As I write this, we have been in Florida for a month now.
We drove down over three days, meeting my dad in St. Louis and him following us from there, in mid-January, arriving on January 15.
BTW, the drive down here was BRUTAL. It was 24 hours total…with a cat in the back. Just imagine that! He was actually pretty good, but that long in the car even over three days is not fun. But we have been making use of our car and we brought so much stuff that flying wasn’t a real option.
We are thinking of driving to the Florida panhandle and staying for a few nights on the way home. Then from there we can make it to Colorado in two days.
I have a lot of learning/processing to do about The Villages (where we are staying), Florida in general, and my thoughts on being away from home/missing some winter, but thought I’d at least share my initial thoughts to get them down and let everyone know how it’s going.
FYI, I won’t be posting pictures on this post as it would be difficult to select just a few from the hundreds I’ve taken. I have been sharing many of them on Instagram so follow me there if you want updates and/or to see what I’m talking about.
Let’s get started…
The Villages
Here are my random thoughts about The Villages in no particular order:
- I was under the impression that The Villages was a self-contained community, but it is not. For example, when you go to Disney World’s Magic Kingdom, once you go through the gates, everywhere you go is within the Magic Kingdom. The Villages has areas like that, but often between them there is simply “regular stuff” (gas stations, churches, trailer parks, etc.) It may all be “The Villages” on paper (not sure what they own and don’t own) but the feel is certainly not like “once you’re in it you’re in.” It’s more like you’re in part of The Villages (while driving), then you’re out of it, then you’re back in, etc.
- There are three town squares in The Villages where there’s retail, restaurants, and live music every night. From north to south (and oldest to youngest) they are Spanish Springs (Spanish look and feel), Lake Sumter (coastal look and feel), and Brownwood Paddock (western feel). We are south of Brownwood and are up at this square the most. We have been to all three at least twice, all during the day. It’s pretty open in the day with not many people or much traffic. At night it gets pretty busy (at least at Brownwood, haven’t been to the other squares at night) given the restaurants and nightly live music.
- Within the living areas it’s pretty quiet — at least where we are. We live in the Village of Bradford, a newer community in the south, so it could be things just aren’t that developed here yet. But when we walk we don’t see that many people out and about, even out in their yards. Maybe it’s because we’re all old and the kids who are usually outside are not here. Hahaha.
- Speaking of walking, it’s not a big walking community from what we’ve seen. Since we walk so much, we have had little need for our golf car. But most people take golf cars for short distances, they don’t walk. Then again, most people are 10-15 years older than we are, so maybe we’ll drive golf cars at that age as well.
- It is a bit strange to be in an environment where almost everyone is old. When you see anyone below 30 you think to yourself, “What is that person doing here?” It’s weird to say the least.
- The homes and common areas are very nicely maintained. They are a bit cookie-cutter as there are a limited number of home styles offered, but homes are different colors/styles enough that it’s not like the same house in row after row. In fact we were told that you can’t have the same house color as your neighbors, though it can be in the same family (i.e. dark gray versus light gray).
- We have taken two tours with a real estate agent and seen a variety of homes (neither we nor my dad have made any decisions about buying here — it’s way too early IMO). She told us that existing homes, sold by their owners, go at market prices, which are $30k-$50k higher than new homes sold by The Villages. Not sure if this is true or not, we haven’t researched it enough. I do know that most existing homes are in the northern, more developed areas, and this could count for some price differences.
- There are people from all over the country and even world here. They come far and wide to move to The Villages, but there’s a common spirit of being out and about. My dad has even noticed how active everyone is. He’s been out and about a lot himself here compared to his home in Iowa. He does Zumba every day and also drives around “seeing things” often and visiting recreation centers. I had a friend tell me he estimated that The Villages added 10 years to his parents’ lives and I don’t doubt it.
