Talk of The Villages Florida - Rentals, Entertainment & More
Talk of The Villages Florida - Rentals, Entertainment & More
#1
|
||
|
||
What if The Villages did stop building?
Perhaps it's time to look at what would happen if construction of TV actually stopped.
The impact on the local economy would be devastating.
The victims of this crime will be easy to predict, the easy targets, those less physically and mentally able to defend themselves, and those with assets less affected by a construction downturn. This would be The Villages itself, all of us living here today. The physical aspects of our aging make us easy victims. As a group, the residents here are intelligent and self-motivated people who have been successful in life and are now enjoying the fruits of their lifelong labors. Translation: most of us here are less able to physically defend ourselves against attackers and people here have money and pretty shiny things the criminals want. For those that would not desire to stoop to physical confrontation there are a lot of easy targets yet to be had. Take a walk down your street at dusk this time of year, how many homes here are empty as our seasonal neighbors have gone back north? They pretty furnishing and belongings are easy pickings. It doesn't take an Al Monday or a Danny Ocean to rob a house, just a foot, rock, or a hammer will get you into most homes. Of course, the homes of our seasonal neighbors are a great target themselves for other reasons. The unemployed have difficulties making the mortgage and rent payments. Here sits hundreds of homes, fully and nicely furnished with the utilities still on just welcoming squatters to move in. We're not a gated community and security is minimal from Sumter County and Community Watch. Evicting your new squatter neighbor is very very difficult. Another layer to the picture is the surrounding businesses - restaurants, stores, services, medical/health care, etc. - these will also see a decrease in business causing many to close down. The realities of today's economics is that in a family, both spouses work and if one loses their job and they decide to move to greener pastures both leave and a vacancy exists in another business now. Many local businesses will be without the needed workers to support their remaining customers. These changes in local economics would obviously make TV a less desirable location to live. Home values would be impacted as well as quality of life. This would ripple down to the coffers of the local governments and the services provided. I could go on for pages more on this topic but I think most will get the picture I am painting here. This isn't some doom and gloom fantasy I've made up in my head. This has played out time and again throughout the country as factories, steel mills, auto plants, military base, and other local and regional economic drivers close down or move on. The extreme example of this is Detroit as the auto industry moved away. Florida will continue to grow for may years to come, currently about 1000 people a day move here. A very small portion of these move to TV. Buying a seasonal home is not counted by the state as moving to Florida, just additional tax dollars, so the growth from TV is even smaller a percentage that what it may seem. The growth we see here is well organized and planned unlike the sprawl that has consumed the southeast Florida coast, the Orlando, Tampa, and Jacksonville areas, and the other major population centers of the state. The homes being built here are also resource efficient in both power and water usage (I don't want to get into the water issues here), making them more attractive than other areas to those on a fixed income. What is happening here with the VOSO growth is no different than what happened 15+ years ago when the growth between CR466 and SR44. The biggest difference now is that information is more readily accessible and all within the city limits of Wildwood. When Harold Schwartz and Gary Morse started buying up the rural county land in the 90's to go all the way to SR44 few paid attention nor anticipated the grand plans they both had in mind. These plans are still unfolding before us today. What does 50,000 new homes do for us, the current residents of TV? It means continued strong economic growth and stability for the next 20+ years. It means a stable growing market (and values) for both new and resale homes - not everyone wants a new home or to live in the newer areas. It means that wanted and needed services continue to grow for just like in the move, if you build it, they will come. In the day-to-day living here new homes have little impact on our lives as there is a process of decoupling that goes on in a community this size. What happens in Fenney has virtually no impact on what happens in LSL. What happens in SS is of little concern to those in the Brownwood area, and vice-versa. Few will venture excessive distances to do trivia, water aerobics, or pickleball, and they don’t need to because what most people want is already nearby them. It does open more opportunities and creative avenues that may not have been thought of 20, 15, 10, or even 5 years ago. If your realtor used the term "build-out" they were either a liar or an uninformed fool and didn't have a clue about their market. Build-out means to a developer - I can do no more here and am moving on. Long term plans for TV are tightly guarded secrets that only a few know, and only enough is revealed to keep the plan moving. We don't get so see all the secrets all at once, we don't get to know how many more golf courses are going to be built, we don't get to know what retail establishments they are courting, and we never will. What we do see is a well-run business with a track record and plan that is second to none in their industry. It’s doubtful they’ll turn away from a successful plan that has worked for 30+ years, but I would expect changes to adjust to the market and needs of new arrivals. For those that beat the drum of “it’s too big” and “stop building” I would suggest you take a long look at the bigger picture of what is happening here and what it means long term. Truly, what doesn’t grow surely will die. I could be completely wrong here, for which my wife would as usual not let me forget, but I think not.
