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No thanks on the acre lots in local towns. We are going back to MN to large acreage where I can shoot my own meat, grown my own meat and veggies, don't have neighbors, etc. Turns out the snow and cold really isn't that bad. Despite MN's governor and income taxes, at least MN loves nature and protects it. |
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Eight years and didn't know: Lot sizes Garage sizes HOA fees (there are none) The HOA rule dictators (there are none) The mismanagement of ponds and "wild lands" Yes the Developers and their rampant destruction of wild lands disgusts me. AMAZING................eight years and did know any of this prior to purchase. :a20: |
Interesting thread. I feel bad for the OP, been in those shoes. There are a few folks out there that are quick to put all kinds of nasty labels on someone who doesn’t buy into the Villages being 100% perfect, hook, line, and sinker. I absolutely love the Villages, and have committed a significant chunk of our retirement resources into our home there. When I’m up north, my next trip to our Villages home dominates my thoughts. When I’m at our Villages home, I am never looking forward to returning back north (except for the one time I needed quality health care). If it wasn’t for unavoidable northern responsibilities, accessibility to quality health care, and my wife’s insistence on spending time with the youth of our family (what’s up with women and kids? ), I would never leave. There is no other place in the world that affords me the lifestyle the Villages offers. Where else can I swim laps in 12 different beautiful outdoors sports pools surrounded by palm trees year round, play at 14 different Championships golf courses (12 north of 44 with 10 being 27 holes), ride a bike without dealing with hilly terrain, be able to go just about everywhere and do everything in a golf cart and not even need a car except on rare occasions, not have to worry about snow, ice, and freezing cold, go in our backyard pool, abutting a wildlife preserve, with my wife every night before bed, and enjoy more other amenities and entertainment than the day is long? The Villages is truly a unique and beautiful place, but like anywhere else, it’s not perfect. There is no doubt short term rentals like AIRBnB’s are a black eye on the community. It’s easy to disagree when you don’t live near one (or are one of the inconsiderate neighbors running one), but that could change tomorrow. They are certainly not what we signed up for when purchasing our home 10 years ago. As far as others using our amenities, I can only speak of the sports pools, because that’s what I use almost daily when at our Villages home (and I’m not an early morning person so my experience is more in the late afternoons going to dusk). In approximately 1,000 visits to the sports pools over the years, I have been required to show my ID approximately 40 times as they almost never check ID’s during lap and open swim times. Over half of the times my ID was checked it was during the early days of COVID when monitors diligently limited the number of swimmers allowed in the pools. Every other time my ID was checked (except one time) was when I showed up early during an organized water aerobics or Volleyball activity to lay claim on a swimming lane. The only time my ID was checked during lap swimming time was Monday, August 11, 2025 at Laurel Manor. I thanked the employee for finally checking my ID and told him I really wished someone would check my ID every time I went swimming. Over the years, I have seen numerous violations in the sports pools, including non -residents, guests, and children (all not allowed in the sports pools). I have also witnessed what appears to be homeless people sneaking in to use both the restrooms and showers, but not using the pool itself. In my opinion, one violation is too many. We pay good money towards our amenity fees and expect the rules to be enforced. I guess now, according to some, I’m a complainer. So be it.
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PS: If MN loves nature and protects it, how come people get to "shoot their own meat"? |
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Hunters are the #1 protector of natural lands and wild game. |
We have been in the Villages about 20 years and a month. We moved from Palm Harbor, Florida which for a time was the bulls-eye of four hurricanes in 2004 but all four turned a bit. One was close shave with us getting horizontal rain for a little bit . We were at about twenty feet of elevation so did not have to worry a lot about storm surge. Tarpon Lake was only a block or two over from us. Gators galore. Even a crocodile a number of years back. Crocodile found in Florida lake
Think the Villages is a great place for certain people. Many of the people I have met over the years here did move away but some actually came back . A few moved to just outside the Villages. |
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God forbid someone tries something new and decides they don't like it. |
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Let's say 100 pools sit near 100 pickleball courts. One person can't monitor both so that means 200 monitors. 200 employees, 12 hours per day, seven days per week, 52 weeks per year comes out to 873,600 man hours. $15/hour makes that $13,104,000 needed to fund those monitors. With the current amenity fee the VCCDD and SLCDD combined receive $156M in amenity fees. Therefore, the monitors would require an immediate increase of approximately 10% (or about $15 - $20). As homeowners complain about CPI increases to their amenity fees, do you believe they would be happy about an additional $18 increase to have a warm body monitoring the pools and courts? |
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no one talks about all the bad behavior either.Golf course patrons not respecting private property. People walking there dogs on other neighborhoods and allowing there dogs to urinate and poop on other peoples property(some of use take care of our own grass.) Multiuse path with inconsiderate golf carts not yielding to pedestrians. Inconsiderate bad behavior at town squares and restaurants . I can go on and on feel free to add to the list. But i would be considered unhappy lol. Some here have well over 10 thousand post, i don't know how they have time for anything else except attacks on others for there opinion? |
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