Disney World is a huge draw, however, with limited school vacations , we would expect the grandchildren to fly down once or twice a year at the very most. Both of our sets of 5 grandchildren total do not live a driveable distance to The Villages......so would have to fly.

When they were babies, with no commitments, it was easier for their parents to bring them "home" much more often.........but we all know what happens once they start school, town activities, church activities and sports, plus all of their friends birthday parties and sleepovers..........they all become overscheduled.......and visits to the grandparents lessen.

But this is healthy and normal. Not all families still live in the same neighborhood or even the same town or state.

So, now it's time for us. We've weighed all of these considerations.

But...............the alligators are still worrisome...........(just kidding).

p.s.
Many folks are adventerous and have relocated to other parts of the country during their lifetimes. However, many others do find solace in the "familiar".........and if they were lucky enough to live in a nice community with very little stress for over 43 years, the only thing that will get them to MOVE is usually the weather (cold, damp, rainy, snowy, icy, etc.) which although tolerable when younger......just gets old after too many long winters................and what was once a great family home becomes way too humongous to care for. Often, less is more...........

It really doesn't matter if everyone likes it here. There will always be people that like more open spaces, people that don't golf and don't see the reason to move to an area that has so many courses..people that don't want to be this far from family, people that HATE restrictions, etc, etc.........but for the rest of us...it's great! Not that I would ever do it, but I love the idea of being able to run over to my neighbors to borrow a cup of sugar if I need to. I miss that, the idea of old fashioned neighborhoods, being able to invite people over to just hang out, b**ch about world problems and just enjoy being together. This is my view of The Villages and I am so happy we are here.

hmmmm
 

I have often said....

Give em a million, and they ask why not a million and one?

EXCELLENT POST. Well said.

I had a brother visit. I knew he would not like the place and I knew he would tell me. I did not ask him since I knew he was going to tell me before he left. When he told me he did not like this place I said I know what you mean that is how I feel about where you live. He got mad. Go figure!

I love living here. My quality of life has improved 1000% since we moved here last year. We too have done the big house, pool, yada yada. But living here has been so liberating with fewer responsibilities, more time for fun!

My wife's friends came to visit us in The Villages. They have a place in Tampa and stopped over on their return to NY. During their three hour visit they sat in the kitchen shooting the bull and drinking coffee. I offered them a golf cart tour but they declined. I offered to take them to Cody's and get a bite to eat and again they declined. For three hours all they did was sit...never leaving the house. A few days later they tell my wife "The Villages did nothing for them and they weren't impressed."

...again different strokes for different folks...we are happy and content here, our kids are happy for us. (The son-in-law (32) wants to live in TV, now!) Priorities change and when you find a place that fits most if not all of your priorities it's special.

Cocoons.
 

Have a long time family friend who hated the Villages. Did not even like the polo games but raved about their hot dog stand's dogs and even asked them where they got their meat. He has probably moved 30 times during his lifetime though as he gets sick fairly quickly of his surroundings and just gets up and moves again.

Usually the family members who have not wanted to move to the Villages had long established friendships and personal memories attached to certain places and did not want to move even if all their children had moved out of these cocoons.

I think this post sums up a lot of why we are discussing this. I can honestly say I have never gone to visit somebody, at their invitation, and gave them an evaluation and analysis of their home, neighborhood and town.

Even though they LOVE it, in NYC I never told them, "The streets and buildings are dirt-coated and too close together and the rent is too damn high".

In Chicago suburbs and "The City"--capitalized and pronounced/enunciated reverently like "The Son of God"--I never told them "I could never live here, sitting in the car on the so-called "express"way for three hours trying to go 3 miles. And there are too many democrats and the STD rate is too high" (never mind the fact we've been married and had the same and only partner for the last 40 years).

We didn't go there to evaluate and critique where they live, but to visit with them and enjoy the things and places they like....and we liked also.

Yes, I knew of a couple that would rather have lived in an over 55 community in Arizona. Why? Because all the children and grandchildren live in California and the flight would be more expensive and would be ALL day.

