Speculation by a few Village Whiners.
No facts.

So if they tear down the home behind yours, and put up a for-profit inpatient drug rehab center in its place you'll be okay with that. Afterall, it's a business, and businesses are designed to make money.

So many issues with this type of argument and is part of the reason there is not wide support for stopping advancements.

Nothing is being torn down in anyone's backyard........it's on the other side of a golf course.

Nothing is going from residential property to commercial property.

:sing:

Please respect the TOTV tradition and do not attempt to answer any posts with facts.

Please accept my apology. :ho:

I think it’s just pushback against those that think the developer walks on water.

Pretty much, yeah. They know that though. They're the ones who used to throw the dodge ball in their opponent's face in the playground. Even when they're right, they're still bullies.

Animosity towards the developers
 

First a history lesson. Mr Schwartz was the original developer for this area. He had a dream that he wanted to build an area for the “average guy” to live out their final days in an affordable area filled with activities for them. In those days you could see Mr. Schwartz walking down the street talking to the average guy. He was a personable , friendly man who cared about people. His goal was to keep the area small and affordable. As the area got bigger, he made a promise to all that the area would never get too large to forget the people.
When he passed, the children and grandchildren took over and their greed set in. Suddenly the people were forgotten and services were taken away, taxes were raised in the newer area by 25% in one year. This directly related to the impact fees. Studies weren’t done at how the building would affect the people. Instead the people were expected to “pay” for the impact of the new areas instead of the developer absorbing the costs who was the one making all the money from the building. The “villagers” were expected to pay for new services such as roads, fire depts, police depts, etc. when the people balked at this they “bought” the people making those decisions. If fact, in Sumter , one man makes all the decisions relating to the expansion of the villages. He makes close to $400,000 a year paid for by the developers. Naturally, he’s not going to bite the hand that feeds him so he votes their way instead of the wish of the area people. When the people balked at the expansion , he disregarded an entire room of people as well as an overflow crowd expressing negative comments regarding the expansion, yet he stopped a citizen who wanted to build a carport onto his home on his multi acre farm. They even went so far as buying a senator again by paying his salary, who stopped the impact fees that were going to be accessed so as to keep taxes down to the village people. The people don’t want apartments at La Hacienda or in the squares. Lake county voted them down in Spanish Springs. They are now being brought to court by the developers despite an overflowing crowding wanting them voted down. Those commissioners listened to the people there since they live outside the Villages. As for La Hacienda , they took away the country club for the area residents and are now putting multistory apartments there instead. They were told if they didn’t vote for the apartments they would build a multistory parking garage there instead.
So you see , it is the fact that Mr Schwartz’s dream is being ruined of the Villages being for the “average guy” by greedy children and grandchildren and that is why there is such unrest among the people of the Villages.

It’s class envy.

Also most retirees have a lot of spare time on their hands mixed with the class envy and there you have it.

Me? I’m going to enjoy my retirement and hope the family makes a lot of money !

I liken this argument to cruising......what it is today vs what it was when we started 30 yrs ago is basically very different.....anything that does not DIE continues to grow and has to evolve....be it human or a business. There will be people that are taking their first cruise POST COVID that will think it is amazing.....but for us we are probably done doing something we enjoyed very much, because we realize the changes that are required will be just too much for us to be able to enjoy anymore. When you can not go where you want when you want without an apt (gym, dining, shows, even the buffets according to todays article in Cruise News), just takes the fun out of it for us. We ENJOY waking up when we want and doing what we choose vs having to "schedule" everything by appointment for "contact tracing" purposes to comply with the CDC requirements.

If you have not experienced this kind of growth and evolution in ANY business you use today vs 30 yrs ago, and BENEFITED from it, I would have to assume you suffer from serious memory issues.

If I was as miserable living here as some of you seem to be, I would change what I could, vs whining all the time.

Long time residents are aware that the Developer has done some shady things in the past and can't be trusted. Research the class action lawsuit brought against The developer due to misuse of amenity funds, that was settled to the tune of something like $40 million.

I sure am glad they developed TVs. No place like it on earth!

[QUOTE=Rsenholzi;1965087 So you see , it is the fact that Mr Schwartz’s dream is being ruined of the Villages being for the “average guy” by greedy children and grandchildren and that is why there is such unrest among the people of the Villages.[/QUOTE]

Another posting with no facts.

The average 60 year old makes over $85,000.
The average 60 year old has a net worth over $1,200,000
The "average guy" can still afford The Villages, nothing is ruined.

"Unrest"...............is by a very, very small group of people.
Where in the USA is there not a very, very small group of unhappy people.

:ho:

I wonder if Spruce Creek has Dell Webb haters.

We've been attempting to find a reasonably priced villa to rent out lately, and when we got priced out of the Villages, we started looking in Spruce Creek -- which reminded me why we bought our retirement home in the Villages.

The golf course there was empty and the greens had brown patches and bare spots that I could see from the road. Here, people complain when they can't get a morning tee time in the off season, and if it quits raining for a month they complain about brown patches in the fairways. We even have people sneaking on to play golf when the course is closed!

There, the sole community center was a ghost town. Here, the paper's weekly publication of the activities in all dozens of community centers is bigger than the Sports or Living sections. And get this -- we even have our own paper!

Here in the summer heat, golf carts are zooming around everywhere, and everyone I meet on my morning walk waves and gives me a "good morning!". There, they have big lawns with fences, but you'd have to bang on some doors to discover if anyone lives in those little painfully-identical houses. You certainly don't see them on the streets.

I live in a 20-year-old "village", that I'm sure "the developer" could care less about. The streets are still beautiful, the flowers still blooming, the lawns still manicured, the pools full of people, the public places still look like they were built yesterday. In Spruce Creek the only flowers I saw were next to someone's front porch.

How do you know you're in a great place to live? Complainers!

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