- There are 100+ recreation centers, all of various sizes and themes and each with different activities. We live near several of them and take advantage of several activities regularly (pool, swimming, shuffleboard, ping pong, pickleball, Zumba, etc.) at about five of them mostly with another five used now and then. Our main ones (in case you know the names/area and are interested) are Aviary (closest to us, good level of pickleball play, pool, swimming pool, and shuffleboard), Ezell (Zumba, pickleball (more beginners but more courts too), ping pong), Rohan (my dad uses for Zumba and my wife has played pickleball there), Everglades (pickleball clinic and by the “swanky” Publix), and Spanish Moss (where I play with the higher level pickleball guys.)
- The pickleball players here are a bit clicky, with the upper level players not wanting to mix with the lower level ones. In fact, many upper level players won’t even tell some people when/where they play. I have had people tell me they showed up to try and play with a higher ranked group and were told that if they weren’t rated, they couldn’t play (my wife has been told twice by different people that she should play at other courts as these courts were for “advanced players.”) The only ways you can break into an upper level group are to 1) know someone or 2) get rated. Since I know no one, I attended a clinic to be rated. I had to choose between the 3.5/4.0 clinic and the 4.5 clinic. I chose the first one as I was certain I was at least 3.5 and I didn’t want to try the 4.5, fail, and get no rating (if they do that). Anyway, the 4.5 guys are usually pretty serious and even I’m not that uptight. lol. So I tried out and got rated at 4.0. From there I have contacted a few groups listed as 4.0 and once they know I’ve been rated, there’s no problem. I played with one on Monday and was better than the average person there. I have another group to play with on Thursday (which will be before this posts but after the time I schedule it).
- FYI, pickleball balls are provided at all the courts, so you don’t need to bring your own (as I did) to play down here.
- On most days, I work out early (get to the gym around 7:15 am), come home, then my wife and I walk to Aviary where the “good” players play. We play one game together, then break up into groups that are at our various levels.
- Finding a good gym was difficult. I wanted one that had both weights and cardio stairs and only found one with both: MVP Sports in Brownwood Square. Plus they would let me join month-to-month while Anytime Fitness wanted an annual agreement. There are also workout rooms in some of The Villages rec centers but those are usually pretty low-end for what I want. Anyway, comparing any of these places to Lifetime Fitness in Colorado leaves them all lacking big-time, but I’ll make do for 2.5 months. 🙂
- When we got here, we picked up our “Resident IDs” that we show to prove we are residents. We use these to get into rec centers, pools, play pickleball, etc. Or at least that’s the theory. I have NEVER had anyone ask to see my ID at a pool or a pickleball court, so I don’t know what’s keeping non-residents from popping over here and using the facilities. We get asked maybe 50% of the time to see IDs when at a rec center, but that’s almost always if we are taking a class or doing an activity (like playing pool). So the rule seems to be that if it’s outside, there’s little asking about IDs but if you go inside (where there are always more employees), then there’s a higher chance.
- Mail in The Villages is delivered to a central location (a rec center that’s also a postal center) within each village. So we have to drive/walk to get any mail we receive every day (it’s about a 20-minute round trip walk). Amazon does deliver directly to the front door, so that’s nice.
The House and Florida
Here are some random thoughts about Florida, the house we’re staying in, and our time down here so far:
- On the visitor front we’ve had my brother and sister-in-law visit for a night and our kids have been down for a week now. Our house is kinda cramped with everyone here.
- The house we are staying in is very nice. It’s a 2,000 square foot, three bedroom, two bathroom designer house (which means it was designed by the owners — most houses in The Villages are spec houses based on designs from The Villages) built less than a year ago. It’s very beautiful and in a good location. If it was just me, my wife, and Zeus, it would be fine. But we have my dad and kids with us, so it’s pretty full. Plus the bedrooms are off the main area so if anyone is trying to sleep and anyone else is watching TV/talking, it’s tough. It’s a good trial run for us as we decide what our living arrangements might be in the future.
