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.

Gracie, I thought The Villages were America's Friendliest Home Town! It sounds like the South (of 466) is trying to secede from the Union...we could have our own Villages civil war...North versus South! :( I have traveled north to south and east to west and it ALL looks very nice to me. Location is a personal preference and appears to be an obvious bias depending where one lives. It is a shame when we start to designate specific areas to be superior to others. This can and does start to produce cliques which destroys the true friendliness and hospitable nature of the original concept of this great community.

OH my GOODNESS. What have I done!!! I haven't read this thread for awhile. I by no means think the south is superior at all to the north. We played golf today way northwest and were saying how very beautiful the area is. People are so proud of the homes and take such good care of them and the plants and trees are mature and beautiful in the sections that have been here for more the seven or eight or ten or 12 or 20 years, in fact the older the prettier the plantings are. No one would be able to tell new from old here very easily if they drove around.

I did not mean one side was superior to the other at all. I like MORE deed restrictions and some people like less but no area is better than any other. If I made people think that I will never be able to apologize enough. I know we don't vote on anything south of 466 and that is just fine with me. I like the way things are run.

Now I will have to go back and reread this thread and see what damage I have done. Me and my big mouth.

I am so sorry for this.

It was stated that no one knows what the church on the square will look like when completed. That may be true but in order to start construction, plans had to be approved by the county and those plans are on record with the county. Anyone, for a small fee, can get a copy of those plans. But I think I'll just wait for construction to be completed and be surprised. Maybe that's what the developer wants, for everyone to be surprised. :thumbup:

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.

Many young people are buying in the older sections.

And vice versa. Our neighborhood south of 466 has people in their 50's, 60's, 70's, 80's, and someone 90. It's a nice mix of people and we have a thriving social club that everyone enjoys. So I think the scenario above is an oversimplification.

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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:

Gracie: I read your post and I did not get a message from it that you thought that us folks residing south of 466 were superior to those living north of 466. Not at all!! Hey, those north TVer's have lots of money to maintain and improve their quality of life. The new improved Trails are a good example, however, we can all enjoy them no matter where you live in TV.

I do think previous comments for the need for better communications from the Developer is valid for the reasons given. I would be among the first to defend the rights of a private enterprise who assumes "risk" to reap the rewards of such "risk"---that's what makes America great.

However, I see additional transparently as a mutual benefit for both the Developer and the residents of TV. Perhaps there are times when its best to hold your "cards close to your chest" until it's time to play them----that too is understood in a private enterprise situation. It's smooth sailing when the Captain and the crew work together to sail the ship into port.

You misunderstood. You can find many threads documenting that what village you live in or what kind of home you live in has NO bearing on how you are treated or thought of. I have been asked where I live and feel confident that is just simple small talk and has nothing to do with putting me into a class. What you say applies to everyone in the real world, but not here. We in The Villages may very well judge our neighbors on their character but not on the color or location of their home. CLIQUES or interest groups are mandatory in a community of 100,000 people. Since you cannot go to dinner with or have 100,000 folks oner for games at your house, I strongly recommend you form smaller groups of those that like the same kind of food or game that you do. Broaden your taste and interests and we all will find our own niche or group or clique.

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

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 and then we can all find something else to worry about .....

TV is still thousands of times better than many places we could be!!!

You are correct. Only a few worry a out this.

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.