[ssmith]

We won a free weekend + my husband has a conference in Austin Texas....well it rained so we had to do something other than go to the Music Festival, so we decided to check out Sun City in Austin Texas. Here is my report...

The area is beautiful and the homes are really nice......much better prices than designers in TV right now.

It will be about 15,000 people at build out in about 2-3 years.

It is close to Austin and there is much to do. Many of the activities listed in their magazine was about trips in and around Austin and a plethora of trips on cruises etc.

Seems there are many, many activities related to raising money for the surrounding area....Had to laugh at the Cattlebaron's ball (love it like the TV show Dallas). This is neither good nor bad in my opinion but wonder if there are more wealthy types living in this area...with more expendable income.

It does not seem to have a town center (at least not a town square like The Villages) and there is only 2 restaurants on the property. They have 3 lovely golf courses. The golf carts drive on the streets and there were some going around in golf carts but most drive their cars places.

There were many activities...I suppose one could keep really busy with them.

Of course, The Villages has more activites.

I feel like they focused on selling me a house in a nice subdivision that happens to be all 55+ with some community activities added compared to The Villages that sold me on the community that happened to just have nice homes too.

I could see where one would prefer this place to The Villages. Texas is a great place. it would be too far for our kids to come to see us and there is no Disney close and beaches are 3 hrs away instead of 2 hrs away. The heat in Texas in the summer can be opprsive too. Also Sun City does appear to have problems with drought and water conservation was an issue.

For us, there was no comparison to The Villages. Just thought I would share our opinion of the place.

BTW we did enjoy the Outlet malls near the Austin area...just sayin hahahaha. Have never seen a Gucci, Neiman Marcus or Crate and Barrell at an outlet mall before!!!

[swimdawg]

Interesting!

A couple weeks ago I was at Target on 441/27. I was in line waiting to check out and there was a nice couple in front of me who had a ton of stuff in their cart. I could see by what they had...pots 'n pans, vac cleaner, etc., etc. that they had just moved in. So I started chit chatting and they insisted I go in line in front of them. I asked where they were from and they said they were from Phoenix. My parents retired to Sun City West, AZ decades ago and it was beautiful....back then. I asked the couple why they decided to retire to TV instead of the Sun Cities and they said that the Sun City communities have really gone down the tubes....dirty, not kept up and no comparison to TV.

Of course the Del Webb communities do have INDOOR POOLS for those of us who like to swim early or late or in cool rainy weather.....but ya can't have everything!

There is no comparing TV to Del Webb communities. The Villages is TOP SHELF!

[perrjojo]

We are Texans and visited Sun City in the Austin area a few years back. It is in a beautiful area of Texas but to go anywhere you must go out on I35. I35 is a nightmare traffic jam.

[DaleMN]

We have wintered several times in the Villages, once in Sun City West and twice now in Sun City Grand in Surprise, AZ.
Sun City West is an older development but has very nice golf courses and other amenities. Sun City Grand has 4 great golf courses and two awesome activity centers with indoor and outdoor pools.
Each of the three has its pro's and con's but for the money I would say Sun City Grand is the best value. Having said that we may come back to The Villages in 2014.

[manaboutown]

There are a lot of choices out there. I appreciate reading about the various 55 and over retirement communities people have visited, what they observed and experienced, what their views on the communities are and how these communities compare to The Villages.

Thanks, OP!

[ssmith]

You're welcome Manaboutown.

Just thought I would report in as to what I thought.

The Villages is not for everybody and with the the rise in the cost of homes in The Villages...remember I have been around a little too long.....we may have to rethink our options. It's just that for us nothing compares to The Villages!!!

[perrjojo]

Originally Posted by ssmith

You're welcome Manaboutown.

Just thought I would report in as to what I thought.

The Villages is not for everybody and with the the rise in the cost of homes in The Villages...remember I have been around a little too long.....we may have to rethink our options. It's just that for us nothing compares to The Villages!!!

We have looked at many options too and Texas is closer to family but you are so right....nothing compares to the Villages.

[Matzy]

Of course, there are so many options finding the right place to live. Thinking about that and checking all very good retirement places takes time....... do I have this time? We chose the best place we could find, at that are The Villages, doubt for us.

[maddie101]

I am in Texas now. Homes values are excellent and my kids are in Dallas. However, we bought in TV. TV is for us.

[villagerjack]

For snowbirds, the Villages is absolutely the best business model. Amenities still under control of developer is a stroke of genius. In some communities cliques tend to form and overtake some of the amenities with things like teams and snowbirds tend to take the back seat when they arrive. I was the chief reason for us leaving a Sun City and coming to the Villages.

[manaboutown]

Which Sun City did you leave, Jack?