[cabo35]

billethkid's post indicated that there will be a mix of rentals and homes for purchase in Lake Sumter Landing. Interesting......you can buy a home there and be surrounded by renters.

I always thought that would have been a great location for an extension of the downtown with a mix of small specialty shops, craft vendors, sidewalk cafes and condo apartments with balconies overlooking narrow winding streets, lampposts, flower planters, and benches. Real townhouses would with "stoops" would compliment the ambiance and blend into the side streets. I envisioned an umbrellaed pretzel cart with warm New York style pretzels and an ice cream wagon working the clean cobblestone streets that would exist for pedestrian and bicycle traffic only. Throw in a corner newspaper store with all the nations dailies and a great magazine collection. A shoeshine stand in front would add a nice touch. The walls of the newspaper store would be covered with pictures of the buffalo that once roamed the area.

A horse drawn fresh fruit and vegetable wagon with soft bells parks at curbside and sells the produce in brown (biodegradable) paper bags...no plastic. He carefully weighs them on an old fashioned spring scale that can hold five pounds of potatoes. Every Thursday, a knife sharpener would bring in his wagon giving folks an incentive to bring their cutlery in for a fine tuning while having an egg cream at the soda fountain.

Any other visions out there on a rainy day?

[graciegirl]

Pretty picture but not very good business wise. Craft shops wouldn't stand a chance against the new JoAnnes Fabric store. Horse drawn wagon, Horses make a mess and townhouses have stairs usually. Bicycles and walkers and no golf carts? People LOVE golf carts. Pretzels are good, but could the owner make a living just selling Pretzels? Ice cream vendor might make it if it were Graeters from Cincinnati.

My musings on a dreary day in Cincinnati. Some sour grapes thrown in because I am not there.

[rshoffer]

If you mean what they did to the area where the buffalo once roamed, ANYTHING would be better than what is there now. I think that place looks crowded and cheap.... a far cry from The Cottages where we stayed on our lifestyle preview. I would have loved to have been a fly on the wall listening to the planning stages of that development. It doesn't give that "first impression" that The Cottages gave, that's for sure. Whenever I drive by there I always wonder..., "what in the world were they thinking"?

Originally Posted by cabo35

billethkid's post indicated that there will be a mix of rentals and homes for purchase in Lake Sumter Landing. Interesting......you can buy a home there and be surrounded by renters.

I always thought that would have been a great location for an extension of the downtown with a mix of small specialty shops, craft vendors, sidewalk cafes and condo apartments with balconies overlooking narrow winding streets, lampposts, flower planters, and benches. Real townhouses would with "stoops" would compliment the ambiance and blend into the side streets. I envisioned an umbrellaed pretzel cart with warm New York style pretzels and an ice cream wagon working the clean cobblestone streets that would exist for pedestrian and bicycle traffic only. Throw in a corner newspaper store with all the nations dailies and a great magazine collection. A shoeshine stand in front would add a nice touch. The walls of the newspaper store would be covered with pictures of the buffalo that once roamed the area.

A horse drawn fresh fruit and vegetable wagon with soft bells parks at curbside and sells the produce in brown (biodegradable) paper bags...no plastic. He carefully weighs them on an old fashioned spring scale that can hold five pounds of potatoes. Every Thursday, a knife sharpener would bring in his wagon giving folks an incentive to bring their cutlery in for a fine tuning while having an egg cream at the soda fountain.

Any other visions out there on a rainy day?

Your vision reminds me of places in Europe we've visited. I like it! Add a nice bakery with the fragrance of freshly baked breads wafting out to the passersby.

[Bogie Shooter]

The place you envision would die April to November!

[graciegirl]

Rshoffer is right as usual. ABSOLUTELY NO ambiance!

[Muncle]

Originally Posted by cabo35

I always thought that would have been a great location for an extension of the downtown with a mix of small specialty shops, craft vendors, sidewalk cafes and condo apartments with balconies overlooking narrow winding streets, lampposts, flower planters, and benches. Real townhouses would with "stoops" would compliment the ambiance and blend into the side streets. I envisioned an umbrellaed pretzel cart with warm New York style pretzels and an ice cream wagon working the clean cobblestone streets that would exist for pedestrian and bicycle traffic only. Throw in a corner newspaper store with all the nations dailies and a great magazine collection. A shoeshine stand in front would add a nice touch. The walls of the newspaper store would be covered with pictures of the buffalo that once roamed the area.

A horse drawn fresh fruit and vegetable wagon with soft bells parks at curbside and sells the produce in brown (biodegradable) paper bags...no plastic. He carefully weighs them on an old fashioned spring scale that can hold five pounds of potatoes. Every Thursday, a knife sharpener would bring in his wagon giving folks an incentive to bring their cutlery in for a fine tuning while having an egg cream at the soda fountain.

Any other visions out there on a rainy day?

