The Villages: An Incredible Place to Retire

Let me start out by saying that I love when people find their perfect retirement spot. A little jealous maybe, but I do love to hear after reading about all the different community types and the check lists that need to be met, that someone has found the perfect spot! And I thank Jackie for taking the time to let us know and write such an interesting article. She sounds very happy. But I did visit The Villages-three times actually in about a 10-year span. The first one was a "discovery package" of sorts and we stayed for two days in a beautiful single family home, and given the grand tour, but left feeling it was not for us. Our last two trips to The Villages were a few years later to visit friends who love the lifestyle there as much as Jackie and insisted we needed to look it over again. Although we were shown a great time, we knew for sure it was not for us. So it is to each their own. And just this week a very good friend sent a Christmas card with a picture of their new home in The Villages that they bought for themselves as a Christmas present, and they couldn't be happier.

I have to agree with Jackie the villages is an incredible place we have been here about 8 years and love it!

The Villages. Anyone know if there is a subdivision of TV that allows your backyard to be fenced (dog)? Note - tried the invisible fence, not a viable option for our current dog, Otto. Thank you.

It's interesting that the writer likes The Villages so much when she describes the food in The Villages as "inedible" and needs to drive an hour or so to dine at a good restaurant!

I've mentioned this story before, but I think it bears repeating. When I was hunting for a retirement destination, I ultimately chose the huge 55+ Sun City near Hilton Head. I thought it had everything I wanted (including a large number of retirees and activities, improving the odds of finding "my people"). I met with a realtor to buy a home. FIRST: As we visited homes, the realtor told me that there were two kinds of retirees: the ones who constantly talked about their kids, grandkids or their prior lives, friends and communities, and the ones who were really looking forward to a new life and adventure in retirement. She felt the first group eventually moved back to be near their family or prior life. SECOND: My realtor graciously showed me her own home. She talked about how everyone on her street was a single woman, and that it was really nice that they went in & out of each others' homes, ate together, vacationed together, etc. I realized that I was an introvert and would HATE that...which would then lead to me being on the "outs" with the close community of girlfriends.

I surprised myself by NOT buying a home that weekend. I realized I fell into "Group 1" and wouldn't be happy moving hours away from my family & first grandkid. As my health would deteriorate with age, I didn't view myself as being able to travel as much -- and I didn't want my family to have to spend their limited vacation time traveling hours to visit either. I also realized that I didn't have the personality to be a happy Golden Girl, even though Blanche, Rose, Dorothy, and Sophia were so diverse.

Even with the enormous resources of the Villages, I think my realtors' wisdom is still worth considering. Everyone has to assess your own personality and goals for retirement, to consider if any community is going to be right for you. Best wishes to all for a healthy and happy 2021.

For Robert--One very popular type of home in The Villages is a courtyard villa. The backyards are completely fenced in with walls and are very private. Good area for dogs.

Robert M. If you want a home with a fence, there are courtyard villas, 2 to 3 bedroom 1 1/2 to 2 car garage homes (1/2 for golf cart) single family detached homes that are fenced in the older and newer sections of The Villages. In the newer areas there are larger single family detached homes with fences.

Lan, Having grown up in NYC with time spent later in life in Philadelphia, Boston, Washington DC, I am a self admitted food snob especially when it comes to ethnic foods, Asian, Italian, Indian, and Jewish deli. I am not, outside of my home, a meat and potatoes eater but I hear that you can find good food of that sort in one of the dozen or so country clubs or dozens of restaurants within the Villages. By the way, it could take 30 to 60 minutes to get from one end of TV to the other by car or golf cart.
For good ethnic food I go to Orlando, Ocala, Gainesville, and Winter Park. Before Covid we had Disney annual passes and would go to Epcot for the food festivals and to see a concert and have lunch or dinner. Disney Springs also has some excellent restaurants.
On top of all that, my husband makes better meat and potato meals than we can find in most restaurants here and I do the Asian cooking at home.

