Great Observation!
 

After being here for a number of years, this is one of the most attractive features of Villagers. No one seems to care or be impressed with what position you held, how much money you made, who your important friends were, or how big your house was before you moved to The Villages.

When's the last time anyone asked you much more than where you were from and what village you live in? All that stuff s unimportant here and everyone soon realizes that fact.

cahweh1975, you might want to consider an invisible fence for the dogs. Our dog is very apt to get excited and RUN, so always had to keep her on the leash in the yard. But based on reviews on this site, we bought an invisible fence from DogWatch, and it has transformed her. She runs around and explores and has a grand old time. She's relaxed and happy and won't even consider nearing the 'fence'. We love spending time in the yard and now she can hang out with us without always having to be secured to a leash or a yard line. Never thought it would work for our little runner, but it's been a miraculous success.

HI
I"m wondering... do people ever go over to Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville for their care? We are Mayo patients up north and that is where I was thinking would go for care. It is good system and well coordinated with specialists etc.

Well, just a HINT...any new-build village will have ALOT of construction traffic at first...it WILL ease after most of the homes in you village are built.

Sorry, it's a bit off topic, but I thought I'd add to Parker's post.

The Villages permits two large dogs per household, and it's one of the few retirement communities that doesn't have size restrictions. cahweh1975, you can have a fenced yard for your dogs with a Courtyard Villa. We originally had a CYV and it works great for dogs. Now we have a house and an invisible fence. As Parker says, it works really well. The key is training the dogs before the current is activated. DogWatch was great about helping with the training. I always thought invisible fencing was inhumane, but it isn't at all. If trained properly, your dogs will always avoid the boundaries.

And that's the way it should be.

Can you give me an idea on the cost of an electric fence?

I think everyone has concerns about relocating to any area! I wish my concern was because I thought I might be too young! Alas

After living here two years and both of us dealing with health issues I have concerns about medical care. In our case the doctors are well qualified but for some reason I have had issues with small things like getting renewals on prescriptions (more than once). They can't seem to keep good, reliable help! Im still working on that and feel sure I will find the right one!

I guess Mayo might be an option for some but their website says they do not accept Medicare so that would put it out of reach for us not to mention the distance from TV. I think it's important to have a good, dependable primary physician that's within easy reach, especially at our age.

While the vast majority of the people here are more than friendly, this is our second "high season" and is certainly more congested than last year! I'm a patient person and I do not mind waiting in line or at a stop sign but I do mind BEING TOOTED AT! Thankfully that doesn't seem to be a problem during "slow season"!

I think you will find similar problems with any city of 100,000 but it would be hard to find another retirement area that offers what we have here in TV!

Nope Cincinnati folks don't honk at you at stop signs.

Wendy...does Mayo not accept Medicare or do you have to pay and have them submit the bill to be PARTIALLY reimbursed to you? I know you always have to pay MORE when that happens but just wondered.

I too worry about really REALLY good geriatric care especially if I get pregnant. ;)

No. I was teasing of course but I am very serious and I have said more than once that what this place lacks is a nearby teaching institution because medical teaching facilities draw excellent physicans. I have found a very good dermatologist and an excellent dentist but not the same quality in the general care physician we have so far. I don't blame doctors going where the money is, but in this case I would treasure a little pity.

I was referred to Mayo in Jacksonville as they are the #1 hospital in the USA for my condition, on top of which there was no one in the immediate area who could properly diagnose and treat my problem. I was back and forth from TV to Mayo for two years, went through four minor and one major surgery and my out of pocket expense was $72.

I cannot explain the medicare part of Mayo completely as my other half handled the finances, but I think I am correct in saying that Mayo do not follow and accept Medicare's reimbursements and, therefore, your primary needs to pick up the excess amount not covered by Medicare. I am fortunate to have AARP's United Health Coverage "J" which is no longer available, it covered everything other than $72.

I am sure there are other people around who can more fully explain Mayo/Medicare/Primary payments, but all you need to do is call your Primary and they will help with any queries you might have.

I will add that in my opinion there is NOTHING to compare with the treatment, the quality of staff, the exceptional specialists and every other aspect of The Mayo Clinic. If the need arose again, I would most certainly go there for treatment.

Mayo and Medicare
 

Maybe this will help:

Medicare at Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Fla.

Regarding fear of congestion and too many people...
 

I've lived in two coastal towns in Florida before coming to TV and it's a fact that Florida is a major vacation destination in high season. If you want to get away from the cold the price you'll pay for the privilege of living in Florida is a few extra minutes each day getting from here to there. The quality of my life since moving to TV far outweighs some inconveniences. My lanai is a little piece of heaven and my cart enables me to spend time doing chores while feeling connected to nature and all the beauty around me. How many people can say they stopped to watch an alligator on their way to Starbucks for a cup of coffee and got a tan along the way.

On topic my concern was that TV was too good to be true. I've learned that it is even better than I thought initially and I'm living the good life one day at a time. Who knows what the future will hold?

Excellent perspectives!

Personally I'd rather be in a lively community with a lot of people and short-term congestion than in a small, quiet one that is economically gasping for breath with home values circling the drain and HOA/condo fees skyrocketing.

Thank you for this. I guess I was mistaken! Mayo should be no problem with a supplement.

Besides some of the concerns mentioned, I have a concern about what will happen after build out. I suspect that a lot of the lifestyle that we enjoy is being subsidized by the developer so that he can continue to sell houses. Once there are no more houses to sell, will the developer decide that the subsidies go away? If he does, will these lifestyle items go away?