The grandkids know where we live. Let them come here. Lots of motels around. :a040:

I think you and TomHannon summed it up very well and I agree. My sister and her husband HATE The Villages although they haven't visited yet and they hate the 'condos' we all live in, even though we don't. They know everything about it and I know by the time they get here they won't need to see anything to be sure they are experts. They have always disliked what isn't their idea. It won't be for them BUT I don't care since it is MY choice and frankly, I am thrilled that it isn't for everyone. I don't really want to population to double and be 200,000. Some of my friends are thrilled for me; some swear it's a huge mistake. I'm not an old-timer like some others, but I still get excited every day for a retirement that will allow me to live in TV for what it is without being perfect. It's a choice I made for myself with all the good that comes with it. I only need for my husband and me to love it.

I've had two single friends (ladies) visit and tell me it's fun to visit but can't understand why I would want to live here since its sooo couple oriented. They are right that there are a tremendous amount of couples here but that doesn't mean there's no room for those of us that are single...I enjoy many activities with PEOPLE not "singles" or "couples".... Guess I'm not much for "labels" -- I'm just a "people person"!

THAT is a wonderful attitude!

LOL,, we have good friends who tend to be a little on the snobby side and live in Sarasota. They belong here but they will never come because they can't get past the Sarasota thing. We laugh because we have it SO much better here in all respects except the ocean isn't nearby. They turned their noses up a bit when we moved here. They have one country club at which they pay equity membership fees; three nine hole courses; the club, while nice, is on the verge of bankruptcy and has continual employee turnover; they have a nice house but they could have a nicer one in a place like Bridgeport or something like that but their house's value is no where near what they paid for it; Sarasota in the winter is a traffic nightmare; and, we might be country people now but we have it SO much better...and, they know it but will never admit it. :gc:

So true!

Had the same experience. People see what they want to see. Where I saw a beautiful golf course, one of our relatives saw an open field where tornados could come at us unobstructed and golfers would use bad language and relieve themselves in front of our home. Is Envy still one of the deadly sins?

Why is it so important to so many that their choice of living in TV is validated by others. Comments about those that did not like TV are almost always some version of .... they are stupid and don't get it .... I am smart and do.

If you like TV, great! Enjoy yourself. If someone else do not like TV, great! They can enjoy where they do like.

I for one hope that most don't like TV! If everyone did and moved there it would no longer be TV. I don't live there YET but hope to. My wife loves it but says see can't see us living there because the houses all look the same. It is hard to argue this and even harder to persuade her otherwise because I am an architect and have design custom homes for over thirty years and have long drummed into her head how I don't like tract homes so I guess I peed in my own soup!!
I love TV because of the lifestyle not the houses. I really don't mind the way the houses look that much either. I have been there three times to visit my parents and will be there again in April to visit and try to show how beautiful the homes in TV can be.

EB

We have friends who MUST live in the same golf community. I think they like being big ducks in a small pond.

If Swimdawg still posted she'd probably give you the post of the day.

In all fairness as to why some folks might choose Sarasota.........check out the Ringling Museum of Art website.

Ringling Museum of Art
The museum is wonderful; the waterfront gardens are amazing. People of all ages enjoy it. In our 40’s we remember a 90 something spry lady we met at the museum.

Sarasota has an awful lot going for it. We have a friend who retired there; recently deceased. Lived on a golf course. According to her, neither of them EVER golfed. She just liked the privacy out back.

She and her husband, a retired superintendent of schools in Connecticut, also deceased, had a terrific retirement....both passed in their very late 90’s.

She was originally from Cambridge, Mass. and he was from Maine.........then lived in Connecticut.

They went between Sarasota and their cottage on Pemaquid Peninsula Maine ......

My friend was an author, thus she enjoyed the “culture” in Sarasota and belonged to many groups, even into her very elder years.

We enjoyed visiting Sarasota ; remembering one really great Cuban restaurant.......upscale luxury Cuban restaurant; wonderful food.

The Ringling Museum of Art is a great tourist attraction........as are the beautiful beaches, just over the causeway........very very short drive.

