[Fredster]

I’m very happy here! It’s been easy to make new friends here.
A well maintained nice clean place to be retired.
You can be as active as you’d like.

“Happiness is an inside job!”

[Cobullymom]

Originally Posted by OrangeBlossomBaby

I love The Villages. I hate Florida. I am also not pleased with the Developers and their decisions to expand, and their choices in sub-par infrastructure, and their refusal to accept financial responsibility for failures as a result of the sub-par infrastructure.

I wish The Villages was in a different state. But it's here, and the community itself is terrific, there's tons of things to do, the development is aesthetically pleasing, and the monthly amenity fee is incredibly reasonable.

So am I happy to be in The Villages? Mostly, yes.

Sub par infrastructure, hardly. Haha..

[sharonl7340]

Originally Posted by OrangeBlossomBaby

Income taxes don't affect me, I don't work and have no major investments.

I hate the weather, I hate the politics, I hate the overly-obnoxious "where woke goes to die" rhetoric of hatred, mistrust, misinformation, and ignorance. Yes, that ignorance exists in every state. But it isn't celebrated quite so brazenly as it is here in this state.

In Central Florida specifically, I hate that I can't find a decent pizza. I hate that fried whole belly clams are $35 and up, IF you can find a place that has them on the menu. I hate the lack of ethnic diversity. I hate that everyone gets cremated, and when you type "cemetery near me" or "graveyard near me" you get crematoriums and memorial gardens for results with the Baldwin Brothers at the top of the list. Where I come from, graveyards are chock full of American history, and are very peaceful places to just sit and reflect on life.

I hate that there aren't any town greens, which is arguably over specific, but I come from the home of the first Town Green in the country so I'm biased.

I hate that people think a 20-year-old home is "old." I hate the mentality behind that. Again - where I come from - an "old" home was built prior to 1925, and there are thousands of them in the New England area that function just fine, are well-insulated, have withstood dozens of nor'easters, and are beautiful. I hate the overdevelopment of what was once beautiful swampland. Development, I'm all for. Overdevelopment, see traffic jam #99972, Turnpike Exit Detour #49297, and sinkhole #2721.

I hate that homes sit on cement slabs, with no basements. One thing in particular, which to me is just really WEIRD: I hate that all these developments - not just The Villages - feature their garages as the most prominent visual when you are looking at houses. The garages are all out in front of the house, not behind or beside it. That is just - really really weird to me.

Really hate the politics. Hate the entitlement. Hate that many of these "mature" people (and I use that word lightly) feel they can act any way they want (I actually had a guy cuss me out and kick my tires the other day in the parking lot of a store and I had no idea what I did). Hate that the restaurants are overpriced and has mediocre food. Hate that I have to drive through congested areas to just get to shopping areas. Hate that renting is so prevalent in the neighborhoods (no real neighbors to connect with). Hate the prices of everything (all the merchants just assume I came with a $1 million dollar portfolio--NOT). Hate the monopolization of the restaurants, healthcare, and other things. Hate the attitude of "if you don't like it, leave!" It just isn't as simple as that.

Love that it is beautiful; Love our little house and yard; Love that there are walking areas (although I wish there were more that are shaded). Love that the snowbirds leave. Discovered I love golf (didn't play until we moved here). Love that we have a lanai where the cats can sit and watch the wildlife. Love the diverse wildlife- I never get tired of the Sand Hill Cranes. Love the biodiversity.

So don't tell me to just leave!

[MandoMan]

Originally Posted by Michael 61

It’s possible to get the impression from certain posts on TOTV that some people are less than happy and content to be living in TV. Though no community is “perfect”, The Villages is a one-of-a-kind community beyond compare in my opinion. I feel so fortunate and blessed first of all to been able to have retired early in life, and secondly to be able to reside in such a beautiful and vibrant community, with mostly highly positive residents and neighbors. For me, it only take one trip outside “the bubble” to realize how special TV is.

Four years here. 100% happy.

