General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsAnyone here live in "The Villages"?
I went down to visit my aunt who lives there and I really liked it. I would seriously consider moving there. My aunt is a liberal and is doing fine, but I know that the area is overwhelmingly republican. How do those of you who live there like it?
spanone
(135,636 posts)AJT
(5,240 posts)spanone
(135,636 posts)[URL=.html][IMG][/IMG][/URL]
According to documents filed this week with the Federal Election Commission, the massive age-restricted community development district in northeast Lake, south Marion and east Sumter counties contributed $250,000 to help fund Trumps inauguration on Jan. 20.
That amount was equal to the contributions of companies such as Charter Communications, Comcast, Pepsi and Ford Motor Co., according to a summary of the filing by The Center for Public Integrity, or CPI.
The $250,000 given by The Villages was also more than the individual contributions of companies such as Anthem, MetLife, Travelers, Verizon and Qualcomm, each of which gave $100,000.
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/politics/political-pulse/os-the-villages-trump-inauguration-20170420-story.html
DemocratSinceBirth
(99,705 posts)Atman
(31,464 posts)I grew up in Florida, in Cocoa Beach. It used to be a hip surf town where everyone was a scientist and pretty progressive. Now Brevard County is something like 87% Republican. It is literally painful to go home. It is bigly Trumpsky territory, and despite Elon Musk and the renewed space industry, science takes a back seat to nearly everything God and/or Trumpsky. My friends always ask why I don't move back to the supposed "paradise" since I live in cold icky Connecticut. I feel like I live in paradise, and we say it all the time, driving through the hills, around the back roads in farm country. This is one of the most beautiful places on Earth, not flat scrub-brush Republican jerkwater haven. I could never move back to Florida, and regardless of where it is located (Disney is trying to create a town in Norther New Hampshire, too, out of a struggling ski resort), I could never live in one of those Truman Show communities.
AJT
(5,240 posts)for me to retire in. I am just looking for a place to grow old in that is prepared for a rapidly aging population. I take care of my mom, and I don't want to do that to my kids. People live into their 90s and you can't do that alone .
Atman
(31,464 posts)But I go back to Brevard County and people I know who once worked in the space industry are happy to get a $7 an hour job at the Dollar Store. Up here, even freelancing in competition with kids and new grads, I can easily get $50-60/hour for design work. Yeah, I used to get upwards of $120/hour, but we all know those days are gone. But back "home" in Florida, there is no market. Saturated market with too many kids willing to give away work for a bag of weed or a Sonny's BBQ gift card.
BannonsLiver
(16,162 posts)The Villages sounds like hell on earth, frankly.
hlthe2b
(101,730 posts)??????????????
HAB911
(8,811 posts)hlthe2b
(101,730 posts)SticksnStones
(2,108 posts)Huge.
steve2470
(37,457 posts)Last edited Sun Apr 23, 2017, 09:40 AM - Edit history (1)
It's between Ocala and Orlando.
https://www.google.com/maps/place/The+Villages,+FL/%4028.9018879,-82.0652885,12z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m5!3m4!1s0x88e7c1561da39a99:0x553b129a94b4af67!8m2!3d28.927019!4d-82.0037608
left-of-center2012
(34,195 posts)Atman
(31,464 posts)That web site jingle makes me hate the place even more.
left-of-center2012
(34,195 posts)His Facebook site is full of links to Tea Party pages,
and support for 'the Donald'.
I'm the only one among six siblings who isn't an evangelical Christian right wing nut job.
My theory is that I was dropped on my head as a baby.
pangaia
(24,324 posts)voteearlyvoteoften
(1,716 posts)Middle of nowhere pretty much.
Historic NY
(37,449 posts)but they rarely use it. Seems that a lot of residents are from UK.. They have lots of regulations of what you can and cannot do.
AJT
(5,240 posts)Maybe that is part of the appeal for me. It is almost a literal bubble. It's pretty much enclosed and I am overwhelmed with reality these days.
Historic NY
(37,449 posts)that were within reason. Lots of Canadians are selling now that the loonie ($) will let them make a profit. My brother is in Largo and in his community many are selling to make investment elsewhere.
csziggy
(34,120 posts)For a mostly Republican area, it is amazing that the residents put up with the restrictions on just about everything.
Aside from the politics, the area is/was beautiful. I don't like it as much now as I did before it was developed but the land is on part of the Central Florida Ridge, has rolling hills (Florida style hills, at least) and is high enough to have nice hardwoods.
On the other hand, there are places near there with just as nice land, just as low prices, and without the homeowners association restrictions and the encapsulated nutty politics. I know people that live closer to Orlando in the Altamonte Springs area which is getting bluer. Gainesville is not much west of the Villages, is much bluer and has the advantage of the University of Florida and the cultural events that a university provides. Leesburg, which was the main town between North Orlando and I-75 before the Villages, seems to be a pretty decent place to live.
