[Bogie Shooter]

Originally Posted by jane032657

I am still trying to understand why there is anger about certain things? I said it before, it is a choice to live anywhere, so if you do not like what is at TV or anywhere else, why focus on moving or living there? I am not referring to people who wish for certain things, more about the animosity of what TV is. It is what it is, so choose accordingly where you want to live, what you want to pay, what type of home you want, what you will sacrifice to be somewhere, and whether or not what the developer does, who he supports, how he lives his life, what plans he executes, and what he does for his wealth building is so distasteful to you that there is no way you can enjoy TV without being mad! Come to TV if you will enjoy it. There are so many other places to live too, it is a big country and big world. I think "just smile and be happy" should define retirement. I hope I am right about that.

Ah, what you forget-some people just like to hear themselves whine.
I agree with you, if it ain't what you thought just move on.

[janmcn]

Originally Posted by Bogie Shooter

Ah, what you forget-some people just like to hear themselves whine.
I agree with you, if it ain't what you thought just move on.

If you look at the number of almost new homes for sale, fully furnished, golf cart included, quick close possible, it would seem people are taking your advice.

[asianthree]

the downsides seem to be few and far between, for a place so large i think we chose well

[eweissenbach]

There are slightly more than 40 million seniors (over 65) in the U.S.
There will be approximately 110,000 residents in TV by build out
That means that the villages needs to appeal to .00275% of the senior citizens of the U.S. (and of course, many are under 65
The Villages sold approximately 1% of the new homes built in 2011 in the U.S.

Looking at these figures I would assume; a.) That everyone eligible does not need or even have the opportunity to live in TV for it to be a success b.) That the Villages must be more appealing than the average community for seniors, by a long shot

There are currently 39,890,000 seniors that cannot fit into TV, so I hope, for their sake, TV isn't their dream destination.

For the 110,000 that ultimately make it - they are fortunate indeed.

[eweissenbach]

Originally Posted by janmcn

If you look at the number of almost new homes for sale, fully furnished, golf cart included, quick close possible, it would seem people are taking your advice.

After looking at dozens of resale homes in TV over the last three years, and always asking why the owners are leaving, I have found....

The majority seem to be buying a newer, bigger, or smaller home in The Villages.
Many are leaving because of illness or death of a spouse
A few want to move back to be closer to family
A very few seem to be moving in with a child to save on expenses

In other words, most are staying in TV, and most who are not, don't seem to be leaving because they don't like TV.

[senior citizen]

Originally Posted by Happinow

We've only been here about 7 weeks, so things are still pretty new to us. The only thing I can think of that may be a downside is you have to go a ways to get to a lot of places, but once you go, there's everything you could possibly want. We were used to going no more than 5-7 minutes away to get to everything and now if we want to go to 27/441 it takes us 15 or so minutes. I hardly call that "far" but just not what we are accustomed to. We are probably more "homebodies" than most so we built a pool and a very large lanai area so that we would have everything that we wanted right here. I feel good knowing that when, and if we get bored, we have a ton of activities to choose from. The Villages may not be for everyone, but it's the right place for us! Best of luck with your decision.

You sound like our kind of people. We also enjoy our home and would definitely put in our own pool with birdcage off the lanai. Our adult children and grandchildren would love it and say they would visit often.

Since I agree with another poster that the airport is too far away and quite HUGE, we are happy to host family and friends in our own home.

We are not bar / saloon people......so that wouldn't be a draw for us.
Neither would be the nightly entertainment in the town squares, although originally I thought it would be.

However, the entire area is beautifully landscaped and was very pleasant; the homes we stayed in were finely built.......so nothing to complain about there...........like you, we are used to having all of our small town services close by....within a few minute....meaning couple of minute drive or walk........so I do "hear you" re the distances to get places.

We were there during perfectly gorgeous weather..........such as we are experiencing now in Vermont. However, each time we drive north in our state, through the central portion that was totally devasted by the floods from Irene, landslides, bridges and roads destroyed (and just now being repaired).........even with our beautiful weather, we do realize that as we "age in place" we'd be better off in The Villages......in a flat home, with no steps.......and in a warmer climate........although the humidity is not a favorite of ours........so far, it's the middle atlantic states that have had the worst weather.......and Florida seems to be quite peaceful for now.

