Originally Posted by PennBF (Post 746458)

A concern I have is the small changes currently taking place and how do they may point to the future? When I say changes. Since we moved to The Villages a few years ago the entertainment controls have been moved to a person in Orlando who has no real anchor in The Villages. Then the arbitrary cancelling of the parades without any avenue for the thousands who had participated and the thousands who enjoyed them having any power to turn the decision around. There has been a minimum of authorizations passed on to the organizers but just enough to put the fear in that if they complained they could lose all. Then as you ride around in your cart you can see the small changes in keeping the landscaping up, (e.g. lack of punctual trimming of the bushes and weeding, etc.). All of this led up to the ultimate recognition of what can happen by the building of a wall that was so unpopular and disliked that only through the threats of lawsuits, petitions, etc. was it taken down. These actions prompt the thought that if these can happen what may be waiting in the future with no plans. Who is pulling the strings and why are they pulling these. We continue to love The Villages and have no intention of leaving and have faith that somehow there will be corrections to these misses. :ho:

Originally Posted by mickey100 (Post 746494)

We have observed these changes as well, and it makes us concerned.

Originally Posted by Madelaine Amee (Post 746502)

We all purchased a piece of land and a house, the roads are owned and maintained by the local county in which you live and that is all there is to it. The need to know everything that is going on behind the scenes has never been a problem for us - we accept the fact that we will never be privy to what is going on in The Villages Boardroom, nor should we be. The family owes us nothing, we came of our own accord and we will leave when we don't like what is happening.

I hardly think people would be building million dollar homes here if they foresaw a problem in the future.

It's been a long hot summer, which hopefully will end real soon .............

Originally Posted by Dr Winston O Boogie jr (Post 746207)

It can be a expensive or as inexpensive as you'd like it to be. There are people who live here that have nothing but social security and they do fine. They probably never leave the compound and their entertainment and recreation is everything here that's included in the amenity fees, but so what? You can live a very nice lifestyle here very inexpensively. There are also people her with million dollar homes who have very extravagant life styles. It's all up to you and what you can afford.

Originally Posted by senior citizen (Post 746513)

Very well said. Intelligent succinct post.

And, there are some who are much older than 55 (or the younger set in their 40's)

These elders are content with a simple existence, pursuing their own artistic endeavors and probably NOT interested in dancing in the squares or frequenting the pubs (nice word for bars)....or picking up dates.

Not everyone needs to have a "new lifestyle"......just enjoy the life they've already made for themselves and their families.

Plus, some with the million dollar budgets are actually frugal....or they never would have amassed the wealth they do have. Different strokes for different folks........some prefer the simple life. Would that mean they should not live in THE VILLAGES?

We found THE VILLAGES very very very attractive to look at and we enjoyed the way their "zoning" achieved that look of beauty, not to mention we truly appreciated all of the "services" which are convenient to every village location. Can't top the location of various daily "needs".

We are not used to the density, however, the way it was laid out, probably no need to even venture into other areas.........unless one wanted to.

Truly a great thanks should go to the developer........one of a kind community, that's for sure. However, as my other post of earlier does mention, there are larger homes on larger properties outside of The Villages.......so one has to weigh the apples vs. the oranges.

Originally Posted by buzzy (Post 746392)

I think this issue is a lot more complicated than people are seeing it, and the OP may be justifiably concerned. The differences between the old and new sections are not so much the quality of homes and amenities, but differences in demographics. Let’s assume, just for illustration, that most folks retire at around age 62. So the population north of 441 would be in their 90’s, north of 466 in their 80’s, between 466 and 466a would be in their 70’s, and south of 466a would be in their 60’s. Now, when all the new homes are bought, only resales will be available. As the oldest population expires, the bulk of the resales will be in the northern villages. On the other hand, the bulk of the new retirees will be baby boomers in their 60’s. So, are these new retirees, say over the next decade, going to be happy moving into older homes that are surrounded by people 20-30 years older? And, if they choose to pass on The Villages for that reason, what will happen to all those homes for sale in the older sections?

I have seen this, on a much smaller scale, in our south FL condo. When the last survivor passes on, the heirs dump the unit for half its value. The next owners are either young divorcees, or landlords, who do not give a hoot about maintaining the place. When we finally retired, we ended up being the youngest retirees, in our mid 60’s. Thank goodness that we discovered The Villages.

Now, you could argue that it can’t happen here, and I hope that it’s true. But elements of this scenario are almost unavoidable, over the long run.