For a lot cheaper prices, Polk County has a lot of small towns with declining populations that are nice places to live. Bartow, the county seat, has lost a lot of its industry as phosphate moves out and houses there are really low in price. The disadvantage is that it gets a lot of pollution still from the industries that are left - but anything south of Perry - including Perry - seems polluted to me!
millijac
(85 posts)I left that godforsaken place when I was 19. I do not recommend FL to anyone, but to consider voluntarily living in Perry is insane.
csziggy
(34,120 posts)Because it stank so much when we were driving through. A friend of my sister's bought some acreage outside of Perry for his retirement home. Now he regrets it and his wife hates it but they can't get enough for it to move anywhere else.
I grew up in Central Florida in Polk County but moved up here outside Tallahassee in 1972. Leon County is different than most of the state and unlike the Panhandle it is not a continuation of Georgia or Alabama. The worst thing about Tallahassee are the dipshits that the rest of the state sends up here.
juxtaposed
(2,778 posts)A HERETIC I AM
(24,320 posts)Not sure if you consider that to be "not much West"
csziggy
(34,120 posts)JustABozoOnThisBus
(23,283 posts)And do they change often? Who creates them, is there a Villages government?
csziggy
(34,120 posts)It would take some digging, but if you go to the Sumter County Clerk site, they should have them on record. Sumter County is small and I am not sure if they have documents online or if you'd have to go to the county seat to look them up.
I know with one local development near me in Leon County I read their HOA papers and they were pretty draconian. The intent was to protect the environment for two endangered species that live on the land - gopher tortoises and fox squirrels. They restrict the type of exterior lights so the tortoises are not disturbed, require little dividing landscaping and fences so the fox squirrels have the wide open spaces they prefer, and other provisions. I just hope those regulations are enforced as time goes by - but I would not live in a community that had that control over my land.
RedWedge
(618 posts)COLGATE4
(14,732 posts)BainsBane
(53,003 posts)COLGATE4
(14,732 posts)age there's little to no incentive to use birth control. So, STD's rule...
NCTraveler
(30,481 posts)Very very left leaning couple. They love it.
AJT
(5,240 posts)It would be great to have a group to meet with for support.
NCTraveler
(30,481 posts)They also have things in common with some of the righties. Many people in the Villages are about an active lifestyle. My friends are big into staying in shape. That said, they do have many left leaning friends there.
AJT
(5,240 posts)they are at a political event or with people they know very well.
HAB911
(8,811 posts)Have never visited, physically i'm sure it's nice. Planned communities are not my personal cup of tea.
MANative
(4,105 posts)partly to be near her parents, who are in their early 80s. My brother passed unexpectedly just a year ago, and she wanted to be near her family for the emotional support. She's 56, and says she's - by far - the youngest person in her neighborhood. She's also very right-wing, as are her parents. Fits right in. She tells me that I'd hate it. (Despite our political differences, we get along well and she knows what I'd be able to tolerate!) She says there are lots of things to do, and the weather is usually better than New England.
Phoenix61
(16,954 posts)The ability to get around on a golf cart and never have to leave the property can be pretty appealing. It is strongly repub, as is much of Florida. I'd visit in the summer, say around August. I'm not sure where you live but the heat in central Florida, that time of year, is something you have to experience to really appreciate.
CanonRay
(14,038 posts)No thanks.
WinkyDink
(51,311 posts)Coventina
(26,874 posts)I get that a lot of people love it, but it is NOT for me.
erinlough
(2,176 posts)But Texas and Florida are a close second and third. It's the heat, I hate it. When everyone goes south I go north.
Ilsa
(61,675 posts)AJT
(5,240 posts)approaching retirement and creating a large enclave of liberals there would be fantasic.
Ilsa
(61,675 posts)Help make certain the machines get replaced by a verifiable system and elderly shut-ins don't lose their right and access to vote!
Phoenix61
(16,954 posts)It would be so nice to not be the token liberal around here.
OriginalGeek
(12,132 posts)but my company has a branch in the Villages so I visit there several times a year to fix stuff (I'm in IT). It is nice and some areas are newer than others and some are more spendy than others but they keep the whole thing up pretty well. I imagine that's because of some draconian HOA activity which can be good or bad depending how you like your neighborhood and how much you like to comply lol.
I have a couple leather-working friends that came down to classes at the Orlando Tandy from up there and they were good guys - not shy about being liberals even though they were certainly outnumbered.