This book I am reading , "Evil in Paradise" portrays the Villages as people with lots of "past lives" and I'm not talking reincarnation.......plus some of the characters are now showing more violent natures........not all live in The Villages, but do interact with them (in the plot of the book)....but the ones who own businesses on the highways on the perimeter of TV, seem to have very criminal natures..........whomever that author is who wrote the book.......does have his or her "area down pat". I wonder how much of this new book is factual........and how much is just written for sensationalism?? Who is this author that knows so much about TV?

As far as density, the book is almost comical in how the "neighbors" keep track of other neighbors' comings and goings.......maybe the houses are too close? Also, in the book, what you see in the retired folks isn't necessarily what they were "before" they came to TV. Again, past lives.

The book claims the population is 90,000 in THE VILLAGES.
We had thought it was 70,000. Still huge....considering we live in a totally self contained town of 16,000 which has everything, including two colleges, a great hospital and every service one needs without leaving town.

We saw no snakes or other creepy things, except one coyote.......which obviously you can't say.......but we saw it for sure. Have them here as well.........

My husband is always talking about TV........whereas, originally, I was the one who thought it would be great. I think he misses the heated inground pool under the birdcage and off the lanai.......

We had one in our other home (still in Vermont) which took a lot more work as far as cleaning, uncovering, covering, etc..........

We are slowly coming to terms with the fact that TV would be good for us, irregardless of the traffic and the summer heat. It's a very pretty place........for sure.

We love all of our grandchildren (six of them) but as they grow we can see they are super busy with extracurricular and school / church activities.........so being in close proximity is not necessary; if you build it they will come !!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Bogie Shooter]

Originally Posted by senior citizen

You sound like our kind of people. We also enjoy our home and would definitely put in our own pool with birdcage off the lanai. Our adult children and grandchildren would love it and say they would visit often.

Since I agree with another poster that the airport is too far away and quite HUGE, we are happy to host family and friends in our own home.

We are not bar / saloon people......so that wouldn't be a draw for us.
Neither would be the nightly entertainment in the town squares, although originally I thought it would be.

However, the entire area is beautifully landscaped and was very pleasant; the homes we stayed in were finely built.......so nothing to complain about there...........like you, we are used to having all of our small town services close by....within a few minute....meaning couple of minute drive or walk........so I do "hear you" re the distances to get places.

We were there during perfectly gorgeous weather..........such as we are experiencing now in Vermont. However, each time we drive north in our state, through the central portion that was totally devasted by the floods from Irene, landslides, bridges and roads destroyed (and just now being repaired).........even with our beautiful weather, we do realize that as we "age in place" we'd be better off in The Villages......in a flat home, with no steps.......and in a warmer climate........although the humidity is not a favorite of ours........so far, it's the middle atlantic states that have had the worst weather.......and Florida seems to be quite peaceful for now.

This book I am reading , "Evil in Paradise" portrays the Villages as people with lots of "past lives" and I'm not talking reincarnation.......plus some of the characters are now showing more violent natures........not all live in The Villages, but do interact with them (in the plot of the book)....but the ones who own businesses on the highways on the perimeter of TV, seem to have very criminal natures..........whomever that author is who wrote the book.......does have his or her "area down pat". I wonder how much of this new book is factual........and how much is just written for sensationalism?? Who is this author that knows so much about TV?

As far as density, the book is almost comical in how the "neighbors" keep track of other neighbors' comings and goings.......maybe the houses are too close? Also, in the book, what you see in the retired folks isn't necessarily what they were "before" they came to TV. Again, past lives.

The book claims the population is 90,000 in THE VILLAGES.
We had thought it was 70,000. Still huge....considering we live in a totally self contained town of 16,000 which has everything, including two colleges, a great hospital and every service one needs without leaving town.

We saw no snakes or other creepy things, except one coyote.......which obviously you can't say.......but we saw it for sure. Have them here as well.........

