The Villages upcoming visit

[audreyh1]

"kinda like hot weather"...HAHAHAHAHA. Do you like hot weather ALL the time. Like even right now? I am over it....when it gets to be 80 routinely in January I am sick of it.

Hey that's the cool season down here! LOL! I wouldn't mind some 80s today, it's 64 degrees with a hard blowing north wind, and I'm cold! It's supposed to get back to the nice weather this weekend - sunny and 75 degrees.

 

[Walt34]

... it's 64 degrees with a hard blowing north wind, and I'm cold!

I'd settle for that. Better than the 4 to 8 inches of snow and ice we're forecast for tonight/tomorrow.

 

[Amethyst]

Back when I lived there, I absolutely loved S. Florida this time of year. The weather was just perfect; not too humid, not too hot. I loved walking around in shorts after dark, admiring people's Christmas lights.

The traffic...well, that's pretty horrific.


Amethyst

 

[bmcgonig]

"kinda like hot weather"...HAHAHAHAHA. Do you like hot weather ALL the time. Like even right now? I am over it....when it gets to be 80 routinely in January I am sick of it.

Love it. Im one of those cold bodies that never warms up unless it's above 80. I was visiting a friend in Vietnam a few years ago and he said that I was the first person he had ever seen with a sweater there..


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[boilerman]

DW and I visited the Villages on their lifestyle preview program last September for 4 nights. We are about 3 years from FIRE and it was our first visit there. The place is a bit surreal- it's a city of about 100,000 retirees with 75 swimming pools, over 30 executive golf courses, a dozen championship courses, something like 2,000 different clubs. Everyone drives around in golf carts, very friendly people, we were very impressed. We want to visit again during the winter months when it's more crowded but if you want lots of things to do, it 'd be hard to beat.


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[jebmke]

Some friends of ours spend a season there one year but they got creeped out by the frequent ambulances.

 

[Amethyst]

I certainly can't speak for the Villages, but I've visited people in a couple of "over-55" places and the residents don't, after all, stay 55. One extremely creepy thing I noticed was some communal "vulching" over who had been shipped off to the nursing home; who was generally regarded as being "ready" for the nursing home, but pretending they weren't; and who might be heading for the nursing home, but it was hard to tell yet...

Amethyst

Some friends of ours spend a season there one year but they got creeped out by the frequent ambulances.

 

[audreyh1]

DW and I visited the Villages on their lifestyle preview program last September for 4 nights. We are about 3 years from FIRE and it was our first visit there. The place is a bit surreal- it's a city of about 100,000 retirees with 75 swimming pools, over 30 executive golf courses, a dozen championship courses, something like 2,000 different clubs. Everyone drives around in golf carts, very friendly people, we were very impressed. We want to visit again during the winter months when it's more crowded but if you want lots of things to do, it 'd be hard to beat.


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You don't need a large community to have oodles of things to do. Our retirement community is quite small - 100 households maybe. But there are tons of things to do with your neighbors if that's what rocks your boat.

We avoid most of the activities as they don't match our interests. But we notice most of our neighbors enthusiastically participate in the various hobby classes and breakfast and lunch outings and neighborhood parties and festivals.

 

[audreyh1]

They are called lanai's and most are screens not glass. We have one around our pool. It keeps blowing stuff out of the pool along with bugs. Some think the bugs are bad I don't think they are that bad (except the love bugs twice a year for a couple of weeks.

However, the wife likes being totally bug free by the pool.

If I recall - no-see-ums can be a problem in Florida. Maybe just certain parts of FL in certain seasons.

 

[boilerman]

You don't need a large community to have oodles of things to do. Our retirement community is quite small - 100 households maybe. But there are tons of things to do with your neighbors if that's what rocks your boat.

I agree, in fact we were a bit overwhelmed by the size of everything and will need to be convinced that it's not too big. But we were impressed with the variety of amenities and how well everything is maintained.