We always flew right into Sarasota’s airport........nice size; not too big. Since we always went "off season" in early spring, we never experienced the traffic jams of the "high season".....but actually we were in Venice during December, January, February, March and April.........and ditto re both Venice and Sarasota. Never saw any massive traffic jams at all.......not on the beach side coastal roads..........maybe inland?? On the major highway???

I truly believe there is a place for everyone and that not everyone has to like the same place.........or we would all be cookie cutter objects.

We'd also go to Sanibel Island in the springtime and never had traffic congestion at all...........yet we've heard from neighbors of ours who went in January that it was bumper to bumper over the causeway from Fort Myers to Sanibel Island and even on the island.........but we never saw it. Just lucky I guess. Everyone has a different perception of what is nice and what isn't. The parts we saw of Sarasota were truly very nice. Ironically, our two lawyer neighbors in our old neighborhood here, both were from Sarasota and only thing they complained about was the heat; thus the move to Vermont and it's four seasons.

I also do genealogy with a cousin whose son lives in Sarasota; know for a fact he and his wife LOVE visiting the son and his family and love Sarasota. We loved the museum and the beaches.

Great shopping also, for those into that.

Sarasota Florida Beaches: Siesta, Lido, Longboat, Venice, Casey, Manasota | Visit Sarasota : The Official Website for Visit Sarasota County on Florida's Gulf Coast

Sarasota has beautiful white sand beaches...........Siesta Key, Longboat Key, Lido, etc. and a short ride away is Nokomis Beach, Casey Key and Venice Beach, Casperson Beach....

Thank you - an intelligent post! :bowdown:

Still on the subject of Sarasota.........alas, nothing in this world is perfect.

Sarasota Red Tide : The Official Website for Visit Sarasota County on Florida's Gulf Coast

This is one of the two reasons we chose to leave our Gulf of Mexico beachfront condo..............the realtors never divulged the horrible symptoms caused by the Red Tide.........always has been there and always will. So, it is a negative if you want to avoid bronchial distress........

Sanibel was our top choice years aho but we discarded it after being there with Red Tide and environmentalists who let the dead fish killed by Red Tide rot on the beach, "natures way" Sickening.

After the kids outgrew 15 or more years of Disney, we'd take April school vacation on Sanibel Island each year, renting a condo on the beach.
I believe it was the "High Tide".........it was new at the time.

Never experienced the red tide on Sanibel or Captiva.

It wasn't until we bought in Venice, beachfront..........actually, it was the year before we bought, but just thought hubby had a "cold". He thought he got something from the lady realtor's car. I thought perhaps from the airplane flight....stale air, etc.

We visited quite a few times and Venice was a nicely laid out, planned community, called a "Main Street" Florida community and that's what we wanted as that's what we were used to in Vermont........it was pretty.
It was a totally self contained town.

We sold our home, flew down, during high season in December.....bouncing around from rental condo to rental condo while waiting for the one we bought to be remodeled..........it came out great.

All along, hubby was having these really bad symptoms...........he was strangling......we still didn't know what it was.........we didn't leave because of the red tide, but another issue............and to get my mom who was in early stage alzheimers back to her support system, and ours, in Vermont..............but then I began to do research and back then it was kind of a "hidden secret" about the red tide............now they have to post it I notice..............but we never saw any dead fish. Just felt like black pepper in our throats all the time...........coughing, irritation, almost pnuemonia like symptoms with the "braided phlegm" he had......not to gross anyone out...............but we returned to pure clean COLD air; got off the plane in April ; it was 36 degrees at Albany, N.Y. airport and all three of us said..........."Ah, we can breathe."

That was almost twenty years ago and now we are craving the sunshine again........for the old bones........and I know The Villages does not have the red tide.

But, what an experience that was. As I've mentioned, our realtor always wore a white surgical mask. We must have been very trusting back then. He never divulged the red tide.

Venice had some nice smaller beaches also, besides the newly refurbished beach that we were on, Venice Beach. It also had jetties where the skidoos would go out/jetskis, boating..........the other beach was secluded; Casperson Beach and Nokomis , next town, also had a nice deserted beach.

Again, not everything is what it seems........even on three or four visits.