My husband is always talking about TV........whereas, originally, I was the one who thought it would be great. I think he misses the heated inground pool under the birdcage and off the lanai.......

We had one in our other home (still in Vermont) which took a lot more work as far as cleaning, uncovering, covering, etc..........

We are slowly coming to terms with the fact that TV would be good for us, irregardless of the traffic and the summer heat. It's a very pretty place........for sure.

We love all of our grandchildren (six of them) but as they grow we can see they are super busy with extracurricular and school / church activities.........so being in close proximity is not necessary; if you build it they will come !!!!!!!!!!!!!

The book "Evils in Paradise" you are reading and ask who the author is? Help!

Maybe this will help, from Amazon;

book description.
Cathy Roberts has it all-an exciting life in a fabulous retirement community, a beautiful home, an expensive automobile, a doting husband, and five wonderful grandchildren. But it isn't enough for the attractive, well-spoken Cathy. Filled with an insatiable desire for self-gratification, she wants more. Then, as fate would have it, she meets a handsome and single ex-truck driver, Eric Lowe, and the sparks begin to fly. Captivated by the exciting and much younger Lowe, she wants to spend the rest of her life with him, free from the constraints of her marriage. During a chance meeting with a troubled Harley rider at a local bar, Cathy finds her ticket to freedom. The resulting story takes the reader on a gripping journey filled with broken promises, forbidden liaisons, violent confrontations, and finally, murder.

About the Author:
In his fifth novel, R B Conroy uses the setting of his winter home in central Florida to create yet another murder-mystery thriller. The Villages, Florida, a diverse and exciting community, provides the backdrop for this spine tingling tale of greed, deception, and murder. As this book goes to print, Conroy is hard at work on the outline for his next exciting novel.
R B Conroy's other novels include: Devil Rising, Return of the Gun, In My Father's Image and Deadly Game.

Sure sounds like fiction to me.

[JSR22]

The book is based on events in Naples Fl and the author is Renee Relf.

[cgalloway6]

Originally Posted by graciegirl

Your understanding of a seminar for other developers sounds pretty far fetched to me Rubicon. I respectfully disagree about the developer "putting a house" on ALL available property. First, the area was all planned out at the beginning. AND there are acres and acres and acrea of nothing but beautifully maintained green space along the roadways, my favorite being the area around Buena Vista and Stillwater. To me that area reminds me of my vision of heaven, the other one.

I grant we could have a lot of things that we don't have, many have mentioned indoor pools, more dog parks, charging stations for golf carts, separate golf carts all over, separate walking paths all over, separate bike paths all over,someone to police the saving seats, etc. etc. etc. We have so many things here for our $135 a month and yet we want more, more, more. We could have more but someone has to pay for them.

We have things so nice that others come into our campus and try to use them. I think our ambassadors do a fairly good job of checking pool passes and definitely checking ID's on the golf courses. They are told not to be challenging or rude to anyone and I haven't run into those behaviors from the ID checkers at all.

I do agree Rubicon that you can get bigger homes and larger lots for the same money outside The Villages. But. Not many choose to do that. And if they do they want a different set of things for themselves that brought me here to Florida that I said I would NEVER live in and brought me to the happiest part of my life.

By the way, our only granddaughter graduated from college last month and started her career in television production today. Life is very good.

If you don't like it here there is absolutely no problem selling your home. We listed our home last month, had an offer in 2 days, a contract the next day for about 97-98% of the listing price which was 10% higher than we paid a year earlier. We closed 3 weeks later. We are building a home in one of the new areas with a larger garage and better view and look forward to full time residency although it won't be for a few years. If you don't like it in TV there are plenty ready to take your place.

[jackz]

Originally Posted by eweissenbach

There are slightly more than 40 million seniors (over 65) in the U.S.
There will be approximately 110,000 residents in TV by build out
That means that the villages needs to appeal to .00275% of the senior citizens of the U.S. (and of course, many are under 65
The Villages sold approximately 1% of the new homes built in 2011 in the U.S.