I've had a LOT of good food up there as it's usually a whole day trip for me to go up there so I'm always looking for lunch. My wife and I have been there on weekends too as she likes to shop at little craft and antique stores and such and they have a fair number of those in the surrounding area. There's also a shoe store up there that actually carries super wide women's shoes like she needs. A lot of nice little pubs and restaurants and such.
You can't beat the weather almost year-round if you like it hotter than colder. That's why Flying Spaghetti Monster invented Air Conditioning. If you can find a liberal group of friends to hang out with it might be fun to spend retirement aggravating the numbskulls.
I find it kind of charming that there is golf cart parking everywhere - you can just about get anywhere in the Villages on a cart. They have paths and many of the regular roads have very low speed limits. You see some pretty fancily tricked out golf carts that have probably never once hauled a 9 iron but it looks like a fun way to get around.
left-of-center2012
(34,195 posts)While he was there I heard it described on one of the network evening news as "the most conservative residential area in America".
Romney went there a few times to raise money for his Presidential run.
My brother liked it, but he's a Tea Party guy.
My brother moved to Myrtle Beach, SC thinking it would be cheaper.
DrDan
(20,411 posts)always something going on - lots and lots of planned activities.
We pass through often and could not live there because of the RW-leaning.
AJT
(5,240 posts)push the area left a bit. As people in their 80+ start to pass and more people 60+ start to retire and move there the area may begin to become more mixed. I will say that the sea of white was disturbing, but again the very old will pass and a more diverse population will follow.
DrDan
(20,411 posts)active.
We have lived in Florida for around 35 years. Living near the ocean (or gulf for some) is a great benefit of living here. We had a house on the beach for 15 years or so - now about 3 miles from the beach. The Villages is quite a drive to either the Atlantic or the Gulf. That alone would keep us from moving there - not to mention the politics of the majority.
Side note - the Villages is a Florida leader in venereal diseases and viagra is in great demand. So I guess a lot of folks find plenty of activities to keep them occupied.
SticksnStones
(2,108 posts)Which is lovely by the way.
We spent ALOT of time atThe Villages. It can be crowded during the snowbird season. The Catholic Church, St. Timothy's gets packed to the rafters if that tells you anything. But it's always jumping. Very republican. Often the presidential candidates will stop right in The Villages for a stump speech, it's a very vocally republican area.
There are many social activities, everybody travels by golf cart. It's huge and was still expanding last time I visited. Every development has a town square with live music and alcohol served every weekend. That can get lively.
A few years back they had the distinction of being the one zip code in America with the highest rates of STDs. It was rather scandalous at the time.
Every development is decorated in its own theme so that can get a little stepfordy but the themes are done well, not tacky.
All in all a nice place to retire. My folks preferred Stonecrest because you were close enough to The Villages to enjoy it's amenities but it wasn't so crowded.
Oh, also some people didn't like that you can't have mail delivered to your door...you had to go to a central row of mailboxes. Just something I remembered ~
pangaia
(24,324 posts)They're the only villages I know.
csziggy
(34,120 posts)obamanut2012
(25,911 posts)RobinA
(9,878 posts)My sister and nephew were down there visiting for a few days and found it quite frightening. I think it's perfect for some people and toxic to others. Depends on where you're from and what you want. Good idea talking to people who might live there. Even better if you could visit to see how it plays to you in real time. I'm thinking you wouldn't want to be there all settled in and decide you hate it.
ExciteBike66
(2,280 posts)that many folks in The Villages believe that airplane contrails are actually "chem-trails" that the government (and or UN) uses to spread harmful chemicals over us all.
Also, apparently the singles scene is second to none...
DrDan
(20,411 posts)ExciteBike66
(2,280 posts)since they have much worse health problems to worry about, at their age!
DrDan
(20,411 posts)AngryAmish
(25,704 posts)Mountain Lake is much, much better.
renate
(13,776 posts)I had to get the book back to the library so I only had time to skim that chapter, but it looked like you might actually get an idea of what it's like to live there by reading it.
obamanut2012
(25,911 posts)Boynton, Delray, Boca. All much nicer, much bluer, and it's warmer in the winter and cooler in the summer than Orlando. With a huge amount of retirement places for all incomes.
Orlando is built on a swamp. A red one. And isn't close to beaches.
GulfCoast66
(11,949 posts)Which are built on the central Florida ridge- high and dry.
That said I would not live there if you paid me. But just north if there is Gainesville a blue oasis in a sea of red.