- As for the place itself, our friends gave us a good deal — $3,500 a month plus $400 a month for the golf car (which we could have skipped in retrospect). Others I’ve talked to have paid $5k per month for 2 BR/2 BA (though those homes were up in the more developed areas). But we do have one big constraint: our cat is not allowed in the bedrooms during the day (and we keep him out at night too), which is something I won’t be doing again as I want him to have access to all areas of the house.
- The one thing we really love is the screened-in lanai. Almost every house in The Villages has one. Ours opens up from sliding g lass doors in the living room that open very wide. Then the lanai itself is probably 20 feet by 10 feet, has plenty of furniture in it, and is a great place to enjoy a lunch, dinner, or just a chat. The cat loves it too as he feels like he’s outside! We may look into adding something similar to our home in Colorado. FYI, we have a fence behind our house which is nice (and rare) in The Villages. It gives us some privacy. If we didn’t have it we’d be facing out neighbor’s lanai and have little privacy which would make the lanai less great.
- We have also taken a liking to the Instapot that came with the house. My son-in-law has made a couple meals for us with it and more to come. The food is done so quickly and is delicious. I bet we’ll buy one for ourselves when we get home.
- My skin has LOVED Florida. In Colorado, once we got into winter my hands were always cracking and bleeding despite applying tons of lotion, Bag Balm, and whatever else I could find. Down here there is no problem at all and my skin looks 10 years younger!!!
- This part of Florida certainly has a lot of temperature swings this time of year. We’ve had highs in the low 50’s and in the upper 80’s. I’ve had a few days in the 30’s when I’ve gone to the gym. We weren’t prepared for it to be this cold as many days as it has been, which is something we’ll need to consider for next year (whether or not we should spend the winter farther south). Also they have this thing called rain down here that we don’t see much in Colorado. It puts a big kibosh on the pickleball play when it occurs. Hahahaha.
- In addition to the activities named above, we’ve done the following: took our kids to Epcot/Disney (I’ll probably do a separate post on that), the Brownwood Farmer’s market (every Saturday on the square), eating out a ton (though we have not been wowed by anything yet), and football playoffs and the food that comes with that including the Super Bowl.
- Upcoming plans include a trip to St Augustine, an overnight excursion to Sarasota (scouting for possible places next winter if we decide to go that way), and visits with two of my wife’s sisters (who are down here at different times). We were going to visit Naples as well but it’s a 3.5 hour trip one way and we are all so tired of driving.
- There are bugs in Florida, even in the winter. Oh, and salamanders too (our cat got one that was in the house). I had forgotten this because in Colorado there are very few bugs. If we have this many bugs in January/February down here, what would July/August bring? Ugh!
- We visited the Engage pickleball store (their headquarters) the other day and I bought a new paddle. It was a new paddle that runs $200 but someone had bought it, played a weekend with it, and returned it. So it was $75 “as is.” You know I can’t refuse a deal like that! Hahahaha. It’s been quite good so far but I haven’t yet played 4.0 levels with it yet.
- Orlando is a VERY easy, one-hour drive from where we are. It’s almost all turnpike and one of the first things we did was get a Sunpass. We’ve used it a couple times already — to and from the airport as well as down and back to Disney.
- It is a bit strange being in a different place for so long. I like having my own stuff, place, routine, etc. and everything here feels so impermanent. Not sure I like that feeling (it’s not just here but would be anywhere we didn’t live). I’ll have to see how I feel about that long-term.
Those are my thoughts for now. Any questions or comments?
For more on this topic, see part two in this series.
Hey,
I wanted to let you know I get the same cracked and dry hands in the winter, especially around my nails. The best product I’ve ever found is called Zims Crack Creme. It’s been repackaged recently as Zims Foot Creme, but it’s the same product. Make sure and get the creamy daytime formula as they call it. Nearly instant relief as it has Arnica in it as well, which is a natural anesthetic herb. I’d be very surprised if this doesn’t become your go to for the problem!