__________________
Don Wiley GoldWingNut (a motorcycle enthusiast not a gilded fastener) Village of Hillsborough www.goldwingnut.com YouTube –YouTube.com/GoldWingnut and YouTube.com/GoldWingnutProductions Carpe diem quam minimum credula postero Society is produced by our wants, and government by wickedness; the former promotes our happiness positively by uniting our affections, the latter negatively by restraining our vices. - Thomas Paine, 1/10/1776 |
|
#2
|
||
|
||
I feel like I’ve been in a required business meeting. Where’s the coffee and pastries ?
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk |
#3
|
||
|
||
The would just move on down the road like most blue collar jobs.
|
#4
|
||
|
||
|
#5
|
||
|
||
Quote:
__________________
It is better to laugh than to cry. |
#6
|
||
|
||
Hopefully nursing homes will be safer then, because that's where I'll be.
|
#7
|
||
|
||
The custard business would just collapse. This would send shockwaves through the world and things would end up like in that mini series "V" from the 80's where Lizards in human form would take us over. I shudder to even imagine.
|
#8
|
||
|
||
With that time to read....I want lunch too
|
#9
|
||
|
||
I cannot see how 50,000 new homes could be a positive.
'What if' they built 50,000 more homes? There would be more scams, more crime, how would The Villages handle 75,000 more people? Build double the amount of golf courses that we currently have? The 'good' landscapers would charge a lot more if you could get them to do the landscaping, so people would have to rely on sub-standard quality of work for more cost. If there were 50,000 more homes, and the same or very slightly increased number of amenities, why would the housing market for seniors increase. They would have to build more homes, and cheaper homes, for all the employees needed, and I don't feel I would would like The Villages having more children, adult children, living here. Take inclusivity away and all you have is a regular city... say like Ocala or Leesburg. If I wanted that I would have moved there. There is a lot more crime outside the villages, so why would you want more people, 50,000 more homes full of people, plus all their problems, to move here? I, for one, am happy with the current size and what we get (pools, golf, town squares) and wouldn't like double the size without double everything else. |
#10
|
||
|
||
If you want to imagine what it's like when construction comes to a screeching halt hop into the Wayback Machine and set the dial to Cape Coral 2007.
Sent from my SM-N910V using Tapatalk |
#11
|
||
|
||
Well thought out.
|
#12
|
||
|
||
Okay, time for the dark side to start posting.
|
#13
|
||
|
||
Well written and a common sense approach! We are part of a system, not an island until our selves that has no effect on others. Nice to see a solid explanation!
|
#14
|
||
|
||
It's comforting to know, that the developers are simply being altruistic in their efforts...to support the local economy.
Whereas most other similar companies...are just all about making a buck. |
#15
|
||
|
||
I don't have a strong opinion about whether growth is good or not but I don't understand those who think there will not be enough stores, services, etc. if The Villages continues to grow. Where have you ever seen population growth without corresponding business growth? "Demand" brings "Supply".
Economics 101. |
Closed Thread |
|
|