 

[48Fire]

A couple just invited us to visit them at the Villages....just don't know if we are ready for that

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[Sunset]

I got the info package from the Villages, which was a nice introduction.
It suggested the cost was about $1,000/mo for a $250,000 home for the normal basic expenses.
As I understand it, there are basically a number of "different" villages all connected to each other.
Some seem to be more expensive housing than the others, it made me wonder if there is there a status effect depending upon if you buy a $500,000 vs $125,000 home.
Do you get to participate/pay the same as everyone else for events/etc ?

 

[Jack_Pine]

Events and things to do cost the same except for the championship golf courses. they have their own rate scale (same for all who choose)

When we were there the top end homes were the designer series. They were nice but pricey.

48Fire: not ready to visit your friends or to mover there? A visit like that would seem perfect..........

 

[poorcarver]

I had a friend who retired to a similar spot in AZ. He came back to IL to visit and was telling me of the wonders of the joint. They get up and there is the club house and the pool, and the pool table and ... But the creepy part was when he talked about how everyone gets up and first thing goes outside and there is a sort of informal check in to see who did not get out the door and needs to be checked on. Nice in a way but creepy.

For me, I will spend my declining years in my neighborhood, seeing people of all ages go past my porch. We have a grade school two blocks away and have Moms walking kids to school, older ones on their own, HS students heading off to the HS. Folks mowing grass, etc. I see myself as the old man who lives in the little house who makes (or depending on the year) used to make toys for the children and who sits on his porch reading and watching the world go by.

Have done some work on the house to facilitate long term care on site and have planned accordingly financially. Better deal for DW and I and a lot better deal for DS and DD. We happen to be in an area where top notch services are available, albeit at a price.

 

[imoldernu]

For those who have never been to The Villages, it might be worthwhile to get an idea of just how big it is. Here's a Google Maps view. Zoom in and out to see how many roads and how many individual house lots there are.
https://www.google.com/maps/place/The+Villages,+FL/@28.8974564,-82.0012045,12z/data=!4m2!3m1!1s0x88e7c1561da39a99:0x553b129a94b4af67

The Villages covers more than 55 square miles. By comparison, almost three times as large as Providence RI, a little less than Wahington DC, and 2/3 the size of Oakland, CA.

Thousands of miles of roads, inclusing 90+ miles for golf carts (so far).

Another comparison... our campground is the largest family campground in the US, with 6000 sites. It covers just over 2 square miles.

As to the socio/economic strata... for the most part, each individual village is largely similar in the size and cost of homes, so it is unlikely that you would find a million dollar home, next to a $200K home. The oldest part of the Villages, once named Orange Blossom Gardens, on the east side of rte 441 was/is all mobile or maufactured homes... many available for well under $100,000.

When we first moved to FL, Orange Blossom Gardens was there... before the Villages even existed... circa 1990.

 

[Amethyst]

Perhaps there are neighborhood "watches," who will shoot anyone who dares venture over from the cheap neighborhood to the expensive one without an invitation

I
Some seem to be more expensive housing than the others, it made me wonder if there is there a status effect depending upon if you buy a $500,000 vs $125,000 home.

 

[Sunset]

Are the events and activities within the Village restricted to villagers or can outsiders join in ?
I get that the tour might offer the best way to view it, although because its so large it would still be a limited view.
Something about them charging $200/night to take a 4-7 night tour, seems like a bit of an expensive sales pitch.
It would be like paying a timeshare sales pitch for the wonderful 3 hours spent with them.
First thing that price did was make me wonder if the owners (its family owned) would be looking to maximize their revenue from me via all sorts of fees and taxes once I bought in.
Maybe I'm too cautious is all, but I don't think residents get to elect their local government as it seems to be all in the family.

 

[Jack_Pine]

Back in the day the life style visits were much cheaper and a real deal. they had to limit how many you could do.

Now they don't need them so much as (to some) it sells itself.

Anyone from outside can take advantage of the 3 town squares. Shops/restaurants/entertainment.

the rec centers take and access card and the golf requires residency. I am not sure if there is a non-residence fee structure available for golf.............