[crash]

Originally Posted by Craig Vernon

Doomsday? An observation about current events. My wife and I love TV's but there are problems developing that are worth discussing. Sorry you don't think so. Be Well!

What I see that worries me is the medical services are not being put in to service the aging population. They say they can’t get enough doctors to staff the current population what happens when it increases by 75%.

[rsmurano]

Another doomsdayer! The sky is falling! Things are falling apart! Businesses are leaving!

You are right, Spanish springs area is very outdated and old looking. Some people like that. I personally like the new and I like the improvements the developer has made while improving on the old: multi paths, house designs, walking paths in the south. 5 years from now, more improvements will be made, and that’s called evolution. I have friends that keep moving into the new areas every couple of years, nothing wrong with that

[dewilson58]

Originally Posted by rsmurano

Another doomsdayer! The sky is falling! Things are falling apart! Businesses are leaving!

Ahhhhh yes.

Just before TV jumped South of 44, the thread was: The Family is selling the business. Some private equity firm will be running TV. Oh No!!

[Ellwoodrick]

Having been a Real Estate Appraiser for 38 years in western Pennsylvania I have observed many communities change over the years. Some in a positive way and some in a negative way. My wife and I purchased our 2nd home within a 20 minute golf cart drive to Spanish Springs. We like the northern part of the Villages. The older more mature neighborhoods were attractive to us. The ease of jumping out side the bubble to find whatever we need we think is great. The Restaurant business has always been a very competitive business. As an operator your business model better be geared around surviving on the slow times and not on the boom times when we snow birds flock in to survive. Your product must be better than average. Your help must be top notch. The rents of the spaces in Spanish Springs will eventually reach an equilibrium between what can be paid by an operator to make a profit and the developer to get the return on the investment for the site that is satisfactory to the Developer. The return to the Developer may come from a larger picture, the sale of new homes in the new communities opening up. Eventually the Developer will not subsidize the older built out neighborhoods and they will change. The Highest and Best Use of the properties will change. Being new to the Villages it will be interesting to see how the metamorphosis of the neighborhood evolves.

Originally Posted by Bogie Shooter

Wondering why you want to become full time, with such doomsday forecasting?

Same. Why move here? Also the new areas still rely on areas that are just now being developed like 466A. Pretty dumb post. Just need controversy posts to boost ads on a 3 day weekend. Most likely a fake post just about anyone could post like a dog poop post lol.

[RoseyRed]

A mobile business that takes the services to the resident's home, instead of the resident going to the business establishment.

Originally Posted by Craig Vernon

Doomsday? An observation about current events. My wife and I love TV's but there are problems developing that are worth discussing. Sorry you don't think so. Be Well!

So you and your wife are coming next year... buy a house yet? Going to be snowbirds? Which side of T V is your destination?

[Rzepecki]

Originally Posted by Craig Vernon

TV's are continuing to struggle internally as residents age and the footprint gets larger. The oldest areas seem to be losing businesses as the shiny new areas develop. It seems to me that it would be very difficult to maintain a business with so many part time residents and an aging population that has less need, desire or ability to leave their homes to support them. Spanish Springs and Sumter landing are losing staple businesses, and there do not seem to be people knocking the doors down to fill any of them. Outside and nearby things are booming with construction and development. Perhaps the apartments, family areas and cheaper housing around TV will save the day. Perhaps the bubble will turn into a landlocked beach town where certain businesses close during off season periods. Your thoughts and opinions welcome. See you as a full-time neighbor coming early next year. Have a Great day!

Uninformed.

[Rzepecki]

Originally Posted by ThirdOfFive

Some time back I recall reading in another publication that such predictions of doom-and-gloom seem to be as regular as snowbird season and complaints about bad driving. There will always be those who see the glass as half-empty.

One of the things that fascinates me about them is the inevitable referral to "an aging population", as if that fact spells death for this-or-that area or business. Yeah--TV has an "aging population". But the result of aging is death. And as people die, they are replaced with younger folks. In our neighborhood we've had five families move in this year that I know of: two of them has one or both spouses still working remotely. the rest are younger retirees. The Village we live in came online in the late 1990s. My guess is that the average age of Villagers in our little corner of heaven is younger now than at any other time in the past ten years.

The other fallacy is "growth". As in mushrooms apparently. But the fact of the matter is that The Villages doesn't grow up. It grows OUT. Individual villages with their own individual character and architecture are pretty much constant. My guess is that, again using our Village as an example, if you went back in time to, say, Y2K and took a drive through it, virtually the ONLY difference you'd see between now and then is that the cars look somewhat different.

As to that "footprint" growing larger, in terms of space anyway, that is admittedly having an impact. But population outgrowing infrastructure, especially in a place growing as fast as TV (or Florida in general, for that matter) is natural. You won't see businesses being developed or medical services being implemented on merely the EXPECTATION of growth. The growth has to actually happen first. Infrastructure (services, roads, utilities, etc.) then is developed. But the settled, older neighborhoods aren't experiencing that. The last major infrastructure expansion here was the widening of 27/441. Businesses come and businesses go, but the restaurants closing in Spanish Springs are being replaced by restaurants that are significantly BETTER in most respects than the ones that have closed, and are doing commensurately better than the shuttered ones did. Don't confuse the results of healthy competition with "shrinkage" caused by whatever imagined reason.

TV is healthy. And as expansion continues and more and more opportunities and services are created, is getting healthier.

[mikemalloy]

I think that the economy may pay at least a part in the problem. Inflation has reduced the spending power of many residents especially those on fixed incomes.

[opinionist]

You may be observing a country-wide recession. Florida remains a destination state, and TV remains a destination community within the state. You may not control the events around you, but you can control your reaction to them.

