Talk of The Villages Florida - The Villages FL VS Sun Cities AZ

Talk of The Villages Florida (https://www.talkofthevillages.com/forums/)

- The Villages, Florida, General Discussion (https://www.talkofthevillages.com/forums/villages-florida-general-discussion-73/)

- - The Villages FL VS Sun Cities AZ (https://www.talkofthevillages.com/forums/villages-florida-general-discussion-73/villages-fl-vs-sun-cities-az-339906/)

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Originally Posted by jimjamuser (Post 2199094)

How they are GLAD that they did NOT pick the heat, humidity, and hurricanes of Florida!

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Originally Posted by jimjamuser (Post 2199098)

There are coyotes here, more snakes, more insects, and more humidity than Az. Plus rocks don't grow and need to be cut every 4 days in the summer heat and humidity.

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Originally Posted by jimjamuser (Post 2199100)

I find deserts to be the opposite of "BORING". I find flat Fl. to be boring and the lawnmowers EXTREMELY NOISY and the Golf Carts to be smelly with CO2 pollution!

None of this was a secret, yet you still decided to move here?

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Originally Posted by toeser (Post 2198980)

We bought land in AZ many, many years ahead of retirement to lock in our location for retirement. We had an 8-acre lot and a 1-acre lot near Prescott. The 1-acre lot had absolutely stunning views, and the 8 acres was pretty darn nice too. We absolutely love the Prescott area. Then a funny thing happened. We got into bicycling. We realized that in our retirement years, biking with steep roads at 5,500-6,000 feet probably wasn't going to happen.

We started looking in Alabama and Florida, with most spots being in central Florida. Multiple places were less crowded than and quieter than The Villages, but knowing that we would reach ultimate quiet someday, we chose the more active life of The Villages and have never looked back. It was absolutely the right decision for us.

As far as bicycles go and Az, there are these NEW THINGS called E-bikes that make hills go bye, byes!

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Originally Posted by jimjamuser (Post 2199106)

As far as bicycles go and Az, there are these NEW THINGS called E-bikes that make hills go bye, byes!

How do they fix altitude?

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Originally Posted by MidWestIA (Post 2198917)

I love north Dallas BUT what would I do all day - gold, pickleball, clubs here just can't be beat.

Gold??? Where’s the gold? Nobody ever tells me things!

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Originally Posted by jimjamuser (Post 2199098)

There are coyotes here, more snakes, more insects, and more humidity than Az. Plus rocks don't grow and need to be cut every 4 days in the summer heat and humidity.

Then move to AZ, it will make everyone in the Villages happy : )

OP and others are to be congratulated for their process of "due diligence" they carried out before making such a big decision. I have never been good at that, which is probably why I've made so many decisions I later regretted.
My folks retired to Bonita Beach, so I had plenty of opportunities to visit Florida. I've never been to AZ. Very good friends of mine bought in TV when Largo was newly built, in 2007, and brought us down. I saw all I felt I needed to see, the only problem being I was still 8 years from having the $ to retire.
DW was not convinced, and I guess her reluctance saved me from making my usual rash, impulsive decision (although in this case my impulsiveness might have saved me $100K or so)...
But instinctively I guess, since my plan was to stay in our place on a lake in NY State at least 5 months of the year, I must have figured that AZ was too far away. I don't know, I probably just got lucky this time.

We love it here 7 months a year. If we didn't have the lake place I"d be happy to try living here year-round. Never did so I don't know. We love the friends we've made, and are also lucky to have several couples from our area up. north who have also come down and now have places of their own here.
I guess I just got lucky. Heck, one time DW actually told me I was "right" about this place. I pretended not to hear her well, so she had to repeat it a few times.

I am not surprised that some people don't find it to their liking. I am surprised that they stick around and complain rather than find a place that suits them better.

You can see 3 spring training teams with a 2 hour drive. One is 1 1/2. I drive to Tampa often. Easy commute

I’m definitely not a fan of the desert. Too hot in the day and cold at night. The dryness makes my skin and hair feel awful. I love the warmth and humidity. Being a water person, there is no other state I’d live in except Florida. Zero state income tax and a state wonderfully run make it an easy decision for me.

Having lived in Hawaii and Vegas, I'd be closer to family/friends in AZ. But after a visit here I was hooked.

Last time I visited AZ my nephew got stung on the hand by a scorpion from the rocks around a swimming pool slide. Pass on that.