[Marathon Man]

Originally Posted by sharonl7340

Really hate the politics. Hate the entitlement. Hate that many of these "mature" people (and I use that word lightly) feel they can act any way they want (I actually had a guy cuss me out and kick my tires the other day in the parking lot of a store and I had no idea what I did). Hate that the restaurants are overpriced and has mediocre food. Hate that I have to drive through congested areas to just get to shopping areas. Hate that renting is so prevalent in the neighborhoods (no real neighbors to connect with). Hate the prices of everything (all the merchants just assume I came with a $1 million dollar portfolio--NOT). Hate the monopolization of the restaurants, healthcare, and other things. Hate the attitude of "if you don't like it, leave!" It just isn't as simple as that.

Love that it is beautiful; Love our little house and yard; Love that there are walking areas (although I wish there were more that are shaded). Love that the snowbirds leave. Discovered I love golf (didn't play until we moved here). Love that we have a lanai where the cats can sit and watch the wildlife. Love the diverse wildlife- I never get tired of the Sand Hill Cranes. Love the biodiversity.

So don't tell me to just leave!

Actually, it is just that simple. In fact, it is easier than when you came here. You can easily research other communities in Florida because they are just a car drive away.

[Gsorace]

Originally Posted by Kenswing

We're very happy to be here. Initially it was simply for the weather, but now it's a whole lot more. We love exploring in the golf cart. We love all the entertainment and social options. We love the opportunities to volunteer with the organizations we support. I love not mowing five acres anymore. Although moving onto a postage stamp sized lot was an adjustment. We love our neighbors and the true sense of friendship and community we enjoy with them.

But like you say, nowhere's perfect. Defensive driving is absolutely required like no place I have ever seen. The traffic and the crowds up around the 6's keeps getting worse.

I think people are only as happy as they want to be. I believe if you can't be happy here you pretty much won't be happy anywhere.

Couldn't say it any better! Other than enjoying cutting my own "postage-sized" lawn, I feel exactly the same way.

[Villagesgal]

Been here 23 years, retired early and so happy we did. Love it here now that it's grown and everything you'd ever need is here. All our friends here love it here too. Florida us a beautiful state, get out and explore it. Every place has it's good, bad and it's ugly. TV and FL have an abundance of good. Look for it, enjoy it and have a great retirement.

[birdawg]

Middle class Paradise

[Packer Fan]

Originally Posted by OrangeBlossomBaby

I think the Villages would be improved if it was somewhere other than Florida. I imagine a Villages in Albuquerque would be amazing. Or nestled on a low plateau of the Smoky Mountains at the SC/TN border somewhere.

As for all my hates, I posted it because someone asked me directly in this thread, after I said that I enjoyed The Villages, but hated Florida. They asked what about Florida did I hate. So I answered. Perhaps people who don't like hearing answers to questions, shouldn't read publicly accessible forums on the internet. Hurts them in their feelings place, apparently.

Thanks Margaret for your understanding. It's a rare gift around these parts.

I agree. I did ask. I don’t agree with most of it, but I will defend your right to say it to the death (I am a veteran). The one thing I will comment on is the diversity baloney. Since I was born in 1963 and am multiethnic myself, I noticed racism before it was popular too. There is less in TV than anywhere. Nobody cares about skin color and I sure don’t. I love going to Mexico (my mother’s homeland) and no diversity there. Love going to Italy. None there. Heck, just as much diversity in TV as in most places on earth. Lots of diversity in LA and NY and they are a mess. I like clean, crime free, good weather, low taxes, lots to do, and pleasant people who don’t judge you. That’s the villages to a tee and why I love it.
You sound unhappy here. Curious why you don’t move back up North? Many do for various reasons. You should live where it makes you happy in retirement especially
Thanks for sharing.

[OrangeBlossomBaby]

Originally Posted by GizmoWhiskers

As a kid I grew up in CT. Spent a couple years in the PI. Moved to FL. Been here since 1987. It"s fair to say now that I'm from FL. I struggle with that. I both love and hate FL.

