[Ga.dawg]

Well , us that live south of 44 don’t have a problem going to play golf , north of 44, so your rant is meaningless, and useless information

[Bay Kid]

Originally Posted by Bogie Shooter

Good Evening All,
My wife and I have sold our home in the panhandle and are renting a home in the Villages for the month of May. Our question is about the southern end of TV. We have heard good things and not so good things about the south end. I love tennis and play 3 times a week, USTA 3.5 - 4.0, my wife is a solid 3.5. Love the game. Also played 2 man beach volleyball back in the day and want to get back into it! We are active and are looking for that type of environment. Is the south end a good choice or not? Virus or not we have made up our minds that TV is where we want to be. Give us some honest opinions if you have time and some info!!! Thanks!!!!! Tennisbum

3/2020
No mention of golf.

Glenview has the best tennis in The Villages. Check it out.

[golfing eagles]

Originally Posted by Bella6368

I've been told the St. Catherine's are where Sawgrass Grove is, will be the new center of The Villages, not Osceola Hills. I guess looking at a revised map might help clarify this.

I would look more closely at that map if I were you, because St. Catherine's as the center isn't even close. Probably Dunedin or Charlotte fits that bill once construction is finished all the way down to Center Hill

[clouwho]

Originally Posted by beckylou152

We live in Bradford south of 44. I would buy here again. There are pros and cons to every area. Pros to south of 44 are that we have wonderful, extensive, scenic multimodal trails for walking and biking everywhere. There are lots of gorgeous, brand new rec centers with courts for Pickleball, tennis, etc. homes are new, and often less expensive than pre owned homes. There will be a new type of entertainment and shopping/dining experience very soon at Sawgrass Grove. There are cute and unique places to go and see, such as Edna’s, Fenny Grill, Hogeye path, etc.. finally, when you move into a new area the folks are all in the same boat and it is super easy to make friends! Cons are that it is a longer drive to some executive courses, we are not as close to the existing town squares, and there is not great shopping down this way. So it is a trade off. I chose this area because I knew I wanted walking trails, and I use them every day. I don’t mind long golf cart rides to executive courses, and I know the new bridge and development south of here will bring even more access. I wanted a new home. But there are fantastic homes and amenities everywhere. Have fun looking!

Hi BeckyLou, CindyLou here!

This is the proper attitude with which to choose where to live in The Villages. Every yes in life is a thousand nos. Nowhere have I seen a place (much less created for a single age/lifestyle populace) with SO many yeses!!!

We bought a rental home and lived in it several weeks of the year for three years before making the big decision on where to live. I HIGHLY recommend renting first for this reason. We already had an idea when we bought the rental that we wanted in the “golden circle” (between morse and buena vista and 466 and 466a).

Those five years of being down here often, checking out lifestyle clubs, fitness facilities, golf courses, indoor and outdoor rec amenities, shopping, doctors, vets, restaurants, proximity to surrounding towns, amusement parks, state parks and both oceans all mattered to us. We are big fans of enjoying the state you reside in, and florida has wonders galore…natural and man made that we are enjoying every single month. Highly recommend getting National and state park passes as well.

We were so torn when Fenney and the southside boomed. We are from Lousiana and the Marsh Bend Hogeye area called to our swamp loving hearts for sure. We love to do nature walks. However, we also love convenience in our day to day lives. It takes at LEAST 10 years after The Villages moves into a new area for basic retail, medical, hair, vets, etc to move in and stabilize the commercial and retail sectors. The Villages is just now filling a vacancy in brownwood for the first time that has been there for almost a decade!

We figured with a 10-15 year life expectancy in our new chapter and location, we needed to be realistic about the NOW and near future. What do we do daily? What has us running the roads the least?

We ultimately chose to be almost literally in the dead center of the golden circle and are thrilled with the choice. We chose a wonderful tiny 10 home culdesac with amazing neighbors, mature landscaping, and peace and quiet. Half of our neighbors are in 80s and the other half of us are young 60s, nixing the rumor that everyone in center and north is “old” (which is irrelevant here where most people are active). It is a great mix! We are surrounded by golf galore (we can walk to starter shack in less than five minutes) and have three rec centers/pools/amenities within 5 minute walk. We have three great regional rec centers within a 5-10 minute golf cart ride and dozens of exec and championship courses in that same 10 minute drive. We are midway between Sarasota and Arnold Palmer and use both regularly for practice and lessons. No driving range or good practice facility in entire southside was deal breaker for husband. And Sarasota is ridiculously crowded year round now because developer hasn’t put practice greens, golf school or driving range on south side (which is truly inexcusable IMHO)

The GREAT news is there were hundreds of villages and lifestyle choices we could have made that would also have been great!
We drive down to Edna’s and Hogeye and the Fenney boardwalk (and looking forward to the new nature boardwalk opening soon as well) frequently. These are our “hometown” outings, our field trips, our explorations of our great community that has so ridiculously much to offer. I try to not to laugh when we comment that something is so FAR away. We are retired. We have 16 waking hours a day available every day. The journeys here are all a lovely relaxing golf cart ride away. We are GRATEFUL to be here!!!!

The Villages has gotten too big to pick a homesite that puts you near EVERYTHING. There is simple too much everything for that to be possible. What an amazing conundrum!