Appreciate this! I’ll get some when I get back to CO!
Try out mystic ice cream.fun place and all home made flavors. Some contain booze.
We are heading there for a week in May. Not sure where they are putting us. Anything you would recommend to not miss?
I am surprised that more people don’t walk—it would seem an obvious thing to do. We were just in Palm Springs and that seems a big walking area.
You’ll be in one of the villa villages close to Brownwood square. Great location! You’ll have a golf cart, bikes, etc. The one thing we did that I absolutely don’t regret for our lifestyle visit was to ask our sales agent to drive us from the top of TV to the bottom. For us, it was nice to see how all three town centers have changed over the years and how the villages have evolved over the years. For example, lots more golf up north but more nature, walking trails, etc. down in the south. It took about three hours, but was definitely worth it for us.
On the second day, we asked to see the model homes. We knew we wanted a home over 2000 sq feet and did not want walls\fencing around us, so we just toured the designer homes. It was good to see the options.
We spent a lot of time taking the golf car throughout different villages and just being lost. You’ll want (NEED) to download the free app on your phone which provides gps turn by turn. You’ll never find your way without it! We walked a lot and visited several village and regional rec centers.
I think the best thing we did before we arrived was watch several hours of youtube. One of the best one was by this couple (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bFHCSoPDJJM ). There are many, but this is a great place to start. You’ll want to watch the rest of their videos. This couple has 3 years worth of videos ( https://www.youtube.com/c/THEVILLAGESFLORIDANEWCOMERS/videos ). If you have a question they probably have already answered it!
The one piece of advice we got that was invaluable was to just talk to people. We asked everyone we ran into if they lived in TV, which village, how long they lived here, etc. Once they find out you are on a lifestyle visit you’ll get more info than you asked for.
Just know that everyone thinks their village is the best!! More contentious, you’ll note that those from the north in TV thinks the north is best and the same for the South! Its important to know that the current south of the TV (near the turnpike) will eventually be the middle of TV, as there are still years and years of development to go. I mention that just to point out the North vs South argument is irrelevant and the best place is the place that is best for you. Just have fun and ask lots of questions!
North versus south seems like a perpetual argument! Thanks for the info—very helpful.
Yes! I would say there are no bad neighborhoods. Some will try to say the farther north you go the older the folks are. While that might be tangentially true, there are people of all ages in all parts of TV. The fact that is undisputable is there is more golf up north and more nature type things down south. Currently more availability for shopping up north, while one has to drive down south.
For us, age of the residents up north wasn’t an issue. For us, we’re younger and the “open” home design is what we are more familiar with and prefer. Think about how home designs have changed over the years and you’ll see that as you look from the north to the south. No design is bad, but you probably have a preference.
There’s some great advice from Paulz…not much that I can add.
If you have any specific questions, I’m happy to give you my two cents.
We are doing a lifestyle visit in May. Then a possible long term stay before we would buy. You have made a lot of observations and memories. Good Luck with wherever you go.
… with great respect … to use this ‘authors’ info. as a basis for understanding The Villages … is like asking me the ins and outs of heart surgery … and I am not a Dr. My wife and I are in out late 60’s. We have been here 3 years. We love it. We are a golf cart community. The Villages is larger that NY’ island of Manhattan. There are over 50 golf courses (today March 13 is the 1 year anniversary of my 1st hole-in-one), over 100 pools and recreation centers, our own polo field, softball complexes, etc. People come here to ‘live’ out the chapter of their lives! Thousands walk every day! We have our own radio station (60’s, 70’s, 80’s & 90’s music)! Live bands play from 5-9 every night at the 3 squares! Oh by the way. I have seen 1 ‘bug’ in the last 15 months! I could go on but I have a tee-time in an hour! 😎
I’m glad you love it and have found the perfect place for you.
That said, to imply there are no downsides to living in The Villages/Florida is not to take an impartial view of the situation IMO.
