[Bay Kid]

Most news articles are done by jealous authors. Not much faith in media anymore.

What a great place to live, like no other place.

[golfing eagles]

All I can say is that anyone who thought this article was "factual", "unbiased", and inciteful must be living elsewhere.

[Smalley]

I agree with your point. This author, like the previous article on TV, don't do interviews with Villagers. This guy didn't seem to get the feel of TV at all. It was statistics, inuendo and complaints. We have an African-American Club and a Korean-American club. Those would have been places to start to get some opinions. Ditto for many other of our groups. That work takes time and effort. Disappointing piece.

[tvbound]

Originally Posted by golfing eagles

All I can say is that anyone who thought this article was "factual", "unbiased", and inciteful must be living elsewhere.

"All I can say is that anyone who thought this article was "factual", "unbiased", and "inciteful" must be living elsewhere."



I couldn't help but laugh at the obvious 'Freudian Slip' here. Between renting for many years and now owning, not only do I believe the article was "factual" and "unbiased," simply by the many angry, knee-jerk responses to the truth - it's patently obvious that it WAS very "inciteful." lol

I also believe the fact that it was "insightful,"...is why so many are up in arms. LOL

We are still 'frogs' though...warts and all.

[golfing eagles]

Originally Posted by tvbound

"All I can say is that anyone who thought this article was "factual", "unbiased", and "inciteful" must be living elsewhere."



I couldn't help but laugh at the obvious 'Freudian Slip' here. Between renting for many years and now owning, not only do I believe the article was "factual" and "unbiased," simply by the many angry, knee-jerk responses to the truth - it's patently obvious that it WAS very "inciteful." lol

I also believe the fact that it was "insightful,"...is why so many are up in arms. LOL

We are still 'frogs' though...warts and all.

You thought my pun was a Freudian slip????? At least you caught it, even though you mischaracterized it.

So now, you think that the reaction to a pack of lies and innuendos was "the truth" because Villagers know better and responded??? Classic tail wagging the dog.

[Bill14564]

Originally Posted by golfing eagles

All I can say is that anyone who thought this article was "factual", "unbiased", and inciteful must be living elsewhere.

I felt it was factual, written with a viewpoint, and pretty much boring.

factual: While not perfect, what facts did he get wrong?

unbiased: The man is trying to sell a book - of course it is biased

inciteful: I think he tried but there just isn't much there - perhaps he does better in his book.

[JGibson]

Originally Posted by Bill14564

I felt it was factual, written with a viewpoint, and pretty much boring.

factual: While not perfect, what facts did he get wrong?

unbiased: The man is trying to sell a book - of course it is biased

inciteful: I think he tried but there just isn't much there - perhaps he does better in his book.

Is factual like mostly peaceful?

[golfing eagles]

Originally Posted by Bill14564

I felt it was factual, written with a viewpoint, and pretty much boring.

factual: While not perfect, what facts did he get wrong?

unbiased: The man is trying to sell a book - of course it is biased

inciteful: I think he tried but there just isn't much there - perhaps he does better in his book.

OK, here are some excerpts of the lies, half truths and innuendos with my comments. This was only from the first 1/2 of the article and I left out the blatantly racial and political references:

there are clearly no rules for the golf carts.

****Really, perhaps we should all crank our carts up to 40 and drive on the Turnpike

The machines are littered with political stickers

*****probably less than 10-15%

It was mid May, so already fairly hot. Presumably due to the combination of age and weather, there weren’t many people out.

*****Must have also been during a thunderstorm, unless people stayed in due to “age”

Most residential streets that morning were empty, treeless

*****In some of the newer areas

nearly every house was shut up tight

*****probably hiding from this idiot

This is the most important thing to understand about the Villages. Spanish Springs was built in 1994, by the same company that designed the nearby Universal Studios theme park.

*****That’s the most important thing?????

primarily centered on letting older people grab a cocktail and manage their assets.

*****That’s the focus here???

a rash of sinkholes

*****How many sinkholes in a rash?

Interaction with the outside world is possible in the way that extravehicular activity is possible in space

*****Didn’t know it was that hard to drive out of here

No one in the complex’s administrative offices (located in one of those pseudo historic houses) was interested in talking to me

*****Smartest thing they did that day

Florida’s Trump-loving retirement community

*****Some do, some don’t

[Bill14564]

Originally Posted by golfing eagles

OK, here are some excerpts of the lies, half truths and innuendos with my comments. This was only from the first 1/2 of the article and I left out the blatantly racial and political references:

NOTE: Removed quoting from the rest to make it easier to comment.

there are clearly no rules for the golf carts.