Originally Posted by PennBF (Post 745295)

Has anyone considered when The Village's outgrow the population at some point in the future what will happen? How will the potential problems be handled when TV just gets too big? As an example the key government construction is based on the Developers appointments/controls. I don't think anyone questions this. There is little question that at some point there will be a greater demand for a more basic form of a Democratic government. You can see some of the problems starting to pop up. The historic entertainment practices have changed, (e.g. no support for a majority of parades, the entertainment at the squares has become less in talents.) It is also noted that landscaping is not as good as it was and there are a lot more weeds and uncut bushes, etc).It does not take a lot to observe these changes. This may mean there are problems with the current growth and it will just get worse. The question is has anyone thought about this and what if anything is being done to put together plans for the future. Not planning for the future is really outrages as we will get into a reactive mod as opposed to a "proactive mod". Does anyone really think you can act the same way when the growth goes from 10,000 to over 100,000 without a
real form of a democracy? Just think this is something that should be debated.:shrug:

Originally Posted by buzzy (Post 746392)

I think this issue is a lot more complicated than people are seeing it, and the OP may be justifiably concerned. The differences between the old and new sections are not so much the quality of homes and amenities, but differences in demographics. Let’s assume, just for illustration, that most folks retire at around age 62. So the population north of 441 would be in their 90’s, north of 466 in their 80’s, between 466 and 466a would be in their 70’s, and south of 466a would be in their 60’s. Now, when all the new homes are bought, only resales will be available. As the oldest population expires, the bulk of the resales will be in the northern villages. On the other hand, the bulk of the new retirees will be baby boomers in their 60’s. So, are these new retirees, say over the next decade, going to be happy moving into older homes that are surrounded by people 20-30 years older? And, if they choose to pass on The Villages for that reason, what will happen to all those homes for sale in the older sections?

I have seen this, on a much smaller scale, in our south FL condo. When the last survivor passes on, the heirs dump the unit for half its value. The next owners are either young divorcees, or landlords, who do not give a hoot about maintaining the place. When we finally retired, we ended up being the youngest retirees, in our mid 60’s. Thank goodness that we discovered The Villages.

Now, you could argue that it can’t happen here, and I hope that it’s true. But elements of this scenario are almost unavoidable, over the long run.

Originally Posted by Madelaine Amee (Post 746563)

I see things in a very black/white way, and I see no validity in your comments. You are comparing a community of this size to a condo in South Florida - cannot possibly be a viable comparison. IMHO you would be better off equating our situation here with the residential areas we probably all moved from, where people moved out of their homes to retire or downsize, or they passed on, and new younger people moved into the neighborhood. The new young people moving into our older homes brought modern ideas with them and updated our homes.

The first home we purchased right after getting married was in a suburb of Boston and needed updating, I had a very elderly neighbor on one side and a 60+ neighbor on the other, over time the older residents moved out and young people bought in, and when we were ready to retire a very young couple purchased our home. It's the continuation of life and community, without which communities would cease to exist.

Originally Posted by PennBF (Post 746613)

I can only state what I believe but I can't help you understand it. The biggest dangers are denial's and not caring. Historically that has always been the dangers of loss and failures. It is interesting how many go to denial or rationalize why it should just be ignored as someone else will handle it and/or it will go away. Most of us are 60+ and just want to kick back and
enjoy ourselves and let the next ones handle the potential problems. In the current responses you can see that attitude in the majority of them. With luck and a little care most may make it to the final call and not have to think or worry about it.
How do you look at some of the bushes that are now not trimmed until they look shabby, or look at the weeds growing where they never use to grow,I look at it as the fast growing season with all of the rain right now.
or take your chairs to the squares to see the parades only to find out they are not there, etc. There are only a few ways to psychologically handle this. We had a poll on here about parades and the posters on this forum who may or may not represent the populace did not miss the parades by a majority.
Either accept mediocrity, lower ones standards, denial, + others that don't
quickly come to mind. If you say none of this is true you may be in denial,
if you say it isn't that bad you may be accepting mediocrity or lowering standards. :thumbup:

Originally Posted by buzzy (Post 746596)

Perhaps I should have left out the condo example. Your example is equally unsuitable. Young people are not moving into over 55 retirement communities. I am only suggesting that there could be a subtle long-term shift in the population which could have a negative effect on the lifestyle.