And as for bugs, when I googled for the states with the most bugs, I found this:
https://www.pctonline.com/article/bugs-national-problem-basf-survey/
Top state: Florida
Welcome! We just bought a new house that is currently being built, so like you we are renting in The Villages. I’m 54 and my wife is 52, so we are both on the younger side. Unlike most residents, we are also working. We could work remotely from our old home in Maryland, so we sold our home there are are working from TV! Just made sense.
I think you’ll start to see them cracking down on the IDs in the next 6-9 months since there are several non-TV being built next to TV (ie on 501 and Warm Springs Rd). Right now the drive discourages most from abusing the lax restrictions, but as outsiders can walk to TV amenities things will become more strict.
Your experience with pickleball is the same with golf. I’m not good and just having fun, so I don’t really care. Some people want to be competitive all the time in everything. You are also spot on regarding the gym situation. If someone built a Golds or Planet Fitness within a 30 minute drive they would do well. MVP is the best option, but I think their prices reflect that knowledge!
I also agree with you on the food options. Lots of middle of the road options and a few bad places, but nothing truly amazing. Every two weeks we take a day and head down to Tampa and enjoy things down there, go out to eat where the food and options seem to be better, and then hit up Costco on our way back to TV.
Finally, it took us a long time to figure out the houses and types of houses before we bought. Sounds like you are in a designer house. There are a lot of houses with fences, but they are in their own sections (and are called Verandas). I had to sit down with our sales agent to finally understand (https://www.thevillages.com/our-homes ). Note-only sales agent can sell new homes in TV. Realtors can sell used homes in TV as can sales agents. So, one has to decide if one wants only new (sales agent). If not, one needs both (sales agent and realtor) to look at used. Once we understood the houses and the differences, we just used Redfin and our sales agent.
I thought you had to be 55 to buy in TV. Obviously, this is incorrect, right?
Also, what village will you be in and where are you now?
Its actually against Federal housing regulations to restrict someone based on age, so the majority has to be 55+. I’m under 55, so we received a waiver that is granted until I hit 55. What the Villages does (as do many retirement communities) is restrict the ages of people that can stay in the development. For example, people under the age of 19 can only stay for 30 days. No one cares if it goes a little over, but kids can’t be permanent residents. If one is 19-29, you can live in TV with a resident, but you have to go to the family pool, etc.
I currently have a house in the Village of Hawkins, but just bought a lot in the Village of Deluna that we will be moving to once complete.
Question: Are/were you worried about noise from the turnpike in Deluna?
Yes, plenty of noise even explosions. Personally I think they are overbuilding and I see Long Island all over again. Things will change mark my words. Taxes will go up and crime.
I live in DeLuna and only hear turnpike at night, when I walk the dog.
We can hear it all the way over in Bradford on some days…
Great Article – I can’t wait to read the next part! Thanks for sharing your experiences. My wife and I in 3 years are moving south to either NC/SC or FL. (FYI – we will be 54 & 48 years old then)
The Villages was just presented to us this year and we aren’t sure about it. We LOVE to golf and LOVE the beach. Myrtle Beach and Clearwater are on our list. Have a great day!!!
Greetings Bradford neighbor. My wife and I retired 5 years ago at the age of 62. We are 7/5 months snowbirds from Wisconsin. We do live in a fully gated retirement community called Continental Country Club. Our location is just up Warm Springs Avenue from the Village of Bradford, with our main entrance off Hwy 44.
My family has been here in one way or another for the past 50 years. We have watched The Villages grow from 15 or so miles to our north to 5 miles to our south. We are now completely surrounded geographically by The Villages.
We are a community of 950 homes with nice amenities, activities and an 18-hole golf course. People are out walking and riding all the time and we know a good percentage of the people who live here. After all, each individual homeowner here is an owner of the CCC property. We have our own elected board of directors and choose the people we want to handle the everyday operations. Our homes here are of course older, smaller, simpler and much more affordable to purchase, live and be taxed.