Everything you said makes total sense to me. I get you. Your cemetery comment, right... To each their own on final resting places but for sure it baffled me not to see them back in 1987 and here in T V not to have them yeah, really a remarkable thing. Your comments chime for me.

Rolling hills, windy roads, tall trees, soft grass, no red ants so you can sit in said soft grass. Big rocks, cold cold water out of the tap. The list goes on and on but...

I know what life outside of the bubble is like. While snowbird season results in much higher need for DEFENSIVE three eyes in your head driving, I still would not want to live outside of the bubble anymore. Politically, I thank God I get to live in FL.

Socially, the fun golf carting, the endless things to do here. It is as (or sadly, with so much ridiculous growth potentially was) close to perfect as I've ever seen living in FL.

I do think that T V is getting too big and it doesn't make sense to me as a Central FL dweller all these years. 15 more years of growth... really?? $$$ in the developers generational wealth machine which is sad to me. Eventually it will result in T V just being a sprawl. You can already see the skimping on charm which is unfortunate.

Thanks for your understanding. And yes rolling hills and grass you can actually sit in with the grass blades carving up your skin so the ants don't have to dig so much for their snack...totally miss blue fescue and rye grass.

Politics though - without getting deep - you express disappointment in the Developers' choices to turn TV into sprawl. And yet you vote for officials who promote that sprawl and support the Developers' choices. That perplexes me. Not just with you, but with everyone who lives here and is disappointed with those choices being made. The citizens can enact change and tell the Developers "no, you won't be expanding to Disneyworld, and that's that." All they have to do is vote for people who will put their zoning feet down and tell them no, and stick with it.

It might cost a few bucks more every year going forward, if the Developer doesn't get his increasingly enormous piece of the pie and the towns don't expand at the rate of 1000 new homes every 6 months. But isn't this supposed to be a senior Heaven on Earth? Isn't that worth a few bucks more every year? If not, then they really shouldn't be complaining.

[Packer Fan]

Originally Posted by Snakster66

Decries 'hatred' that is manifest in people who live in Florida.
Uses "I hate" a dozen times.

Please be nice to OBB. She responded to my question about what she did not like. Open and honest communication is a good thing and she stated her opinion and really did not attack anyone just why she did not like certain things. We should applaud that not condemn it.

[airstreamingypsy]

Originally Posted by OrangeBlossomBaby

Income taxes don't affect me, I don't work and have no major investments.

I hate the weather, I hate the politics, I hate the overly-obnoxious "where woke goes to die" rhetoric of hatred, mistrust, misinformation, and ignorance. Yes, that ignorance exists in every state. But it isn't celebrated quite so brazenly as it is here in this state.

In Central Florida specifically, I hate that I can't find a decent pizza. I hate that fried whole belly clams are $35 and up, IF you can find a place that has them on the menu. I hate the lack of ethnic diversity. I hate that everyone gets cremated, and when you type "cemetery near me" or "graveyard near me" you get crematoriums and memorial gardens for results with the Baldwin Brothers at the top of the list. Where I come from, graveyards are chock full of American history, and are very peaceful places to just sit and reflect on life.

I hate that there aren't any town greens, which is arguably over specific, but I come from the home of the first Town Green in the country so I'm biased.

I hate that people think a 20-year-old home is "old." I hate the mentality behind that. Again - where I come from - an "old" home was built prior to 1925, and there are thousands of them in the New England area that function just fine, are well-insulated, have withstood dozens of nor'easters, and are beautiful. I hate the overdevelopment of what was once beautiful swampland. Development, I'm all for. Overdevelopment, see traffic jam #99972, Turnpike Exit Detour #49297, and sinkhole #2721.

I hate that homes sit on cement slabs, with no basements. One thing in particular, which to me is just really WEIRD: I hate that all these developments - not just The Villages - feature their garages as the most prominent visual when you are looking at houses. The garages are all out in front of the house, not behind or beside it. That is just - really really weird to me.