****Really, perhaps we should all crank our carts up to 40 and drive on the Turnpike
---- Within the bubble, who would stop you if you did? Over 20 is illegal for most and over 25 for the rest yet when was the last time you heard of a citation for that? Is there a discernible difference between a lack of rules and a lack of enforcement of whatever rules might exist?

The machines are littered with political stickers

*****probably less than 10-15%
--- "littered with political stickers and mentions of families and countless expressions of support for various sport teams" Probably greater than 80%

It was mid May, so already fairly hot. Presumably due to the combination of age and weather, there weren’t many people out.

*****Must have also been during a thunderstorm, unless people stayed in due to “age”
--- I'll have to pay more attention this May when the temps reach 85

Most residential streets that morning were empty, treeless

*****In some of the newer areas
--- Even in the newer areas there are trees. Take this as a relative statement and most residential streets are treeless compared to the Fenney area, Leesburg, or my hometown in upstate NY.

nearly every house was shut up tight

*****probably hiding from this idiot
--- Will have to remember to look at this in May too. Though I'm pretty sure nearly every house I passed yesterday was shut up tight.

This is the most important thing to understand about the Villages. Spanish Springs was built in 1994, by the same company that designed the nearby Universal Studios theme park.

*****That’s the most important thing?????
--- Judgment call or matter of opinion, the man has a book to sell.

primarily centered on letting older people grab a cocktail and manage their assets.

*****That’s the focus here???
--- Stereotypes almost always have a basis in fact. Besides, what came first the homes or the squares with the bar huts? When the homes *do* come first there is a clamoring for the squares with the bar huts. I'll absolutely agree that "primarily" is most likely not accurate (I wasn't privy to the planning process) but if the stereotype misses the mark it isn't by much.

a rash of sinkholes

*****How many sinkholes in a rash?
--- Some number more than the single one that was reported (and then called something other than a sinkhole)

Interaction with the outside world is possible in the way that extravehicular activity is possible in space

*****Didn’t know it was that hard to drive out of here
--- Nope, you're observation is absolutely correct, you don't need an airtight environmental suit to leave the bubble. I didn't take the comment quite that literally.

No one in the complex’s administrative offices (located in one of those pseudo historic houses) was interested in talking to me

*****Smartest thing they did that day
--- Was that statement an example of a lie, a half-truth, or an innuendo?

Florida’s Trump-loving retirement community

*****Some do, some don’t
--- "Some do, some don't" makes it sound so evenly balanced. Anyone who believes there is not a vocal, Trump-loving majority must be living elsewhere. (I'm assuming you were not taking exception to "Florida" or "retirement")


I'm not disparaging the Villages, it is what it is and I like it here. I'm just willing to accept that there are things to complain about. And honestly, while I believe all of those points you mentioned are factual (within some reasonable degree of generalization), I'm not personally troubled by any of them - it is what it is and I like it here.

[Flyers999]

Originally Posted by RoyCooper

I wish there had been a paywall - and I had never wasted my time.
...........

I stopped at "Trump-loving."
Haha....you will never get that time back.

Nyah, Nyah, Knee, Nyah, Nyah! 😄

[Aloha1]

Originally Posted by airstreamingypsy

It's funny to see so many people be so defensive about an article that is quite accurate. Except for a few factual mistakes, it's actually quite true. It didn't disparage The Villages, yet so many of you saw it that way. I wonder why.

Because it was a drive by story by a guy who came in late May when 55% of Villagers go elsewhere, spent a couple days here, and pontificates that he now knows everything about our community.

[Byte1]

Originally Posted by srswans

It’s not just The Villages or even the USA - the entire world is a demographic time bomb. The USA is better off than many countries though.

TV may be half abandoned in 20-30 years due to this bomb. Or, perhaps, TV is the best retirement community in the USA so it stays populated while the other communities are empty. Big shift coming.

What??? I have to wait 20-30 years for some elbow room? Not sure I will make it.

[MrFlorida]

If it's so bad here, why are so many moving here ? The story doesn't say anything about that !