We are a much smaller and of course quieter community and we all like it that way. However, we do very much enjoy all the shopping, restaurants, entertainment and services The Villages have brought so near to us. We often are out enjoying the food and entertainment out our front and back door. I see you have been to the town squares more than once. Check out Ednas on the Green over on Marsh Bend Trail for free entertainment every night and happy hour that starts at 3 pm. Might need to bring a chair with you if you get there later.
I need to head out now. We host a pro-am professional mini golf tour event every year. I would typically play in the pro-am and we have about 90 young golf pros trying to win the huge $5,000 first prize. Still though these guys play amazing golf and the residents here support by following along with each group on our golf carts.
We like it here and plan to stay for the balance of our lives, God willing. Good article….enjoy your time in Florida!
Steve
I drive by your place every day as I work out at MVP Athletic Club at Brownwood Square. 😉
I am laughing reading your blog post here. We do the same thing; split our time between Denver CO and the east coast of FL – the Port St. Lucie area and had many of your experiences as well. The wife and I own a small Villa on a golf course a few miles from the beaches. We make the journey in 3 days with our 2 dogs and a cat.
Our experiences:
– pickle ball – very clickish. Our skill level was below the regular players so we were outcasts.
– humidity – wow this is different!
– no golf cart but we own an “Arcimoto” – an Electric 3-wheeler. Fun and fast for short trips. (85MPH and 100Miles per charge). http://www.arcimoto.com if anyone is curious. oh and it can carry groceries, fishing rods, and boogie boards; we know from experience.
– Bugs – yes, definitely. Let’s be clear; a palmetto bug is a nice way to say cock roach.
– large birds on golf course and gators in the ponds. Jurassic.
– mostly retirees in the community and I am one of the new ones (retired at 54!)
– the community is not self-contained so we venture out frequently.
– several microbreweries in the area we like also.
We enjoy both FL and CO. We are reverse snowbirds; in CO for ski/board season, and in FL when it is hot enjoying the water.
Reverse snowbird = Snowflake. I know because I am one too.
Excellent write-up. I look forward to your continued thoughts and reviews on The Villages. I’ve been in Florida for most of the past 30 years after graduating from undergrad in MA in 1987, and have traveled extensively throughout the state. I am trying to decide on my future FL retirement destination. Ever-increasing property taxes, HOA, and special assessments will likely force me to soon (very profitably) cash out and sell my waterfront gulf coast rental condo – was planned to be my retirement home.
We are Florida retired, year round residents. What is hitting us hard, is the increasing price of property insurance! Especially if you live along the coast of Florida. Wind insurance coverage is very expensive! You need to shop around every year for the best deal!
Yes. Our daughter lives in a modest 3/2 home in Ft. Lauderdale and her insurance just popped up to $6k annually. My understanding that an aging roof is your worst enemy. Our’s also went up 30% this year. If you do a little research, you will find that Florida as an extremely high rate of claims, most of which involve roofs. Apparently, a storm comes through and a roofing vendor convinces owners they can get them new roofs. It’s a serious issue and state legislatures are trying to come up with some way to address the issue.
Yes, on my FL east coast waterfront condo, I carry pretty basic property insurance w/o coverage for windstorm (hurricane). It had been level at $450/yr for the past five years but jumped up 23% this year. Not a lot of dollars but certainly a high percent increase. New roof last year at $15,000 special assessment. My bigger complaint is property taxes have increased 50% over the past five years!
A great website, for learning about retiring in Florida, is called: Florida for Boomers. Lots of good information about all the retirement communities in Florida!
Don’t forget to try some paddling while you are down. Ocala has some great spring fed rivers.
I have read about a nice zip lining place around Ocala as well. Plan to try it out next month.
My daughter and family went to The Canyon outside Ocala to zip line. They were pleasantly surprised. The lines are over deep canyons. The staff were great.
Not a good idea for people with bad backs.