Originally Posted by PennBF (Post 746645)

It is interesting to note acceptance of mediocrity, denial and so what. Pretty standard fare. Even in one case the person did not want a democracy. Now that is thinking out of the box. It appears that outside of the POA there is not much interest in protecting the status quo. I did the statistics and I think I have a good chance of beating the loss of services and values. :ho:

Originally Posted by jannd228 (Post 746638)

I think the OP is trying to say what happens when TV is “all built out”? I understand it is a 55 Plus Community, but I assume many have heard of “straw buyers”, people who purchase a home on paper but are not the actual owners. I am not sure what FL is like but here on Cape Cod this happens all the time.

The OP maybe right, suppose the homes are sold at a lower price, or left vacant for long periods of time for whatever reason? Cape Cod is the REVERSE season of TV. Each neighborhood developed its own security system (not what you think) to let neighbors and law enforcement know about when an owner was not present for long periods of time. Yes there are home watch services, but what happens when real estate agents purchase homes for rental purposes only?

Originally Posted by bennete2 (Post 746746)

I have been watching The Villages grow for 7 years.
This year with the assistance of a man I love very much we made the plunge!
I for one attempt to look at ecverything in a positive way. I attempt not to be negative.
The Morse family has turned farming land into a fantastic invenstment for them, a dream come true for others. Please look around and tell me if there is another community in the U.S. like this. We are all adults who are probably over 55..........we have come here to enjoy the life we have all dremed of. Golf, Tennis, Swimming, Dancing, summer time with our grandchildren and activites to be enjoyed by all, over 1,000 different organizations that a person can belong to. There are all sorts of medical facilities, we are looking to enjoy our golden years.
If the prediction is correct 2016 all lots and homes will be sold..............but OMG.......resales will be there for the public to see, bid, and purchase. I personally see the real estate value going up on our purchases.
Think POSITIVE..............many people from all walks of life to keep The Villages as a # 1 Retirement area to live in!
Thanks for reading my comments :-)

Originally Posted by rubicon (Post 746827)

Oh you villagers of little faith I Carnac the Magnificent can answer "when The Village's outgrow the population at some time in the future what will happen? Ed hand me the envelope. Carnac predicts there will be ample available tee times, ample rec centers, ample grocery stores, ample restaurants,

Now the truth of it is no one knows because no one on this thread has sufficient data to make that determination. such as what is the composite of the population as to age, status, health, morbidity, etc. I know there are people who do not live in The Villages but have bought a number of homes to rent out and renters motivations and concerns regarding The Villages are different than full time or seasonal resident owners.

I doubt one can say the past is prologue to the future of The Villages but based on its history to date The Villages continues to grow and thrive

Originally Posted by PennBF (Post 745295)

Has anyone considered when The Village's outgrow the population at some point in the future what will happen? How will the potential problems be handled when TV just gets too big? As an example the key government construction is based on the Developers appointments/controls. I don't think anyone questions this. There is little question that at some point there will be a greater demand for a more basic form of a Democratic government. You can see some of the problems starting to pop up. The historic entertainment practices have changed, (e.g. no support for a majority of parades, the entertainment at the squares has become less in talents.) It is also noted that landscaping is not as good as it was and there are a lot more weeds and uncut bushes, etc).It does not take a lot to observe these changes. This may mean there are problems with the current growth and it will just get worse. The question is has anyone thought about this and what if anything is being done to put together plans for the future. Not planning for the future is really outrages as we will get into a reactive mod as opposed to a "proactive mod". Does anyone really think you can act the same way when the growth goes from 10,000 to over 100,000 without a
real form of a democracy? Just think this is something that should be debated.:shrug:

Originally Posted by PennBF (Post 746986)

Having said this it does not mean it is an excuse to go "brain dead" and allow dementia to sneak up because you stopped using your brain. Thinking about the future and how to keep what is already here is not a threat but rather an opportunity. Unfortunately some go overboard being afraid of the future and go into the fetal position when it is mentioned.

Originally Posted by Barefoot (Post 746994)

Just because people don't agree with your point of view, it does not mean they are brain dead. I fear you have just insulted a lot of really fine people.

Originally Posted by PennBF (Post 747133)

The intent was to say that all should never stop using their brain. If that is an insult I apologize. I guess it is just hard to communicate at times. :shocked:

Originally Posted by llaran (Post 747367)

The newer area's are better kept because they are still selling; some new people have never been as far as Spanish Springs or across 441 to the "old" side. can see the changes; orange blossom resturant closed, El Santiago resturant closed, church on the square and beautiful courtyard next door.

the developer owns all the squares and the 18 hole golf courses, any could be sold at any time.