Cabo -- The vision you paint is fetching. I was reminded of a similar scenario, but I don't think even the Morse family could afford this on a daily routine. P.S., I do love the knife sharpener's voice, but I think I'll stick with some red roses and a bit of milk.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UBby9s9ztns

[sschuler1]

Muncle, you are too funny...this is exactly the scene I was thinking of when I read cabo's thread.

[Cassie325]

Cabo....I love your thoughts and vision...however even while I agree with rschoffer...if you ever find a "real" place like that...please let me know...I will start packing immediately!!

[Donna]

Cabo..
I love your ideas...Picture purfect in all cases!!

[uujudy]

Originally Posted by Cassie325

...if you ever find a "real" place like that...please let me know...I will start packing immediately!!

It sounds a bit like downstairs at New York New York in Las Vegas, doesn't it?

[cabo35]

Originally Posted by graciegirl

Pretty picture but not very good business wise. Craft shops wouldn't stand a chance against the new JoAnnes Fabric store. Horse drawn wagon, Horses make a mess and townhouses have stairs usually. Bicycles and walkers and no golf carts? People LOVE golf carts. Pretzels are good, but could the owner make a living just selling Pretzels? Ice cream vendor might make it if it were Graeters from Cincinnati.

My musings on a dreary day in Cincinnati. Some sour grapes thrown in because I am not there.

graciegirl....when life gives you sour grapes make wine and look at the glass half full instead of half empty.

The craft shops in my musing would be nothing like the cold, impersonal, cash register retail fabric store you suggest. I had in mind artisans like woodworkers, candle makers, artists, glassblowers, handmade jewelry and leather crafters all creating their specialities by hand in their respective store fronts to the open view and pleasure of visitors and shoppers. It would also offer a venue for the many talented crafters and artisans who call The Villages home, to display and market their creations. Some would welcome the thought of creating and displaying their talents to admiring observers.

Regarding "horse mess", I go back to the sour grapes analogy. I know of a community that didn't want horses on the local streets for the same reason. The community moved ahead anyway and before the first "dropping" someone came forward and said when notified of the possible pedestrian problem plop, he would dispatch an employee to gather the "product" and use and/or market it as fresh garden fertilizer. Not quite as pretty a vision as wine making, but, you know, akin to making lemonade out of bitter lemons.

"Townhouses have stairs" and people join expensive gyms to work out on stepmasters, go figure. I realize that some people may have difficulty with steps, but the vibrant, active, young at hearts I see and know, living in The Villages in great numbers may not be so easily dissuaded by a few stairs as you suggest.

"Bicycles and walkers only". I envisioned plenty of convenient parking and golf cart charging stations behind the shops. Of course exceptions would be made for golf cart parade days where the pretzel vendor could make a killing on sidewalks five deep during special occasions. Now about the pretzel vendor, he could be an entrepreneur, a subsidized entrepreneur, or a simple ambiance amenity cost with some degree of payback through profit depending on the market response. Likewise the ice cream vendor.

My tongue in cheek musing with a the accompanying wink does find agreement with posters including you who believe the absence of ambiance shouts out in the new development near Lake Sumter Landing, where the buffalo used to roam. In the view of many, it has evolved as a mildly disappointing and aestheticly challenged cluster that falls short of its original potential. It mixes buyers and renters in an area that could have been.....so much more....if motivated by vision instead of profits. My ramblings were nothing more than idle abstract expressions to make the point in a light hearted context. Your rebuttals were challenging and appreciated.

Notwithstanding the subtle critique, be of good cheer. The Villages is still the greatest.

Have a wonderful day wherever you are.

[njgranny]

We have stores here that sell nothing but soft pretzels, and they do well. There's nothing like a good, hot "Philly" pretzel with mustard.

We always take a dozen or more down to our kids in Maryland. They take some to their friends and co-workers who go nuts after them.

I think the pretzel guy would do well.

[cabo35]

Thanks njgranny. As an original Jersey boy, trips to Philly and New York were part of growing up. I can smell and taste that Philly pretzel you described...and those Philly cheese steaks, how good are they? Bookbinders Restaurant was a favorite. If you are a Frank Sinatra fan you can bring up their website and hear a complete song from the "Voice" with a sprinkling of Sammy Davis et al under each menu item, ie: About, Contact, Directions, Events, Menus, Private Parties, Merchandise, Photos, Press, Tours, etc.

Turn the volume up and enjoy..... http://www.bookbinders.biz/

The photos menu has some neat celebrity shots.

Man, I could dig Sinatra music coming out of a Bookbinders anywhere downtown in The Villages. Put this in just so I didn't totally hijack my own post.

[ConeyIsBabe]

Have you ever ridden a bicycle on cobblestone streets? I have, at age 20, honeymooning on a bicycle tour from Germany to Paris....... riding a racing bike on huge cobblestones - with a hard racing seat! Ouch and more ouch !

Anyway, I love your vision, and would love to live in one of the townhomes