to the golf course...

Goldwing, that is a great post. Very informative and I totally agree with your sentiments about The Villages.

But you still owe a beer what the New Town Center is built south of CR470.

Nope, CR470 will look like CR466 and US441/27 in 10 years, full of commercial properties on both side from the turnpike to where the hospital and schools will be built just south of the prison, and with the town square on the NORTH side of CR470 where 470 meets the road coming from the Bexley Bridge. The fifth town square will be south of CR470, do you what to know where?

Crouds
 

I live near sumter landing and it is no more crouded today than when i bought here. I DO NOT consider south of 466a part of the villages. People there will never come here and i will never go there there. Good luck.

Haaaaaaaa. You’re kidding, right?:a20:

Hate to burst your bubble, princess, I was just there earlier today.

Signed,

A south of 466A resident.