1. Our home was over 100 years old and beginning to show it's age in terms of structure, plumbing, electricity, etc. etc. -- it was a never-ending fixer upper better suited for younger people.

2. We had a two family home and were sick and tired of being the good, kind and understanding landlords. ("Can't pay the rent? Here have something to eat.") An exaggeration but not by much.

3. We wanted to tap into the HUGE appreciation in our home value.

4. Most of our family and friends had already left New York City.

5. Shoveling the snow around our double corner lot home with 4 garages was becoming a marathon event that we no longer enjoyed.

6. Two of our favorite local restaurants (Indian and Chinese) changed hands and we were unhappy with new chef's cuisine.

7. The local senior citizens center was a depressing room in the basement of a church that offered a weekly movie, bingo game, chair yoga class, and a bus trip to the Staten Island Mall. Oh what joy -- Macy's.

Did you see "The Money Pit" with Tom Hanks and Shelley Long? IMHO, a boat is 100x worse:1rotfl::1rotfl::1rotfl:

But you lost that great view of the Verrazano Narrows bridge----you know, the one you can look at but can't afford to cross at $15/pop:1rotfl::1rotfl::1rotfl:

And the Staten Island Mall---yuk. I actually did moonlighting at the urgent care center there--what a nightmare, takes 20 minutes just to get into the parking lot at holiday time. I once had to resuscitate a shopper in the parking lot 2 days before Christmas, and it took the ambulance 25 minutes to get from Richmond Ave into the parking lot. It would have been an easier bus ride to Roosevelt Field!

All understandable except 6 & 7. Who would move from Brooklyn for the ooohh so fine exceptional dining in TV.

And if you wanted recreation, a quick ride on the R train would bring you right to Manhattan for world class entertainment.

For three reasons:
1. Weather.
2. Weather.
3. Weather.
I hated the cold and snow, having to deal with it!

Seriously.
1. Weather.
2. Taxes in CT, (a good state to be from).
3. Much closer to son and granddaughter.

After visiting TV, the decision was a no brainer for me!

I so agree. I did a year of research before our LSP, and found that most Florida 55+ "golfing" communities were a single 18 hole course and a single clubhouse. All activities were at that clubhouse, so a limited selection. There would be one pool, one restaurant, a few tennis courts and shuffleboard. Anything else you needed---grocery store, bank, pharmacy etc. you had to get in your car and drive 5 miles in traffic, which could be quite heavy in Naples or Lauderdale area.

Like I said above, I WIKE it here:1rotfl::1rotfl::1rotfl:

TV might not be right for everyone. If you want a big house, or lots of land, or no neighbors, this isn't for you. It definitely IS right for us. We have a modest house but it's on a golf course. Our Lanai and Florida room both face a beautiful green. We love the easy, breezy lifestyle here. We travel almost exclusively by golf cart. Go to the squares only for our favorite bands and festivals. Love the golf, landscaping, and pools. But the people are the best part. Such nice people!

Been here about 3 years, hindsight, probably would of stayed put for 5 to 8 years. miss tinkering around acreage, fruit tree, (especially the Rainer cherries, pear, peach, apples, and grapes) garden, purple Martin colony, OU tennis, great grocery prices and restaurants. I could do everything there I do here, but just not daily. Adjusted well over the years was forced to move several time being retired military's. But, you alway miss anywhere you been for 5 to 20 years or more after ththe fact.

And folks complain about our ER/health-care here!!!

One word: Illinois

We are one of the oldest or the oldest couple in our neighborhood, we have seen many of our friends fall Ill over the last few years, our grandchildren are getting older and are more involved with their activities now, rarely are we needed for baby sitting anymore, the weather in Northeast Ohio in the winter is really bad (most years), there is very little to do here with people our age, and after spending winter vacations in TV for 5 or 6 years and staying all around Florida for several other years trying to decide where to end up, TV was by far #1. We have always had large lots or views from our homes so we chose to get into Fenney while there were affordable water front homes available and that is where we ended up buying. Can't wait to get everything down there and start enjoying the lifestyle. We have two more runs back and forth and should be settled in by summers end.