[CoachKandSportsguy]

One of the problems with annual COLA increases and inflation is that inflation happens all the time and the COLA happens in January to SS checks. So salaried people, including SS salaries, are always behind in purchasing power. The recent inflation effect has had quite a bit of an effect throughout the US on the regional / small retail chains everywhere. Likewise the continued decline of the middle class and its purchasing power also doesn't help small retail as well. Several clothing stores here in MA have gone under, and several supermarkets are closing around us this month.

Healthcare and an active retirement life has increased life longevity tremendously for villagers in 40 years, so the turnover is a bit slower than it used to be as people live longer! Yeah! I get to enjoy this life longer than the prior generations! Enjoy it and don't demonize it, as you want an active long retirement don't you?

So I wouldn't judge a retirement community in rural FL by its retail stores when you still have big box options and mail order. For men, this isn't an issue as we start prepping for our eventual move, i have many, many golf shirts, lots of underwear, and socks. . . So I just need occasional jeans and golf shorts replacement. As far as restaurants serving retirees with dietary restrictions and smaller daily requirements, the fewer the options the better for a constant flow of customers eating out 1-2 a week. Though I don't get the attraction of fast food drive throughs for a regular diet.

But the developer doesn't control who moves in the squares, either. Just the rent and revenue cut. Too high and higher turnover. I vote for more breakfast joints to offset the dining only choice. And if you notice that Sawgrass Grove is much smaller retail footprint, focusing more on food. So the developer is adapting to modern times from a 40 year old business model. Lots change in today's world in 40 years, but what's old becomes new again, and that also happens here in TV as well.

So, if you want retire here permanently, I recommend focusing on having the resources to be able to maintain your house / transportation / food purchases comfortably to be able to weather future bouts of inflation or some sort of SS cut or tax increases. Have a good financial conservative forecast to insure your assets are sufficient to support you under multiple scenarios of tax increases, SS cuts and stock market under performances. .

Then whatever happens in your community, you can still enjoy wherever you decide to live here.

Good luck, and if you need an excel 20 year forecast model of income and expenses, to see if you have sufficient assets, let me know and I will send you one. And then if you need help using it, we can zoom through it together.

former finance guy

[coconutmama]

Originally Posted by CoachKandSportsguy

One of the problems with annual COLA increases and inflation is that inflation happens all the time and the COLA happens in January to SS checks. So salaried people, including SS salaries, are always behind in purchasing power. The recent inflation effect has had quite a bit of an effect throughout the US on the regional / small retail chains everywhere. Likewise the continued decline of the middle class and its purchasing power also doesn't help small retail as well. Several clothing stores here in MA have gone under, and several supermarkets are closing around us this month.

Healthcare and an active retirement life has increased life longevity tremendously for villagers in 40 years, so the turnover is a bit slower than it used to be as people live longer! Yeah! I get to enjoy this life longer than the prior generations! Enjoy it and don't demonize it, as you want an active long retirement don't you?

So I wouldn't judge a retirement community in rural FL by its retail stores when you still have big box options and mail order. For men, this isn't an issue as we start prepping for our eventual move, i have many, many golf shirts, lots of underwear, and socks. . . So I just need occasional jeans and golf shorts replacement. As far as restaurants serving retirees with dietary restrictions and smaller daily requirements, the fewer the options the better for a constant flow of customers eating out 1-2 a week. Though I don't get the attraction of fast food drive throughs for a regular diet.

But the developer doesn't control who moves in the squares, either. Just the rent and revenue cut. Too high and higher turnover. I vote for more breakfast joints to offset the dining only choice. And if you notice that Sawgrass Grove is much smaller retail footprint, focusing more on food. So the developer is adapting to modern times from a 40 year old business model. Lots change in today's world in 40 years, but what's old becomes new again, and that also happens here in TV as well.

So, if you want retire here permanently, I recommend focusing on having the resources to be able to maintain your house / transportation / food purchases comfortably to be able to weather future bouts of inflation or some sort of SS cut or tax increases. Have a good financial conservative forecast to insure your assets are sufficient to support you under multiple scenarios of tax increases, SS cuts and stock market under performances. .

Then whatever happens in your community, you can still enjoy wherever you decide to live here.

Good luck, and if you need an excel 20 year forecast model of income and expenses, to see if you have sufficient assets, let me know and I will send you one. And then if you need help using it, we can zoom through it together.

former finance guy

Very nice post 👍.
Informative, realistic & kind

[airstreamingypsy]

I'm sorry your reasonable post was met with such anger. Some residents see TV through rose colored glasses and, as you can see, get all riled up if anyone even suggests it's not Nirvana. I suspect it's because if it isn't, they will feel like they've been hornswoggled. The more you read TOTV, you will see it's always the same ones who want to jump down peoples' throats.

[SHIBUMI]

IF YOU BUILD IT THEY WILL COME.........PEOPLE FROM ALL AROUND WILL DRIVE FOR HOURS TO GET HERE...........IT IS AND CONTINUES TO BE THE FIELD OF DREAMS...IT WILL REMAIN THAT WAY UNTIL AN ANTI AGING PILL IS INVENTED...........Bless Us!

Originally Posted by Craig Vernon

TV's are continuing to struggle internally as residents age and the footprint gets larger. The oldest areas seem to be losing businesses as the shiny new areas develop. It seems to me that it would be very difficult to maintain a business with so many part time residents and an aging population that has less need, desire or ability to leave their homes to support them. Spanish Springs and Sumter landing are losing staple businesses, and there do not seem to be people knocking the doors down to fill any of them. Outside and nearby things are booming with construction and development. Perhaps the apartments, family areas and cheaper housing around TV will save the day. Perhaps the bubble will turn into a landlocked beach town where certain businesses close during off season periods. Your thoughts and opinions welcome. See you as a full-time neighbor coming early next year. Have a Great day!