I won't mention the reason we left as when I first was researching TV, some didn't like the topic ; but I figured we don't want to make the same mistake again. But, TV doesn't have OLD CITY sewers, right? Or canals, or big pipes that let the water out onto a beach, right?

Back in the early 1980's I attended a continuing education course at a resort hotel on Longboat Key. Whenever I left the hotel and went out on the beach I started to get a strange tickling in my throat, develop some nasal congestion and cough some. The nearer I got to the water the worse my cough and congestion became. Very near the water is was almost impossible for me to breath, much less inhale a really deep breath. Welcome to the Red Tide. After I returned home I did develop pneumonia which as I look back probably got its start with the Red Tide.

The traffic on Longboat Key was very bad, it being March or April. I did spend some time in Sarasota, visiting the Ringling House and grounds, as well as some of the very hard sell timeshares just starting up. I recall one was a converted motel for which I calculated that for the cost of a a week or two's "ownership" one could probably build the place.

There's no question that Sarasota is beautiful. It's our favorite beach vacation destination. But most people here in TV cannot afford to live there and enjoy golf and tennis and all the other recreation we have here. Or, we just don't want to spend that much to do the simple things in life, like go for a ride on the golf cart with our dog.

Definitely sounds like you were affected by the RED TIDE.
It's really a terrible feeling and does put a damper on your visit to an otherwise very nice area....

Thanks for sharing.......

Well, of course she wouldn't like TV! She needs to go somewhere that there are things she likes to do. There are plenty of options,really.

If she is the artistic type, she'd love the seascapes she could paint while living in a beachfront condo or home near the coasts of Florida........

If they are into boating, ditto.........the coasts would be ideal.

Believe me, not everyone is into golf........but that said, one could live very happily in The Villages and never play golf at all (or dance in the squares for that matter)........TV has a lot else going for it.

Florida is a very huge state with plenty of options for all interests.

Exercising on the beach, going for long walks in the evening......or early morning........are just one of the things that draw people to Florida's coasts............but then again, condo living is also not for everyone....but it sure is nice to just come down and be right on the sand..........Vero Beach is very nice and does not have red tide.

Can't be any clearer than this!
 

I could not agree more! While some posts factually report what their visitors have said about their views of TV (which--positive OR negative--is certainly okay), I will never understand what seems to be insecurity and/or defensiveness on the part of others.

And at the risk of sounding unaware, what is a "B"?

We have had friends that are not thrilled with TV
 

and love their quiet country club lifestyle, and I respect their opinion but TV "fits me to a Tee"....Before we made the move to TV (took us three trips and we were sold) I would mention TV and they would say "You want to move down to Florida with all the bugs and heat", can't argue with that BUT what they don't know is this wonderful "Village family" that I've grown to love more each day...

Stands for BEAST.

And some of us B's are defensive because this is our home town that we love. This is where are hearts live and our friends. Some of us were just as defensive about the places we were born and raised. It is called B-ness.

Some of us love the culture, the age of our peers, the social and political climate, the danged belly laughs that erupt everywhere. The prettyness, the sassyness, the feeling of a college campus without the classes.

Some of us can't understand WHY anyone wouldn't love this place but to be fair those people peobably were fairly positive all of their considerable successful and interesting lives.

B nice.
B sweet
B sassy
and sometimes just be a B. You deserve it.

BINGO!:BigApplause:

I thought "b" was for b_ _ ch! DUH.

I should have sold real estate here because I have brought six couples and one single here! Only one of our friends came here and thought it was "too big." They live where there is ONE golf course, one clubhouse and nothing else to do. Different strokes, I guess.

My brother in law in Fl as a deep hatred for TV.
He says all you yankees have moved down here and think FL owes you a retirement.
He say's the lake he live on is 8 feet low because of the development in TV
Traffic = TV
Overcrowded stores = TV
STD's = TV
Florida housing prices =TV
Crash in construction jobs =TV
The last 2 was very detailed as to how TV sucked it all up.
It's like poking a bear.
I used a hot stick daily.
:1rotfl::1rotfl:

Cisco - why don't you just bring that boy to the next Crispers luncheon and I'm sure we can set him straight.:icon_twisted: