[tophcfa]

Originally Posted by LeRoySmith

I like Americanos too but the water tastes horrible there.

I like the food there also, but I will only do take out because every time we have eaten there our meal was ruined by someone smoking.

[FloridaGuy66]

Originally Posted by npwalters

Much closer than south of the turnpike. I can get there pretty easy in my golf cart.

I'm south of the turnpike and Hobby Lobby is 9.1 miles from me, 19 mins away. According to Google, Hobby Lobby is 14 mins from Spanish Springs. I don't really think the extra 5 mins is a big deal. I can get there easily in my golf cart as well.

[FloridaGuy66]

Originally Posted by Michael 61

in my interactions with the new residents south of 44, most don’t bring up or seem to care about the sparse retail down here. It appears to be a bigger issue for the older residents up North. That’s all fine, but there appears to me anyway, to be a bit of generational split on this issue.

I definitely think you're on to something there. I'm south of 44 and many of my neighbors and myself get things delivered frequently rather than bother going to a physical store. We get Amazon and Kroger deliveries at least once per week. I don't really feel like the retail is that sparse. I can get to Home Depot or Lowes in around 10 mins. That's about the same as my "up north" home. A closer Walmart would be convenient but having to drive 15 mins to the one in Oxford doesn't bother me very much.

[Battlebasset]

I have nothing against Spanish Springs. It's just that I live in the Fenny area and other restaurants/attractions/bands are closer to me in Brownwood, Sawgrass, and developing/soon to develop, Eastport and Middleton.

So unless there is something very special in SS to get me there (really good restaurant, entertainment, special event) I'm not going to make the multi-traffic circle drive. I'm certainly not going to take my golf cart.

So assuming folks down here think like me, it's going to be up to the Lake Sumter area and north people to keep it going. Are there enough with enough disposable income to make that work? I would think so, but the boarded up locations awaiting revitalization would argue against that. Time will tell, I suppose.

I certainly want to see it succeed, it benefits all of us. But I'm not that far removed from the business world to understand that business must make a profit. It's not a charity.

[Battlebasset]

Originally Posted by FloridaGuy66

I definitely think you're on to something there. I'm south of 44 and many of my neighbors and myself get things delivered frequently rather than bother going to a physical store. We get Amazon and Kroger deliveries at least once per week. I don't really feel like the retail is that sparse. I can get to Home Depot or Lowes in around 10 mins. That's about the same as my "up north" home. A closer Walmart would be convenient but having to drive 15 mins to the one in Oxford doesn't bother me very much.

The only thing I want closer are good dining options. Anything else I can order on line and have delivered. I don't look at shopping as entertainment. It's a necessary evil. Hunt it, gather it, and be done with it.

[Bogie Shooter]

Originally Posted by FloridaGuy66

I definitely think you're on to something there. I'm south of 44 and many of my neighbors and myself get things delivered frequently rather than bother going to a physical store. We get Amazon and Kroger deliveries at least once per week. I don't really feel like the retail is that sparse. I can get to Home Depot or Lowes in around 10 mins. That's about the same as my "up north" home. A closer Walmart would be convenient but having to drive 15 mins to the one in Oxford doesn't bother me very much.

Depending on your needs there is a closer neighborhood Walmart across from Colony Plaza.

[Marathon Man]

Originally Posted by FloridaGuy66

I'm south of the turnpike and Hobby Lobby is 9.1 miles from me, 19 mins away. According to Google, Hobby Lobby is 14 mins from Spanish Springs. I don't really think the extra 5 mins is a big deal. I can get there easily in my golf cart as well.

Well said.

[Papa_lecki]

Originally Posted by Battlebasset

So unless there is something very special in SS to get me there (really good restaurant, entertainment, special event) I'm not going to make the multi-traffic circle drive. I'm certainly not going to take my golf cart.

I think that is the secret, they need to make SS something special.

I think it can do okay with those N of 44 supporting it - but they want those around Sawgrass driving to SS, just as they want those around 466 driving to Eastport, even if its only once or twice a month.

