[Dave. C.]

We are two or so years from pulling the employment plug and retiring. We've looked a very large 55+ communities with all the many, many activities like TV and we've looked at much smaller communities with a clubhouse, pool, gym and maybe a library. Hmmmm?

What kind of person fits best in each?

Sometimes I think paying for the whole tamale is not very bright if I only want a soft drink? Are any TV residents ever second guessing their decision to move there?
Do you certain types of folks lean toward the huge....or the smaller one's?

Any ideas from residents and you're experiences will be appreciated.

[chazz1996]

The Villages is not for everyone...haha
That said , This is probably the only place where all your dreams come true .
Any hobbies...
Cards, model airplanes ,model boats, model trains, cars , archery,,GOLF
Look online for the villages clubs !
A busy life is a happy wife...

[Bill-n-Brillo]

Dave, it would depend on how active you plan to be in your retirement as well as how close you want to be to infrastructure types of things (shopping, restaurants, etc., etc.). If your vision is that you'd feel more comfortable in a smaller setting without the numerous amenities that TV has to offer, then that's the route you should take. But check on the amenity fees at some of the other area/developments you're considering. I don't think you'll get the same bang-for-your-buck anyplace else.

At the end of the day, you've got to do what feels right to you!

Bill

[CMANN]

I am curious. Can you tell me the names of some other retirement communities besides The Villages?

To your question, I have never regretted my decision. Even if in my later years I become less active there is still be plenty for me to do. One of the things that I did find interesting is that The villages was comparable or less in price and expense than other units that I looked at that would have been maybe the size of one or two of our villages and only one free golf course. I was never really a call for but at these prices I have learned.

I am bias. I just love this place and I can afford it.

[Bryan]

Florida has so many retirement communities that it would be impossible to name them all - one would open while I was writing the list. That being said, there are some very nice but smaller retirement communities around TV. Some you can look at are Spruce Creek South, Del Webb Spruce Creek, Stonecrest, Harbor Hills, Water Oaks, and a few others. If you want to talk to some residents of those retirement communities, come to Spanish Springs in TV almost any evening and meet them - that's where many of them come for entertainment.

[Golfer in Sanibel]

I met a Villager who told me he had moved away from TV once. His doctor told him he may have better health if he lived in Arizona. He sold his home in TV and bought one out there. He is an avid golfer and plays 4 to 5 times per week. The community in Az. was small and had one 18 hole golf course. After three years playing the same golf course over and over and over he yearned for the multitude of golfing options in TV and he moved back. I can see where going to the same pool, seeing the same people and golfing the same golf course for three years would make you bored after having all the choices here. BTW, his health wasn't any better in the dryer climate.

He also said at he would watch the sparkle of the flashlights on the mountains at night from his lanai. It was the lights of the illegals walking over the mountains into the U.S. The INS would pick them up, take them back to the border and they'd walk back in the next night. Ain't America interesting?

[Schaumburger]

Originally Posted by Bryan

Florida has so many retirement communities that it would be impossible to name them all - one would open while I was writing the list. That being said, there are some very nice but smaller retirement communities around TV. Some you can look at are Spruce Creek South, Del Webb Spruce Creek, Stonecrest, Harbor Hills, Water Oaks, and a few others. If you want to talk to some residents of those retirement communities, come to Spanish Springs in TV almost any evening and meet them - that's where many of them come for entertainment.

Now I'm just a wannabee, but doesn't that say something when the residents of other retirement communities have to leave their communities and venture into TV to have a good time? Just my 2 cents.

[islandgal]

Dave.C.
Here is a list of the social clubs in TV:

http://www.districtgov.org/images/clubslisting.pdf

[BobKat1]

Originally Posted by Bill-n-Brillo

Dave, it would depend on how active you plan to be in your retirement as well as how close you want to be to infrastructure types of things (shopping, restaurants, etc., etc.). If your vision is that you'd feel more comfortable in a smaller setting without the numerous amenities that TV has to offer, then that's the route you should take. But check on the amenity fees at some of the other area/developments you're considering. I don't think you'll get the same bang-for-your-buck anyplace else.

At the end of the day, you've got to do what feels right to you!Bill

Very good advice. Stay at a couple of different size communitites and see what feels best for you. We were in the same boat and found TV, as well as some others, each one that interested us had something to offer.

Good luck with your decision.

[asianthree]

Our renters have tried both and are coming back in November to TV

[senior citizen]

...

[Madelaine Amee]

When we retired we took into account what we were looking for and how we wanted to spend our (probably) remaining years and The Villages had it all for us.

But above and beyond what The Villages has to offer as you age, is the fact that when you no longer need your home here they SELL. How many areas of Florida, or the rest of the country, can say that? My biggest concern as I age is not to leave my children problems when I am no longer here, and many of my friends have mentioned that they could not sell their parent's home in different areas of Florida for several years! Well, not here, and when build out arrives all the homes in TV are going to be at a premium.

It may sound morbid, but worth adding to the list of why to move to TV.

[senior citizen]

...

[BarryRX]

To me, one of the great things about the villages is that not only can I be as busy and occupied as I want, I can also kick back and sit on my lanai and read. If I don't go to the squares or rec centers, my neighborhood is very quiet. To me, that means that I have all the advantages of living in the villages, as well as all the advantages of living in a smaller community. If you consider the huge influx of snowbirds to be a problem, then perhaps a smaller community would not have the wait for restaurants and traffic increase. But I don't mind it much, so it's not a problem for me. Good luck with your decision.

[EdV]

If I were going to compare Tucson to Central Florida, I wouldn’t use the summer heat as a deciding factor. Both locations tend to be around 100 degrees Real Feel (heat index) during the summer at mid day.

And there are many thousands of TV residents that migrate north each year to escape the relentless heat and humidity that is the norm around here during the summer months.