I love Tarantulas and most spiders. I had a conversation with a spider the other day. He's a web designer. :duck:

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Originally Posted by Michael 61 (Post 2198690)

I did my homework (like daily) religiously for about five years on The Villages in Florida and Sun City and Sun City West in Arizona. Living in Colorado, and still in my early 50s, I was looking ahead to where I wanted to retire. Most people in Colorado seem to retire in Arizona vs Florida, due to proximity. I visited Del Web’s Sun City, Sun City West and Sun City Grand multiple times. I always visited in the middle of summer, to see if I could stand the heat. When my employer offered me early retirement (which I took) while still in my late 50s, I wasn’t prepared to move yet, so I stayed in Colorado for a year to figure things out. There were things I liked about Sun City, but also things I didn’t. I was ready to take the plunge and move to Sun City West when I decided for the heck of it to take a lifestyle visit to The Villages, since I had already done so much research on it, I wanted to see it in person (but had not intention of moving here). Came here last summer and The Villages blew me away and I immediately decided to move here. Here are my personal reasons I picked The Villages over Sun City West: 1) More younger retirees- Sun City West feels like an old folks home, and not as active 2) Dedicated golf cart paths (Sun City West has none) 3) Town Squares with nightly entertainment 4) A self-contained community(the Bubble) - Sun City West feels like a suburb of sprawling Phoenix 5) Beauty and colorful - Sun City West is boring beige and very little natural, living landscaping 6) Way more activities /clubs/ golf 7) Purchased new home here for what I would have paid for a 1980s duplex-style condo in Sun City West 8) No state income tax here 9) People seem way friendlier and happier here (shattered the stereotype of East Coasters being more aloof and distant than West Coasters) 9) Winters not as cold as they can be in Arizona 10) proximity to the beach and I can drive to Lauderdale/Miami to catch a cruise.

Wondering if anyone else compared these two 55+ communities before deciding on The Villages.

When I was a younger golfer I loved visiting Arizona in the winter and playing golf there. We seriously considered Sun City Grande. However we spent a few days visiting friends who had retired to The Villages and loved the visit. The following March we rented for a month and the hook was set. Affordability and proximity to grandchildren living in the eastern time zone made TV our selection.

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Originally Posted by jimjamuser (Post 2199106)

As far as bicycles go and Az, there are these NEW THINGS called E-bikes that make hills go bye, byes!

They did not exist when we moved to Florida.

The color factor, that is Florida is green and alive while Arizona, apart from the high desert near Flagstaff, is brown and dead, played a big role in our decision. Also, a bad day in the Florida summer will be uncomfortable, but a bad day in the Arizona summer will shrivel you up like a raisin, and likely kill you.

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Originally Posted by tophcfa (Post 2199181)

Then move to AZ, it will make everyone in the Villages happy : )

That was very EMPATHETIC and I respect you for it. I LOVE you also, my son!

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Originally Posted by mikeycereal (Post 2199244)

It IS possible to have a bad experience in Az like with scorpions. Fl. has some scorpions, plus MORE INSECTS, more snakes, and more NASTY humidity. Both Az and Fl. have wild hogs, but Az. has javelinas, which for some reason are very adaptive to suburban and city life. (note I wonder why Fl. does NOT have javelinas?) Both states have black bears, which sometimes attack people. Fl. has more snapping turtles than Az.
........I remember seeing a rattlesnake in the bushes around a pool in a north Village about 3 years ago. Which reminds me, I think that The Villages should import or raise BLACK snakes and release them locally. Seems like a LOW priced way to prevent rattlesnake or copperhead attacks.
.......I have lived in both states and if someone does NOT like snakes or coyotes or other nature, they are probably better off for NOT seeing them in AZ than Fl. Plus in Az, you MIGHT see pronghorn antelopes, which are WAY COOL!!!!!!
......My wife reminded me that she worked in the school system in BOTH states and BOTH are educationally rated at the very bottom of the US list! Yes, that may help with taxes, but those same graduates fix your A/C, repair your car and Cart and they attend to your medical NEEDS when you are HOSPITALIZED.

Also from Colorado and wintered in Sun City Grand for 9 years. Our house had golf course frontage but it wasn’t green enough for my wife. She’s not a big fan of the desert so we moved to The Villages 5 years ago and we were snowbirds until July of last year. Florida is a lot farther away from Colorado but my wife is much happier. You know the saying !
Love it here.