Hope you have a good time when you go!
My father built a home in Venice, FL a couple years back–Islandwalk at the Villages. We have been to visit a couple times now and have observed:
–Lots of people out walking and biking, friendly
–Lots of lakes/bridges/walking paths, alligators in the ponds can be seen and sometimes in the rec center parking lot!
–Gated at all entrances
–Downtown Venice is cute with good restaurants and shops
–30 min or less to a beach, jet boat tours (fyi–Jungle Ervs is farther away in the Everglades but a very fun / fast air boat tour)
–45 min from Sarasota airport
–Nice pools, lots of pickleball courts, rec centers are smaller but have nice equipment
–Close to many restaurants
Enjoy your time!
We live in Islandwalk, Venice, and love it! The new homes in IW just sold out, but there are other communities around us building new homes. We are close to the new Wellen Park Town Center, which is scheduled to be finished next year! We also have the Brave’s spring training stadium here. They have lots of events going on all the time!
I live in the Sarasota/Bradenton area in a non-senior golf community so things like fitness centers are general public. Let me know if you want company when you are down here!
My parents spent 20 winters in Sun City Center halfway between here and Tampa. It has a number of Rec centers and activities that may be worth visiting.
Sounds like a great visit so far! We’ve been down to the Villages three times now. Our closest friends from back home moved down there about a year and a half ago. They live up in Lake Sumpter. They haven’t quite FIREd yet, but are on target to do so in about 5-6 more years (they are still in their mid-forties and wanted to live where they were going to retire), so they made the move early. Interestingly, they both currently work for the Villages. She is a realtor and he works with the group that prices out all new and custom built homes for the Villages sales team. (Note: They’d both be a wealth of insider knowledge, if you have any interest (PM me). They love the Villages. They are both extremely honest and laid back, so I’m sure they’d love to help in anyway.)
My wife and I have enjoyed our visits to the Villages, but we prefer the ocean. We’ve decided that we prefer the FL Keys, but will likely continue to visit our friends from time to time in the Villages on our way to the Keys. Who knows, maybe in our later years!…
Enjoy with your stay! (PM me if you want my friend’s contact info.)
Visited a friend in the Villages …like to have your friends contact info
My wife &I r making our lifestyle visit Columbus Day weekend. I’d like to meet/talk to her
I lived in Sarasota for 5 years when I was younger. My parents and sister still live in that area, so I go down often. Sarasota is an amazing place, very beautiful. However, traffic is getting unbearable. Especially during Snowbird season. Naples is very similar to Sarasota, although smaller and less commercial, and more absent of a younger pop. Coastal real estate is a site to behold. Only two problems I have with Florida. 1. The humidity is almost unbearable during the summer span of May through September sometimes later. 2. LOVE BUGS. They will destroy the front of your car!!! If you go to Sarasota, go to the downtown area, amazing restaurants, and be sure to visit St. Armands Circle. Thanks for the post and enjoy your trip.
Bugs, rain, and hot as hell temps are just all a part of the FL lifestyle. Being here in our “winter” months you haven’t begun to experience any of them. Wait til August, our 100% month – 100% humidity, 100% chance of torrential downpours (complete with awesome fireworks displays), and 100% chance of nearly 100 degree days. Our state bird, the mosquito, is out in full force then with several million of his friends and man are they hungry! As 7th generation FloGrown, the one statement I take exception to is Brownwood’s “western feel”. Florida is the birthplace of the original American cowboy, and the sound of the whips used to drive the cattle through the palmetto scrub gave rise to the name “Cracker”. Those bronze statues at the entrance to Brownwood pay homage to a way of life that has been here for nearly 200 years, but sadly now is quickly disappearing. For a real picture of how Florida began, read “A Land Remembered” by Patrick Smith. Enjoy your visit!
