We purchased a house after renting for 3 weeks. We will be snowbirds so we can be near our family in the summer. My husband likes to golf EVERY day and The Villages allows him to do that. There are so many activities to pick from so if your bored it's your own fault.

I agree. Everyone has different needs. The Villages has changed dramatically in the last 7 or 8 years with the buildup and doubling of population size. It isn't for everyone. And people may leave and go be "happy" somewhere else.

But negativity is still found from the same people. And positivity is still found from the same people.

My dad used to say 'the hardest person to live with is yourself'. My lovely wife was enamored with TV. She even found a villa that was reasonable in price and was not totally enclosed by other residents with a 'water view' ( half acre hole filled with water). So when she put the pressure on me to buy..all I said was the two words us adult men use the most 'YES DEAR'. But When I added 'you pay half' she dropped the subject. (her $$ is set aside for when I'm dead and gone). Keeping up two homes is not a smart move for us. We live on a clear lake in a 36 acre development with 13 homes. Eventually we will sell here and buy....

We know some wonderful people that moved from the Villages because it just wasn't for them. They didn't golf, didn't get into things at the rec centers, were not club joiners & they liked to stay home and cook. They love where they are living now. We still keep in touch.

Two hundred posts on this topic!

Time for another glass of Kool-Aid.

I'm surprised there is any kool-aid left. I was thinking of a more alcoholic beverage.

:beer3: :wine:

There do seem to be a lot of posters that find TV is not nirvana(but no place is), and just as many that seem to take that opinion personally. In summary, it appears that TV has changed; some good, some not so good. I think the main issue is overcrowding; facilities and amenities not keeping up with the population increase. Also, I think TV has changed to a more resort/vacation type of town versus the older TV where even the snowbirds were not really vacationing, but were full time home-owning residents for several months.

The Villages so far for me is perfect and I believe by most who reside here

It is no different now then it was when we bought here in 1999. 23,000 people, 1 square. It was always kind of a resort. We met people back in the day that rented here every year.
In comparison, there is way more today per population than there was back then. We all had to drive to Leesburg or Ocala to do any household shopping.
What I always say, people know all of this when they come here.
Some don't want any more people. I bet if their best friends or a relative wants to move here, that would be okay with them.
People make a choice to live here. If they come and look, they see there is a lot of people. They have the choice of saying, too crowded, I'm going somewhere else. They come here and then want everything to change. We love it just the way it is. If they don't like it or are unhappy, there are plenty of real estate companies they can call. Just sayin' :)

It's still all relative. Met a couple at the farmer's market in Brownwood in April that just moved here from Naples---main reason, crowding and traffic, which seems to be the case in most of South Florida. Even our small Upstate NY city now has times when it takes 2 cycles of a traffic light to get through. When I was in grade school, the big headline was the US population hit 200 million---now we're pushing 330 million---that's a 65% increase in less than 50 years, so I imagine there is population driven stress on infrastructure in most places--worse in desirable locations. At least we have that desirable location--imagine the same issues in Fargo ND or Lubbock TX (No offense to anyone from those places)

Happy
 

The villages is beautiful, thats for sure, but my wife and i love going outside the bubble to areas like MT. Dora, Tavaras ,LaKe Eustis, the Hideaway on Lake Harris. The believe that 3 town centers will not support the additional building thats going on. It does not matter if your happy or not-- crowded is crowded, we also go to Cedar Key, Ocala AND MANY OTHER PLACES. There is a world outside the Villages. TAKE A TRIP TO LAKERIDGE WINERY, AND ENJOY WINE TASTING AND ONE OF THEIR SPECIAL MUSIC EVENTS.

1999 - 23,000 per 1 square
Now - 115,000 per 3 squares = 38,000 per square
23,000 to 38,000 = a 67% increase in people/square density
Seems like a difference to me. Just sayin'.

Bu the key question is how many people can a "square" support comfortably--It's not 1, nor is it 1 million--I have no idea. How many people visit a square/day? How many are non-Villagers? What's the difference between a quiet evening and one with a big event? Today 115,000 people in 32 sq miles at peak season = 3594/sq mile. 1999----?23000 in maybe 8 sq mi = 2875/ sq mi. How many golf courses and Rec centers were there back then? How many grocery stores? Maybe the infrastructure has lagged a bit, but probably not by a huge amount