Kate, I think I fit into Group 2," looking forward to a new life and adventure in retirement”, by default, as not only have we always been adventurous and love trying new things to do and see, we have over 70 aunts, uncles, cousins and good friends living less than 4 hours from us in Florida and after spending the past 60 years visiting them it seems more like home to us than where we raised our children.
Both our son and daughter are nomadic and have little ties to where they grew up, have no plans to marry or have children anytime soon so I doubt we will move to wherever they settle down.
I have met a few people who have moved back to be near family but many of our friends, prior to Covid, had no problem flying often to visit their children/grandchildren as air fares are relatively inexpensive from/to Orlando (an hour 15 minute drive by car or the Villages buses that go there) and Disney is a big draw for families to visit their parents/grandparents here. The Villages offered during the Winter, Spring and Summer school breaks (again prior to Covid) a program called Camp Villages where grandchildren along with their grandparents used many of the amenities in The Villages for shared activities such as archery, bocce, pool, golfing, swimming, fishing, shuffleboard, bowling, arts and crafts, horseshoes, corn hole, tennis, pickle ball, concerts, dancing, Santa and Easter Bunny visits, etc. Most of all the children love riding around in the golf carts, especially those 14 and older who can drive the carts.
P.S. We love Hilton Head too and went for a week in October staying near Sea Pines. We wanted to do a look-see at the new Margaritaville community but ran out of time. HH seems like a really nice place to retire but not for us - hurricanes and no-see-ums are a concern as well as no family nearby. It’s less than a 5 hour drive from The Villages so visiting a few times a year is easy for us.

Thanks Jackie for the additional comments and insights. Sounds like your house is a good place to go for a great meal!

Here's to an adventurous retirement, and happy New Year to all!

Where are The Villages? Florida? Sounds like a great community.

Hi John

The Villages are located near Ocala in Central Florida (Sumter, Lake, and Marion Counties).
If you go to the top of this page you’ll see the drop down menu. There you’ll find Directories where you can search for information on different towns and communities by State.

You can also ask a question or make a comment on the city reviews (it is at the bottom – What People are Saying. You do have to be registered as a Member to do that, but that is easy.

Hope this helps!
Flo

John, The Villages is in Central Florida, an hour northwest of Orlando and one hour south of Gainesville (home of The University of Florida), the two biggest cities near us. We are approximately 1 hour and 20 to 30 minutes from the Atlantic and Gulf coasts. The Villages is surrounded by horse and cattle farms in an area very unlike southern Florida. More like the South than South Florida.

Before I retired, my work took me to The Villages on occasion. I haven’t been there for a few years. My impressions were that it was a very attractive place with charming little “downtown” areas interspersed throughout. The company keeps the grounds and public buildings well-maintained. The population, though spread out, is probably now approaching 100,000. Even a few years ago, it seemed that traffic could at times be slow and somewhat frustrating with roads that maybe weren’t designed for as many people who have moved there. Over the years it has gained a reputation as generally being conservative. Many right-leaning politicians, including President Trump, have made it a point to make stops there for campaigns and similar drop-ins. Still, it appears that about a quarter to a third of the folks in the area lean Democratic. I worked all over Florida, predominantly with older people. My impressions were that the west (Gulf) coast, except maybe the Tampa Bay Area, generally drew people who were more conservative, especially in the panhandle area; they were often from the Midwest. The college towns, Gainesville and Tallahassee, were more left-leaning, and large cities like Orlando and Jacksonville, to a growing extent, are tilting left as well. The greater Miami area (Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties) has traditionally been a Democratic stronghold, often giving the Democratic presidential candidate around 60% or more of the vote. Many of the retirees there come from the New York City area as well as New Jersey and a few other places in the northeast. Bottom line is that you’ll find folks of differing political beliefs everywhere in Florida, but some areas clearly have a greater concentration of people leaning either left or right. If that’s a consideration for you, research and actual visits should be important aspects of your Florida retirement decision-making.

We visited the Villages and said no thank you. It’s too far from either coast to easily go to the beach. Having lived in both Tampa and Palm Beach Gardens, I know I went to the beach on a regular basis, and that’s important to me. I also know the interior is warmer in the summer, buggier and has more snakes. I’m glad it works for some, but I wouldn’t live there because of its location.

I just watched the documentary Some Kind of Heaven about the Villages. Has anyone else seen this?

Think living in The Villages would give me a "Life!!". Lot's of Laff's anyways!!

Great question Debra. Larry Gavrich, frequent contributor to Topretirements, just wrote a review of the movie. You can check it out here: https://www.topretirements.com/blog/active-adult-communities/movie-review-some-kind-of-heaven-is-more-more-or-is-less-more.html/

We haven't seen it yet, but definitely will. A companion piece is the book "Leisureville: Adventures in a World Without Children", which offers a cynical view of the giant community from a pre-baby boomer.