I swear I think we were separated at birth...... I agree with everything you wrote.

[Packer Fan]

Originally Posted by Michael G.

Infrastructure maybe but I was born and raised in Wisconsin for 75 years and there's nothing like the Midwest in spring, summer, and fall.

Just to bad the good Lord made 6 months of spring, summer, and fall up there
and 6 months of winter.

In my younger days in Wisconsin I own 6 boats, fished Lake Michigan, wolf and Fox rivers.
Iced fished, hiked and camped the state parks, cross country skied, rode my Goldwing everywhere, raised our adopted son, made a good living, attended many Packer games and now it is a change of scenery in my old age, no more snow to drive in, walk in, or drive in.

https://www.talkofthevillages.com/fo...tar17979_3-gif

Not sure we are talking about the same place. Spring is Nice? Really? We have had snow in May. Even this year which was relatively nice most days are in the 50s and rainy. You have to take a jacket to the 4th of July fireworks. It is nice most of June through September. But then October back to Jackets. Overall it is my home state, but I like Florida way better.

I do not understand the love for basements. Everyone I know who has one has had flooding in it. One thing I like about TV is no basement

[Nellmack]

Originally Posted by OrangeBlossomBaby

Income taxes don't affect me, I don't work and have no major investments.

I hate the weather, I hate the politics, I hate the overly-obnoxious "where woke goes to die" rhetoric of hatred, mistrust, misinformation, and ignorance. Yes, that ignorance exists in every state. But it isn't celebrated quite so brazenly as it is here in this state.

In Central Florida specifically, I hate that I can't find a decent pizza. I hate that fried whole belly clams are $35 and up, IF you can find a place that has them on the menu. I hate the lack of ethnic diversity. I hate that everyone gets cremated, and when you type "cemetery near me" or "graveyard near me" you get crematoriums and memorial gardens for results with the Baldwin Brothers at the top of the list. Where I come from, graveyards are chock full of American history, and are very peaceful places to just sit and reflect on life.

I hate that there aren't any town greens, which is arguably over specific, but I come from the home of the first Town Green in the country so I'm biased.

I hate that people think a 20-year-old home is "old." I hate the mentality behind that. Again - where I come from - an "old" home was built prior to 1925, and there are thousands of them in the New England area that function just fine, are well-insulated, have withstood dozens of nor'easters, and are beautiful. I hate the overdevelopment of what was once beautiful swampland. Development, I'm all for. Overdevelopment, see traffic jam #99972, Turnpike Exit Detour #49297, and sinkhole #2721.

I hate that homes sit on cement slabs, with no basements. One thing in particular, which to me is just really WEIRD: I hate that all these developments - not just The Villages - feature their garages as the most prominent visual when you are looking at houses. The garages are all out in front of the house, not behind or beside it. That is just - really really weird to me.

I appreciate your detailed honesty. I found myself agreeing with many of your comments (garage in the front of the house - yuck) even though I don't live in TV (possibly in the future). I would very much like to read what you DO like about TV (using that same honesty

[Professor]

Originally Posted by Michael 61

It’s possible to get the impression from certain posts on TOTV that some people are less than happy and content to be living in TV. Though no community is “perfect”, The Villages is a one-of-a-kind community beyond compare in my opinion. I feel so fortunate and blessed first of all to been able to have retired early in life, and secondly to be able to reside in such a beautiful and vibrant community, with mostly highly positive residents and neighbors. For me, it only take one trip outside “the bubble” to realize how special TV is.

My wife And I moved here full-time in 2012 after using it as vacation property from 2009-2012. We loved it when we moved here and always enjoyed the music, the friendly people, and the abundance of activities. She passed away last September and while it has been an adjustment for me as a single, I still do love it here. I don't know where else I would move to that I would not be bored after getting spoiled by all the activities here.

I do get tired of the complainers and the traffic, but there are grumpy people and busy traffic lots of places so you get mostly good here, and put up with the little stuff you don't care for. You can choose to be happy or you can choose to be unhappy...why be unhappy?