Welcome to your new home!!!:pepper2::pepper2::pepper2:

PS---What was Abraham Lincoln like in high school???:1rotfl::1rotfl::1rotfl:

In all fairness to those that complain, TVRH is far from perfect, and I'm sure they all had some sort of bad experience to one degree or another. It is also fair to say that Villagers are not dropping like flies at TVRH. Their mortality and readmission data for heart attack, heart failure and stroke (the conditions that the state health dept. monitors) are all within Florida averages

Once you get settled, concentrate on having fun and doing the things that you enjoy. This is your time, relax and make the most of it. Welcome to The Villages.

I get a real kick out of telling the people we left behind in NJ about the taxes. The last house we were in was on a 50' x 100' lot. Taxes $9,600 a year or $800 a month. Here the taxes are about $1000 a year and no snow and I donated my recliner to my son. I have no time to use it. The Villages is what you make of it. We love it here. People here are mainly considerate other than the occasional blip! We don't miss the NJ/NY traffic either.

moving
 

We moved here for the 1) weather 2) activities (there was nothing to do back home)

Most of us from the North don't miss the taxes, the traffic and the bad weather.

When we describe how much we love The Villages I think we're all describing a QUALITY OF LIFE that is hard to find elsewhere.

SNOW and pensions go a lot further here than in Massachusetts.

We visited and my hubby played 4 games of golf in a week. We came!

Winters too long and snowy...summer and golf season too short.

The state of Massachusetts asked me to leave!

The State of Massachusetts didn't have to ask me. The Blizzard of '78 was all the push I needed.


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I didn't move there till 1995 and my wife was born and raised there. Besides the snow, ice, and cold it made best sense to come here and leave taxachusetts.

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We found the Villages more than 26 yrs ago when we were still in our 40's. So impressed by the people & lifestyle, and the weather :planned on move, ASAP ( in fact 10yrs of checking everything ? too good to be true too many "smiley "people ) but bought @ 57 & now 19yrs on still love the people & place , even all the changes! Only downside (as we moved more than 4500 mils from UK) America does not permit us to live here full time, however we continue to enjoy the time we spend here and many times when we are back in UK find ourselves wishing we were back at our "home in the sun"

retired in place
 

Year round sunshine. Plenty of golf. And low taxes.

I feel your pain----it must be horrible to be banished to the frozen tundra 183 days a year. (Do you get an extra day here in leap year???) Maybe you could find the satellite camera at Ice Station Zebra. Better yet, maybe you could find THE LOBSTER you owe me:1rotfl::1rotfl::1rotfl:

Here's the short list....the weather, the weather, the weather!!! Add to that NOT enough to do, especially in the winter THEN add taxes to these and that's our reason(s) for coming here!!! Plus the cost of living in FL is cheaper!! Yes, we're full time!!

I see a hefty " Exit Tax " ahead for those who are pulling up stakes from one of the Northern Heavy-Tax Dependent States .

I liked where we were, but my wife wanted one story house. She wanted warm temps. We don't play Golf, but I like the ethnic and location social clubs. Seh wanted to move here because some old neighbors way back lived here and she wanted to work on Shoebox.

Have our own pool, none nearby. Nice to walk out an into pool, can grill most any day and can eat out with birdcage keeping out the bugs.

A big advantage is no State and County Income Taxes, but Property taxes higher then our two story plus basement in MD. Another bad feature is having to pay water, (well), swer (septic tank) and trash, took ours to the dump or transfer station, so those are added costs.

Like Golf cart transportation though!

I do miss doing my own garden work though.

If winter weather was the only/main reason you moved to TV, why didn't you just "Stayput & Snowbird"?

No reason to keep a house up north when we could snowbird with family. Didnt only move because of the weather but also because there is no reason to pay high taxes to educate the snowflakes anymore.

TV has its benefits but it cant shine a light to the activities, culture, dining and real entertainment you can find in the northern urban areas.
Its nothing more than a clean, well managed city....with lousy pizza and terrible bagels and few people who know what a knish is.

We loved Chicago but our reasons for moving are as stated in the partial post above. Plus year round golf!

My wife got tired of shoveling snow!

That was funny!

still have our home up north. use it for summers and holidays. Plus other half still works full time and maintains it alone for the rest of the year. Its about being active here, golf, friends, not so much of the food. taxes are more for us and do miss the change of seasons, fall is just beautiful. In a few years will make the move to sell up north and stay put in TV

Moved from Hawaii because of expense. Moving out of TV because of overcrowding.

Not the swinging lifestyle of the villages

We moved for the lifestyle!