Have a nice day
OceanChick
(83 posts)I spent my whole life in Palm Beach County until I moved to Colorado two years ago. Why did I leave Florida? Because the huge influx of people ruined what used to be a fun beach community. Now it's full of beach condos, Bentleys, Ferraris, special snowflakes with fake tits and lips and I just couldn't take it any more. It's also very expensive to live there unless you go way west of town to the swamps full of mosquitos and faux-Spanish cookie cutter homes. I see the same thing happening in Denver with swarms of new people invading (including me but I try to blend in!) what used to be a laid-back town nestled in the Rockies. Cranes are everywhere building new modern houses and apartments. Why does the human race ruin everything? Rant over.
obamanut2012
(25,911 posts)Although I agree parts of Boca are like that. No one I know drives a car like that or looks like, we are all normal folks who don't live out past 441.
I love it here.
I live about two miles from 95, and my condo cost less than the place I moved from, which has a lower cost of living than here.
rzemanfl
(29,540 posts)Last edited Wed Apr 26, 2017, 08:16 PM - Edit history (1)
I was surprised at the prevalence of breast augmentation, particularly on younger women seen with older wealthy-looking men.
mcar
(42,210 posts)The three town squares have really nice movie theaters. Otherwise the place creeps me out. It's way too Stepford.
Then there's the STD thing.
Also the golf carts.
a kennedy
(29,467 posts)persuasion, they both worked for the State of WI when they lived here. The villages do have condo's people can rent for a time to see if you'd like to move there. Lots and lots of regulations is correct.....and my friend is busy all week long with stuff to do, dance classes, pickle ball, golf all kinds of yoga and exercise classes. Everyone has golf carts to get around. Some are pretty fancy, http://www.wesh.com/article/photos-golf-carts-of-the-villages/4328479 and these: http://www.cbsnews.com/pictures/extreme-golf-carts/.
mcar
(42,210 posts)That sometimes meets with my local Dem group and the Indivisible group.
One of my biggest objections to the Villages (aside from my previous post) is that they structured their taxing district so that it does not benefit the three counties in which it resides. One of those is among the poorest counties in the state. You go a mile outside the Villages in Sumter County and its squalor.
samnsara
(17,570 posts)I believe Paul Ryan's mother lives in the Villages. My parents are in a big retirement community just north of the Villages. I cringe every time I go down and see all the signs of support not to mention the entire area is filled with GOP rednecks.
AJT
(5,240 posts)not prepared for the baby boomer retirement tsunami. Cities ate not set up for the needs of this large population. Easy access to medical care, transportation, social interaction, shopping, housing, graduated needs like assisted living and nursing care. Rural areas are even worse. Some areas have a hodge podge of services that require a lot of paperwork, etc., but The Villages seems to be set up specifically for an aging population.
It would be great if there were other places set up like The Villages so one could choose a more liberal area, but I haven't heard about any place else like it.
Phentex
(16,330 posts)but people there love it for many of the reasons you list.
I have family there and have visited several times. It seems very surreal to me. But I live in what Trump would consider a ghetto.
LeftInTX
(24,560 posts)Where I live (San Antonio) It is a step in the right direction, but the bus line is soooo limited that the only route that will work would require living right smack downtown where it is very expensive. Although outlying areas have bus service, it comes only once an hour or every half hour.
Other cities in Texas have better mass transit and I'm sure other cities in other states fare better than here.
Although these gentrified communities aren't "senior" living areas, they can be vibrant places for seniors.
crazycatlady
(4,492 posts)55+ communities are sprouting up like weeds. It is to the point where you're priced out if you're not a millionaire and under 55. My friend (in his 20s) couldn't find an apartment in this county due to his age that wasn't super high-end.
sarcasmo
(23,968 posts)raccoon
(31,091 posts)kydo
(2,679 posts)For real. It's a huge issue. For a while a few years back you couldn't make it a week without hearing of another drunk villager crashing golf cart into the gate or wrecking something or some sex scandal or wild party. Well as wild has old people can get I suppose.
I am in the unincorporated part of what they call Winter Park.
The closer you get to civilization (Cities. Towns with universities.), the saner politically the population becomes. Sadly The Villages is closer to Ocala then Orlando. Ocala is typical north Fl small city/big town. They are more like southern GA, ALA, and Mississippi then Miami.
Gainesville is not far. University town. Very nice. Orlando is not far either. Lots of blue or at least purple areas that are not really far.
Sancho
(9,065 posts)Florida has some liberal communities with the same weather and entertainment.
Go due west from the Villages to the Gulf Coast - it's better.
Tommy_Carcetti
(43,085 posts)If you like the area, I'd highly suggest Gainesville, less than an hour north.
University town, liberal and far more authentic an atmosphere than what you'd find at the Villages.
Great food (just had some of the best sushi of my life yesterday) and the natural areas outside of town are incredible.
juxtaposed
(2,778 posts)randr
(12,408 posts)There is no Florida after the lsos is done with the planet
Here is a graphic projection of 40 years from now