I don’t know why you didn’t see walkers because I live here and there are 100+ neighborhoods to walk in plus multi-modal paths to walk on throughout The Villages, over 30 miles. Not to mention walking at Fenney Trail, Sharon Weichen Preserve, Hogye Pathway here and two more being built down south.
I know there are places to walk in, there just aren’t people walking!!!
We rented in the Villages for almost 3 months while we determined where in the area we wanted to purchase.
We quickly determined it would NOT be in the Villages. Clicks of rude people in the pools. In one in particular they would stand in the middle of the poil in a circle and just talk among themselves. So you couldn’t float around or actually swim because they took up most of the pool. We tried 4 pools before settling on one that was generally empty. We opted not to rent a golf car and didn’t miss it. The roundabouts are numerous and irritating. Most folks don’t know the appropriate lane to be in for the direction they want..
We ate out a few times but I was completely unimpressed .
The mail situation is irritating.
We had issues with our rental such as old stinky garbage being left in trash bin from people before us, ants, bugs, etc and it was a 2 year old villa. Got zero help from the office people.
It is overgrown , ill managed and I will never go back..
I lived in the Villages 8 years and yes their are a lot of places to walk, we lived close to the polo field Its a great location for walking, stores, restaurants Doctors near by any kind of shopping you need its close, My only complaint about Florida and the Villages was the heat and humidity it last for 7 to 8 months long 90s almost everyday.
I am 74 very active . I am looking for active over 55 communities. The Villages is one that I visited so I enjoyed the comments. I would like to hear more about the Villages and other communities
We are visiting Lakewood Ranch when we’re in Sarasota…
Lakewood Ranch covers a huge area and has every conceivable form of housing. I believe it is served by 4 freeway exits, so every kind of store or restaurant is available nearby.
I lived near Spanish Springs for two years. Then, we had Katie Bells for entertainment. I read that the owner has made it into an apartment building. The church in the square has been closed and made into something else. My mother got married there. I loved the birds, flowers, and palm trees. The reason I moved was the owner’s politics and the majority of residents. You couldn’t go anywhere without Fox News on the TV. Owners were forbidden to put on CNN. It was hellish to live there during elections if you weren’t a hardcore Republican. The nastiness was terrible. Rocks thrown at homes, dog feces put in golf carts if any sign was displayed other than Republican. Too many terrible things to list. I couldn’t wait to get out of there. Just saying, if you aren’t one of them, it’s not the “Friendliest” place to live.
I caught on to that mindset and decided to move elsewhere.
My daddy is in the Villages and while I can completely appreciate your opinion…my daddy got special permission to buy his place when him and my mama were 49 years old. My mama has since passed, but my daddy is in ‘the old’ area…(Spanish Springs). The Villages is an incredible community, with neighbors that DO care and want to know you. Covid has changed A LOT of the community feel of The Villages, by 1000% And I say this from a personal standpoint. But I honestly wouldn’t condor anywhere else but the Villages to live.
Been in TV for a month , am single and from NY.
It takes a lot of work to comb through all the clubs. Some listed: don’t return calls or emails, some are filled, some hold their events too early and some are too far to reach.
Everyone is addictive to golf. They play everyday sunrise to sunset. If you don’t play you’re missing 75 percent of the residents.
Neighbors don’t walk and don’t sit outside leaving areas void of people.
No place except Too Jays to get a sandwich
You need a neighbor or friend to play most activities. If you show up you might find the courts filled or empty.
The area isn’t ethnically diverse. You’ll see no Blacks, Hispanic or Asians.
The rec. centers have card and board games with older women
In order to play pickle ball you need to watch a video, attend workshops and go for training and then be leveled. There are a lot of people playing so you need to sign up.
The music isn’t diversified. There are no classical or jazz groups, only 60’s to 70’s.
When you see a house you buy or don’t get. New houses are sold in 2 minutes after they become available. There is no bargaining.
There are no large towns near TV. It is in the middle of nowhere. The beaches are 90 minutes away.
People are surface friendly and are in no rush so can talk at great length.