[784caroline]

If you'd like to explain to your friends and family how big The Villages is, this recent "BUSINESS WIRE" article might help: The Villages article . . . quite an amazing place!

The Villages is a Retail Safe Haven Recession Proof Retirement Income Supports Largest Growing Community in the U.S.
************************************************** *************

THE VILLAGES, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--In spite of the national home building
crisis, The Villages sold over 2,400 homes last year and gained 5,000 new
residents. This brought the total population to almost 70,000, which is larger
than Daytona Beach.

'This year is running even stronger than last year,' said Gary Morse, CEO of
The Villages. 'We are averaging 7 ½ homes a day, 7 days a week! This will
make The Villages about the size of Melbourne by the end of this year.'

The Villages is a self contained Active Retirement Community with 80
restaurants, 4 hotels, 2 movie theaters, 2 town centers, 8 shopping centers, 2.5
million sq ft of retail and commercial space, a daily newspaper, TV news
network, radio station, hospital, 225 physicians, 15 pharmacies, 9 softball fields,
187 softball teams with 2,800 players, 42 neighborhood swimming pools at 42
recreation centers and 441 holes of golf in 9 country clubs and 24 executive
courses.

Now that the building crisis has spread to commercial real estate, retailers
and restaurateurs are moving to The Villages because of continuing growth of
affluent retirees. The average Villages' household has a recession proof
income of $81,480.

Golf carts are a prime mode of transportation in The Villages. There are
35,873 homes in The Villages, (growing at a rate of 7 ½ per day) and 37,769
golf carts. Some homes have more than one cart.

They are fun to drive and with gasoline approaching $4, it's nice to know
you are traveling for about 6 cents a mile. With 85 miles of golf cart trails,
everything in The Villages from the hospital to Target to theaters and
restaurants are as accessible by golf cart as they are by automobiles.

The Villages is the largest single-site mixed-use real estate development in
the U.S. and currently home to major retail and restaurant tenants
including: Publix, Fresh Market, Wal-Mart, McDonald's, Barnes & Noble, Belk, Bealls,
Bonefish Grill, Panera Bread, Starbucks, Sweet Bay, TGI Friday's, Chico's,
Ruby Tuesday's, Target, Outback, Carrabas, Bass, Izod, JoS. A. Bank and Red
Lobster.

[Sidney Lanier]

Put in numerical terms as in this article, TV is pretty remarkable!

[784caroline]

Sidney
I could not believe they sold 7.5 houses a day 7 days a week last year. Compared to the rest of the RE market, that was outstanding. At this rate (which is good, sustains a workforce, and eliminates speculation),, I wonder what the projected buildout date would be.

[gfmucci]

Originally Posted by 784caroline

I wonder what the projected buildout date would be.

2014???

[Russ_Boston]

good guess IMO

[Puterguru]

All this and still no...

White Castle
Boston Market

;D ;D ;D

I think we have everything else.

[smalldog]

Smalldog Sez a average income of over $ 80 K, : Holy Mackerel Andy
who me :dontknow:

[inda50]

What is the date of the oriinal comment?

[dbdavis]

I'm with you smalldog! I didn't realize there were that many high rollers in TV.
That average will certainly decrease when I relocate next year.

[handieman]

???

Wonders what a half a house sells for? which half do you get? can two people who live next door to each other join houses? where are these "half Houses"? Do half a.. people buy these houses?

Jus Sayin

Handie :joke:

[Muncle]

Originally Posted by smalldog

Smalldog Sez a average income of over $ 80 K, : Holy Mackerel Andy
who me :dontknow:

That's a real iffy number. Like they say about such things, there are "lies, damned lies, and statistics." I would suspect that this number is greatly influenced by the household incomes at the time of purchase. Often, one or more members of the household are still working fulltime. By the time they move to TV, that salary has been replaced by a much smaller pension/501K/IRA/annuity/whatever.

Seemingly, getting statistics on average income would be very difficult. TV does no such survey, so demographers would have to rely on the gov't for data, specifically the IRS and census bureau. With so many of our "residents" being snowbirds, snowflakes, nonresident aliens, etc., getting an accurate reading would be nigh on to impossible. Plus, as someone else asked, what is "a recession proof income"?

[REDCART]

You also need to factor in the TV wannabees like us. Yes, we own but we're still living in NY and working FT until we retirein about 18 months.