[Stu from NYC]

Down the road the largest square will be what used to be Disney World

[bsloan1960]

They might build another food court/outdoor music venue similar to Sawgrass rather than building a new town.

Originally Posted by FloridaGuy66

Just curious if there's been any mention of this.

[margaretmattson]

Originally Posted by Ptmcbriz

I loath going out for dinner for mediocre food. It’s such a waste of time and money. Not only do I cook daily, I’ve even started making artisan breads. Although, my bread machine definitely helps. I rarely spend more than 30 minutes in the kitchen for a meal.

I’m sure the Morse family has the next square in the works, considering the Village of Hawkins is deemed to be the center of The Villages when all said and done.

I agree. Nothing worse than spending 3 to 4 times more for a meal when dining out, and it is mediocre at best. However, complaining about it with your dinner friends is quite enjoyable. Plenty of bad food has been served to us, but the jokes around the table always made it easy to swallow. We all leave happy! Nothing better than time spent with good friends.

Many Villagers will tell you they do not cook. However!!!!! Go to their home and they will serve you a delicious gourmet meal in no time. Saying you do not partake in something does not mean you lack the skills to do it.

[Topspinmo]

Disneyland 2, once the drill under highway 50..

[Aviator1211]

Originally Posted by Danube

Wrong. Why would you throw out those figures? A map, or Google Earth's ruler which is accurate to 30 ft or less, shows the following:

Rounded to the nearset 1/10 mile (528 ft):

Spanish Springs square to Lake Sumter Landing, approx 2.6 miles.

Lake Sumter Landing to Brownwood, approx 5.3 miles.

Brownwood to Eastport, approx 6.3 miles.

Wrong. Google maps --using the roads that people use. Not the airspace that crows fly.

The point being that the roughly equal spacing between town squares is highly inaccurate. The spacing is increasing (just like the spacing between amenities -- the only thing going the opposite way is the spacing between homes). Plus the Villages is growing wider, so the homes per town square is dramatically rising. It's a 2D issue that isn't addressed by simple 1D distances.

[Goldwingnut]

Some interesting conjecture on the distance between the next square and Eastport. My number is based on comparison of the map image location with google maps and using their measurement tool. As I was able at one point since that video was released to see the actual map up close, personally, and a more updated version, I will stand by my previous statements. (I had my cell phone in my pocket and was so wanting to take a picture but resisted out of respect for the people involved). My numbers also consider business factors as well as geographic considerations.

Some of the speculation on the distance between town squares leaves out many of the influencing factors. One apparently used driving distance (in a golf cart instead of with a golf club?), which is grossly flawed. My and most other’s measurements discussed here are based on straight line, or “as the drone flys” distance (sorry, the crow is dead). My research indicates that the distances vary in large part by 2 primary factors: 1) home density, and 2) additional supporting retail locations.

Between SS and LSL there is basically no additional retail/commercial supporting areas except west of BV on 466 - I only include Villages owned properties in this assumption for many reasons but mainly because that is the variable that the developer can control and plan for. This area also has a relatively higher home density compared to areas as you move south. The higher density was driven in no small part by business decisions, the need to maintain profitability of the business (a vital business necessity). Early on times were a lot leaner and they needed to build as many homes as possible in the land available to sustain profitability.

Between LSL and BW the distance increased some due to multiple factors, including:
1) more green space exists - roads are wider, wetland areas, golf courses, and other geographical considerations. This leads to a lower home density compared the SS-LSL gap.
2) additional commercial locations - Pinellas and Colony shopping areas bring significant midpoint relief.
3) accessibility - as some have mentioned, SR44 provides significantly greater accessibility. CR466a suffers from bottlenecks at both ends. The Wildwood end west of 462/Powell Rd has improved and is about to be improved again to give better accessibility at that end. The east end has been hampered for may years now with limited accessibility due to the 2 lane configuration in Lake County (the reasons are many here again, but I care not to burn too many political bridges by voicing my opinions at this point).

Between BW and EP the distance increases due again to home density and geography. This is not an attempt to reduce the availability of services as some have foolishly suggested. When you look at a map there are large areas of open and non-villages areas involved - Lake Okahumpka, the turnpike, hogeye preserve, wetlands in DeLuna, Hawkins wetlands areas, and the Chitty Chatty preserve. These all drive the density of homes down, plus there are a lot more open areas that were not developed into homes on Marsh Bend Tail, Meggison, and Corbin Trail. Lot sizes have not changed significantly, but homes are moved closer to the street to accommodate larger lanais wanted and separate the kissing lanais that exist north of 44. The shape of the available/developable property causes thing to be stretched out more N-S as well which increases the distance. To ease some of the distance we have things like Magnolia plaza, Edna’s, and Sawgrass Grove.

This brings us to EP to TS5, again the map I show in video 134 support the location and makes the distance determination a lot easier. An examination of the geography and owned lands shows a much more hospitable area to develop, it’s flat open pasture lands with few significant wetlands areas (e.g. Hogeye Preserve, Evan’s Prairie, etc), and a much wider area (Middleton to the turnpike) all necessitating a closer location to EP for TS5. Yes, Middleton exists between the squares, but it serves more as a commercial/retail supplemental area and less an entertainment venue like the squares. Also there is the planned convergence of McNeil and Bexley in the proximity of the area identified for TS5, much like Morse and Buena Vista at LSL.

Is the location of TS5 finalized, doubtful, it is still years out, but the pointers are converging and once EP and Middleton are fully established and open, it won’t be long after that rough work will start on TS5.

I freely admit that I have misread the signals on a few items over the years, but overall my studies and research have proven pretty accurate and I don’t quickly jump on something just for click bait (e.g. a golf cart tunnel under the turnpike ).

I’ve only scratched the surface of what is to come, much still needs independent and public records verification before I’m willing to discuss. If only half of my research bears fruit and comes out to be accurate, I can say with confidence that we as residents, are in for a lot of really great things to come in the next 20+ years.

[Nana2Teddy]

Originally Posted by coffeebean

I do cook for me and my husband all the time. I'm not a gourmet or anything like that but I do make meals that we enjoy. I make great Chicken Marsala and Chicken Piccata as examples. I just don't have dinner parties at our home with friends as we always go out to restaurants.

Yes, same here. I don’t enjoy cooking, never have, so I don’t cook for anyone but me and hubby now. We will eat out occasionally, but I’m on a very low carb diet due to being prediabetic, so it’s safer for me to eat at home. I keep it very simple though, and if hubby wants a higher carb meal he’s on his own. He’s good with that. 🙂

[ElDiabloJoe]

Thank you, Don, for such a detailed and informative analysis.

[Brynnie]

K

Originally Posted by stu from nyc

10 years sounds about right but still seems like most of us spend less and less time at the squares the longer we live here

yep!

[rustyp]

Originally Posted by Michael 61

For those of us still under 65, we look forward to the new town square that will be south of Eastport, as well as the next town square after that! 😀

Likewise those under 19 do also.