[JMintzer]

Originally Posted by Marathon Man

Why is it so hard to believe that we actually don't care about making an occasional drive in our cars? Stores bring traffic. A common complaint in the areas near retail.

I live just north of 44...

When I want to go up to the shopping on 441, we drive our car. We've taken our cart to SS only a couple of times.

It's a reasonable car drive for us. Once you add the additional distance from Eastport, it's much, much farther..

Why is it so hard to believe that distance/drive is something that many people don't want to deal with...

[Stu from NYC]

Originally Posted by JMintzer

I live just north of 44...

When I want to go up to the shopping on 441, we drive our car. We've taken our cart to SS only a couple of times.

It's a reasonable car drive for us. Once you add the additional distance from Eastport, it's much, much farther..

Why is it so hard to believe that distance/drive is something that many people don't want to deal with...

Makes sense to me. This is why we live just north of 466A. We do go often to LSL and Brownwood and shop regularly on 441 but rare to go to Spanish Springs

[collie1228]

I live less than a mile from Spanish Springs and totally understand why folks living south of 44 don’t want to drive up here. I don’t travel south of 44 either. This place is just too big for its residents to travel to its furthest reaches. I don’t even go to Brownwood. Ever.

[margaretmattson]

Originally Posted by FloridaGuy66

The Hobby Lobby and Costco is 6 miles from Spanish Springs, 4.1 miles to LSL, and 8 miles from Brownwood. It's certainly not "near" Spanish Springs.

My point was commercial business is suffering EVERYWHERE.It makes no sense to discuss the demise in one square and not the others. I will believe Middleton will have lots of commercial interest when I actually see it. I think it will.take MANY years to be fully leased.The cost to operate a business is much more expensive than years ago. Instead of expanding, businesses across the USA are cutting back.

To me, Costco is in the Spanish Springs area. It definitely is not in the southern section. Business is not booming in the south. So why worry about the Northern area? We are ALL in the same boat. The world is changing. What is happening in Spanish Springs and OTHER PARTS of TV is occurring throughout many towns in the USA.

Like most of you, I purchase online and enjoy having the items delivered to my door. This is the reason brick and mortar stores are suffering everywhere. A vast majority would rather buy online. Many also prefer to order meals and have them delivered instead of going to a restaurant to dine.

[Eg_cruz]

Originally Posted by Normal

We live south of 44. We’ve been to Spanish Springs once in 3 years. We just enjoy Brownwood more and it’s closer I guess. I don’t wish it any ill will, but they really won’t be getting any income from most in our area. After Eastport is built, there just isn’t really any need to drive a half hour north for entertainment. Retail is starting to boom, Clermont is closer for additional shopping and life couldn’t be better.

Could income verses buying power for that area being reduced because of age and fixed returns be the problem? As we get older, maybe we don’t want to to go to the squares and spend like we used to? Perhaps that may be the major issue.

It is about where you live. I only go to SS and LSL. I have not been to Brownwood since the theater closed.

[npwalters]

Originally Posted by FloridaGuy66

I'm south of the turnpike and Hobby Lobby is 9.1 miles from me, 19 mins away. According to Google, Hobby Lobby is 14 mins from Spanish Springs. I don't really think the extra 5 mins is a big deal. I can get there easily in my golf cart as well.

The Hobby Lobby on Wedgewood - just north of 466 - is about 4.6 miles from SS and easily accessible by golf cart. I play pickleball in a league at Everglades RC. I CAN drive my golf cart there but do not since it will take me about an hour from the area near Tierra Del Sol.

It takes me 35 to 40 minutes to get from my home, about 2 miles south of SS, to get to Everglades RC. I call BS on your claim to get to Hobby Lobby from south of the turnpike in 19 minutes.

[FloridaGuy66]

Originally Posted by npwalters

I call BS on your claim to get to Hobby Lobby from south of the turnpike in 19 minutes.

You're right it's not 19 minutes, it's closer to 15 minutes.

Google Maps starting address is not from my actual home but one on my street.