ESPECIALLY when I think about my friends retiring across their various hometowns who spend most of their days in their houses, in front of tv or media, with very few offerings on affordable recreation, fitness, sports, etc, and certainly no lifestyle type clubs to explore new interests and passions, no easy access to live music for free at three lovely outdoor venues etc…much less a short walk or relaxing breezy golf cart ride away. My friends who are aging in place are frequently in neighborhoods surrounded by busy young families who don’t have the time or same interests as most retirees. This creates a terrible sense of isolation and boredom amidst a crowd and requires that they get in their cars and drive substantial distances to connect with other retirees with the same interests.

P.s. My favorite unexpected joy so far is being able to hop in the car, drive one hour due west, meet the fishing boats at the Crab Plant on Crystal River and have a great seafood lunch outside on the water, watching manatees and coastal life. After lunch we head out with our fishing rods and a short 10-15 minute drive further we are on a pier in the gulf at Fort Island. We swim, we laze, and we throw perfectly good shrimp in the water in hopes of a good return on investment! We stay til the sun goes down and then enjoy spectacular stargazing lying on a remote dark beach. An hour away!!! Woo hoo!

Good luck to all choosing their next home. Wherever you choose, you will find GOOD people, GOOD health, GOOD lifestyle choices. Amazing!

[richs631]

I don’t think the poster was trying to bash the southern area but just making a statement that there are less golf courses per home compared to the other areas and with the influx of new residents playing golf the tee times are difficult to get

[sallyg]

We have lived in the northern part of TV and now south of 44. Consider renting before you buy. Lots of pros and cons to every part of this place. We are very happy to have a newly built house in a newly developed area.

[Mrprez]

Originally Posted by richs631

I don’t think the poster was trying to bash the southern area but just making a statement that there are less golf courses per home compared to the other areas and with the influx of new residents playing golf the tee times are difficult to get

Respectfully, I disagree. Lots of bashing going on around here.

Winter time is always a tough time for tee times. I was talking to a starter at Lowlands yesterday. She said there are 1500 unfulfilled requests for tee times daily. Once the winter visitors head back home, this will ease.

[Cliff Fr]

It is difficult to make a profit or break even with a golf course. Between the maintenance expense and the property taxes the operating costs are very high. In addition people seem to be more health aware now and are going for other activities such as walking, biking, running, etc. I believe The Villages is trying to strike a balance between golf and other activities in the new areas.

[MSchad]

Originally Posted by Bogie Shooter

Good Evening All,
My wife and I have sold our home in the panhandle and are renting a home in the Villages for the month of May. Our question is about the southern end of TV. We have heard good things and not so good things about the south end. I love tennis and play 3 times a week, USTA 3.5 - 4.0, my wife is a solid 3.5. Love the game. Also played 2 man beach volleyball back in the day and want to get back into it! We are active and are looking for that type of environment. Is the south end a good choice or not? Virus or not we have made up our minds that TV is where we want to be. Give us some honest opinions if you have time and some info!!! Thanks!!!!! Tennisbum

3/2020
No mention of golf.

I don’t play either, but Everglades Rec center has tennis courts, and Riverbend Rec center has sand courts for volleyball. Both south of turnpike.

[36Aday]

We would not buy anything south of 466A. There is a great difference in the proximity of amenities. North of 466A you have access to all 3 squares, every championship course, 100s of holes of executive courses, pools and rec centers galore and plenty of shopping. ALL AVAILABLE BY GOLF CART!

[dewilson58]

Originally Posted by 36Aday

We would not buy anything south of 466A. There is a great difference in the proximity of amenities. North of 466A you have access to all 3 squares, every championship course, 100s of holes of executive courses, pools and rec centers galore and plenty of shopping. ALL AVAILABLE BY GOLF CART!

Appear to be new and clueless.

Everything you mentioned is available by golf cart living South of 466a.
The difference between North & South of 466a from my house is three (3) minutes.

[MSchad]

Originally Posted by 36Aday

We would not buy anything south of 466A. There is a great difference in the proximity of amenities. North of 466A you have access to all 3 squares, every championship course, 100s of holes of executive courses, pools and rec centers galore and plenty of shopping. ALL AVAILABLE BY GOLF CART!

Glad you are happy with where you live. But let’s get real; Everything everywhere is available by golf cart to everyone no matter where you live. You can get to those up north quicker than me, and I can get to those south quicker than you. Both of us can get to them all, and do all the time. It’s a golf cart community.

[MSchad]

Originally Posted by 63chevy

To me 30 minutes is way to far. I don't play anything further than 15 minutes. I have 19 executives and 7 Championship within that time frame.

That’s nice. But when your area was first released for sale, was all that available at that time? I ask this because I see this was your first post, so ‘assuming’ you are new to your area.

[JMintzer]

Originally Posted by Bella6368

I've been told the St. Catherine's are where Sawgrass Grove is, will be the new center of The Villages, not Osceola Hills. I guess looking at a revised map might help clarify this.

Picking nits... I'm just a mile north of 44. St Cathrine is about 1-2 miles S of 44... Same difference in the scheme of things...

[JMintzer]

Originally Posted by Ga.dawg

Well , us that live south of 44 don’t have a problem going to play golf , north of 44, so your rant is meaningless, and useless information

It helps when you quote the person you're responding to...

No idea which rant you're talking about...