Looking at these figures I would assume; a.) That everyone eligible does not need or even have the opportunity to live in TV for it to be a success b.) That the Villages must be more appealing than the average community for seniors, by a long shot

There are currently 39,890,000 seniors that cannot fit into TV, so I hope, for their sake, TV isn't their dream destination.

For the 110,000 that ultimately make it - they are fortunate indeed.

Good points, let's not forget our residents from Canada and the UK as well.

[senior citizen]

Originally Posted by Bogie Shooter

The book "Evils in Paradise" you are reading and ask who the author is? Help!

Maybe this will help, from Amazon;

book description.
Cathy Roberts has it all-an exciting life in a fabulous retirement community, a beautiful home, an expensive automobile, a doting husband, and five wonderful grandchildren. But it isn't enough for the attractive, well-spoken Cathy. Filled with an insatiable desire for self-gratification, she wants more. Then, as fate would have it, she meets a handsome and single ex-truck driver, Eric Lowe, and the sparks begin to fly. Captivated by the exciting and much younger Lowe, she wants to spend the rest of her life with him, free from the constraints of her marriage. During a chance meeting with a troubled Harley rider at a local bar, Cathy finds her ticket to freedom. The resulting story takes the reader on a gripping journey filled with broken promises, forbidden liaisons, violent confrontations, and finally, murder.

About the Author:
In his fifth novel, R B Conroy uses the setting of his winter home in central Florida to create yet another murder-mystery thriller. The Villages, Florida, a diverse and exciting community, provides the backdrop for this spine tingling tale of greed, deception, and murder. As this book goes to print, Conroy is hard at work on the outline for his next exciting novel.
R B Conroy's other novels include: Devil Rising, Return of the Gun, In My Father's Image and Deadly Game.

Sure sounds like fiction to me.

I'm sure you are right. I found the same information above last week after the original poster mentioned the book she was reading, giving the title and saying it was set in THE VILLAGES...........saying that it was really good.

I believe I also copied and pasted same above info.....after I ordered the book on my Kindle. But thanks anyway...............

My first impression of the book was that it was kind of immature writing.

I put it aside for awhile........picked it up and decided to continue on as it was mentioning a lot of places we saw or roads we drove on or villages we passed through..............now, like I said, it is becoming comical .

I'll keep reading for awhile...........

But, who is this author? I know the name. I mean who is he or she?

Do they actually live in TV? THANK YOU.

[Barefoot]

Originally Posted by jackz

Good points, let's not forget our residents from Canada and the UK as well.

Thanks Jack! There are a lot of Canucks and Brits in TV. However we all have to maintain residences in our home countries since we are limited (by the U.S. Government) to spending less than 182 days in the USA in any calendar year. I think our outlook is a little different than Frogs. We always get really excited when it is our time to travel to The Villages. It's always a welcome destination to avoid the ice, snow and rotten winter weather. We would stay longer than six months if the US Government would let us. And as Bluedog said, having a small lot isn't a problem if you have a second home up north.

It always amazes me how many resale homes are available in NEWER areas. Some with pools and summer kitchens and many improvements. Obviously people intended to spend a lot of time there and poured a lot of money into improvements. I doubt all the owners could be selling for medical reasons. I always wonder at the back stories of these homes.

[Bonny]

I have a friend that bought in Santiago when we did in 2000. After 2 years, she thought she was homesick for Plano, Texas & her kids, so she sold here & moved back. Within a year, she bought another house here & moved back. 2 years later she sold that house & moved to Arizona to help take care of her mom. It didn't work out & a year later she bought another house in the Villages. The following year, her husband died & she sold again & went by her kids. You just never know.

[Ragman]

I am really surprised with the present and future size of TV that a larger, more modern facility for concerts, plays, etc. is not in the offing.

Savannah only has a capacity of about 800 and is getting a bit long in tooth.

I guess the developer has no incentive for building a new facility and given the governmental structure that route isn't possible either.

[graciegirl]

People talk about a new and beautiful facility to house performances....and that would be wonderful...but those kinds of businesses are struggling all across the U.S.

Bottom line...it has to pay for itself.