Does anyone live in The Villages, FL
 

I'm flying to Florida next week to look at houses at The Villages. I'd like any information anyone might have about the life style there and what ever else you can share with me.

anyone i've ever heard of living there just Loves it! i wanted to move there myself, but just couldn't leave my family up here. you can ride your golf cart to walmart, publix, and restaurants.

We live here for the lifestyle! We have been here 18 years! Love it!
Just remember March is the busiest month in FL. Visitors, renters and spring break grandchildren!
Enjoy your visit!

don't live there, but a lot of people in my community live there as well. We have every amenity, and the Villages have even more. Like an on site pharmacy. We don't have that. Everyone loves it down there. they are our snowbirds that live there. You'll love it there. If my dh wasn't young and working, we'd move there. Have a blast!!!

just had a friend move there she loves it says so much to do!!!

Same as Lynnie, my hubster wants to move there, but he's too young! His parents live there, and we are visiting her again on the 13th. They have activities around the various town squares, like dancing nightly, and vendor setups weekly. You don't need a car because everything you need is accessible by golf cart, although the houses have garages and most people have cars.

I've tried to answer this positively and cancelled my response 4 times. Just be sure to check it out thoroughly, including any covenants, deed restrictions, etc., before putting your name on anything. Bring your money. The locals like it. Also, make sure you like people around you 24/7. It is a wonderful place for people from the North who move South.

The gal(Linda) that taught the quilting classes I took back in 2011 is now there. My quilting mentor(Lola) just visited there in Feb. they had a quilt show/event during her time there. I am going to make a safe assumption that Quilting and golf are popular activities.

I too live in "horse country", nature coast part of Florida not far from the Villages. I'm not sure if it's near coopah or not. I have friends who live in the Villages and love it. It is too congested and busy for my taste of lifestyle. Come visit the Villages but I suggest you explore other options before you commit.

Thank you all for your input, very helpful. Copal, we were reading the restrictions last night on the website. A few questionable things came up that might be deal breakers. Yes it is congested but so is California. Traffic is so bad that we don't go out after 2:00 because that's when school gets out then the rush hour traffic begins.

My daughter lives in Leesburg which is next to The Villages. We used to live close to The Villages too. It's a large community with just about anything you could want/need. A lot of residents have golf carts they use to get around the area. It's great to see the different ones. It is expensive to live there. Although there are a lot of amminities (sp?) it's a lot less expensive to live in one of the surrounding areas. Traffic is bad at certain times when all the retirees go to breakfast or dinner. My daughter runs a home health agency and hates the traffic at certain times of day.

Hi,
We have several friends who live in the Villages and love it. However, when we contemplated the move to central FL 4 years ago, we quickly found that The Villages wasn't for us. We ended up in The Plantations of Leesburg, which is on HWY 27 about 6 miles south of Leesburg. There are lots of 55+ communities around. Check them out carefully! Many have no money in the coffers and are constantly raising HOAs. Some you own nothing but the house; the land it is on belongs to the community. So make sure you do your homework first.

I second quiltmaker52's advice.

We live in Homosassa, 40 miles west and have friends in Wildwood, a few miles away, and often drive to WM in the villages and other areas of villages for shopping or dinner. It is very large and many areas involved, so prices vary too. Many use golf carts and they have separate little streets beside the roads just for the golf carts and parking at various stores. Even saw some new carts $15-20,000 so if money is an issue, be careful. There are many other places that are not as large and restrictive and cost less to live in, But many people love it, depends what you want from retirement. We live on almost 5 acres and have peace and quiet, and not to close to neighbors.

Good to know you are researching before committing. Some get sucked in because it all looks so good and new. We live on 10 acres outside Ocala and 1 1/2 hours from either coast. I like space after having lived in close quarters for many, many years. I won't be able to maintain the acreage forever, but for now, it's great. There are horses next door (they let their owners live there, too).
Really, it just depends on what you like. Check out the surrounding areas and towns before you commit. Some wouldn't like being on acreage, as it can be isolating. Also, I like living in a place where there's a mix of young/old, different ethnicities, and different backgrounds. Whatever you choose, I hope you will be blessed and enjoy the move. And yes, quilting and golfing are popular activities as well as many others.

An ex-boyfriend of mine lives there. He and his now wife loves it. Golf carts everywhere!!

Thanks for all the suggestions. We have looked online at other communities and a lot of them have small homes or manufactured homes with carports and no garages. We'll keep looking and hopefully we can find something we like. We live in high traffic area with lots of schools and kids, commuters and it's a rat race.

There are lots of places that are out of rat race and not so congested, so stay away from Ocala and Gainesville and N of Tampa Bay. We can take expressway and be in Tampa in an hour and don't miss all the madness of their traffic by not living there. Talked the friend in Wildwood and she says they many restrictions, cars must be in a garage, and if you have a single car garage, you can only have one car among many other things. Ocala has any store you would want and we can get the 40 miles in an hour or less, same with 25-35 miles S on US 19 in Spring Hills and points south. Lots of good Dr.'s here too.
We have several places here, that are close to many things and deed restricted, with nice houses and not as costly as the villages. One is Sugar Mill Woods and here it is warmer in winter and cooler in summer as we are only 3-6 miles from Gulf of Mexico..
Best thing would be come down and rent for a few months and then take your time looking for what you want in price range you want and see the location first hand.

We live very peacefully in our villages (neighborhoods). There's a reason 110,000 seniors live here!
You are getting some mis information from non residents so come check it out & enjoy!

carol ...i am with you love the homosassa area ....there are lots of nice places ....look around ...

I live in Leesburg, FL in a resident owned manufactured home community with our own marina on a river. We are about 20 minutes south of the Villages (this time of year takes a little longer!!). I have an aunt who lives in the Villages, and 1 cousin who has lived there over 10 years and another who just bought their new home in Wildwood. They all are very content with the lifestyle. We checked it out before we moved to FL 11 yrs ago, and felt that it really wasn't for us. But being only 1/2 hr away, we're able to take advantage of a lot of the social activities, and any store you could possibly want to shop in is either in the area or coming. Just give yourself ample opportunity to weigh your options. The Villages may be just what you want - or it may not. As for quilting, there are quilt guilds here. Quilting Sisters in Leesburg and Lake County Quilters, who just had their annual quilt show this past Fri & Sat. And most other adult communities in the area all have their own quilting clubs. Relax and enjoy shopping around for your new home.