The Villages
By Tom Bore
|
The Villages By Tom Bore |
My
wife and I relocated to The Villages, Florida in July 2009. We had never planned
to move to Florida after we retired until I came down to
visit a friend that had moved to Ocala, Florida. He showed me The Villages and I
was hooked then. It wasn’t as large then as it is now. We
have recently reached the 100,000 mark and they are still building more
homes. The last home is scheduled to be built around 2015-2017.
We now have 3 town squares with entertainment nightly in all 3 squares from 5-9.
Everything can be reached by golf cart, hospital, Walmart,
grocery stores, banks, gas stations etc. We have 3 movie theatres with a total
of 24 screens. Over 50 pools, bocce courts, tennis courts, pickle
ball courts, biking paths, numerous golf courses etc. There are over 1,000
different clubs you can join. There is something to do here every day.
After living in Maine all my life and
for 37 years in South Portland not counting the two years I spent working in
Columbia, SC it was
a major lifestyle change for us. It was the best decision we ever made.
The Villages are located in north central Florida. It’s 60 miles north
of Disney World, 56 miles from Orlando, 82 miles from Tampa,
275 miles to Miami, 75 miles from the Daytona Speedway, 60 miles south from the
University of Florida in Gainesville. And if you don’t mind
a short ride it’s only 400 miles south of Atlanta and 611 miles to New
Orleans. In the next few years there will be a new road built from The
Villages to the Florida Turnpike. Major expansion is planned within the next few
years here in The Villages.
If you like sports like I do, this is the place to be with several major
colleges, along with MLB, NBA, NFL & NHL. The Red Sox
play 9 games every season in Tampa and tickets are very easy to get with no rain
outs. Plus during March you can catch all the spring training
games for many different teams, plus the Celtics play twice a year in the
beautiful Amway Center in Orlando, The Bruins play twice in Tampa
and The Patriots play every year in Miami. I drive to Miami every year to see
The Patriots, and I also attend the Daytona 500 every year.
Never a lack of sports here in Florida
Not to mention all the top Broadway Shows that come to both Orlando & Tampa
You can check out The Villages at www.thevillages.com
They will send you a DVD on the lifestyle and info on all the current home
styles.
If anyone would like any more information they can email me at tombore@embarqmail.com
A
FOLLOW-UP from Tom...
Hope that you like the
story I sent. I'm not the only UNUM retiree that lives here in The Villages. Ruth Killinger and
Carolann Carlista both live nearby. Carolann and I went to High school
together.
I heard after I sent you the story that they sold 500 homes here recently. It's
growing really fast. Sometimes when the
snowbirds are here traffic gets out of hand. Lots if auto and golf cart
accidents. We have many round a bouts. We have
a new grocery store being built but we can use more. We have Sam's Club, Home
Depot, Lowe's etc. Plenty of places
to eat with more being built. Every home has two bathrooms and either a garage.
Some of the bigger homes have a
golf cart garage. No stairs to climb and no basements, that's what my wife
loves best.
Take
care,
Tom Bore
FUN FACTS ABOUT THE VILLAGES, FLORIDA from Diane Bore
1. The Villages population passed 93,000 in 2012 with the total population projected to be close to 110,000 by 2015.
2. An average of 20 people move into The Villages every day.
3. To maintain its senior-citizen status under federal law, at least 80 percent of homes must be occupied by at least one person who is 55 years of age or older.
4. The average age in The Villages for a male is 62 and female is 60.
5. Persons under the age of 19 years are not permitted to reside within The Villages but may visit for a maximum of 30 days per year unless a longer exemption is granted.
6.
Three Villages subdivisions are designated as "family units" and are
not subject to the under-19 restriction.
7. In 2011, The Villages sold almost one percent of all the new homes in the
entire United States.
8. One real estate journal reported that The Villages sold about 2.5 times more homes than the second largest development in the United States in 2011.
9.
Forbes Magazine named The Villages as the fastest growing town (under 100,000)
in the United States from 2007 to 2010, about 25% more than second fastest
Pecos, Texas, and far ahead of the rest in the top 25
fastest.
10. There are about 46,000 homes occupied in The Villages as of January 1, 2013. The current projected total number of home sites available at build out is 56,268.
11. New home sales in The Villages continue to average approximately 200-250 per month.
12. Pre-owned home sales in The Villages are currently averaging 200 per month.
13. Half of the people buying homes in The Villages pay cash for their house.
14. The average household income for home buyers in The Villages is $93,800.
15. The average household income for the state of Florida is $47,661.
16. When The Villages opened up home sales South of CR 466A - 55 homes sold in first eight days.
17. Villages range in size from 100 homes to 1550 homes. The Village of Duval is the largest with 1550 homes.
18. The Villages property area covers over 32 square miles and 23,000 acres.
19. There are over 100 miles of golf cart paths.
20. The Villages occupies parts of three counties in Florida (Lake, Sumter & Marion).
21. The population of the Villages grows by approximately 4,500 annually.
22. There are three town squares (Spanish Springs, Lakes Sumter Landing and Brownwood).
23. There are ten commercial areas (Lake Sumter Landing, Spanish Springs, La Plaza Grande, Buffalo Ridge, Colony Plaza, Southern Trace, Spanish Plaines, Mulberry Grove, Brownwood Paddock Square, and soon Antrim Dells (will be next to Brownwood Square).
24. Commercial property at the Villages FL averages a 97 percent occupancy rate.
25. The Villages is planned to be home to 2.7 million square feet of commercial buildings and retail tenants.
26. Approximately 150,000 people travel through The Villages each day along its busiest corridor US 441/27.
27. There are over 2,200 organized clubs in The Villages.
28. There are currently 63 recreation centers in The Villages.
29.
There are currently eight villages south of CR466A (Pinellas, Pinellas at Cedar
Grove, Pinellas at Evans Prairie, Gilchrist, Fernandina Fernandina at
MacClenny,
Sanibel and Charlotte) bringing to total number of villages in The Villages FL
to 78.
30. The Villages has more holes of golf than any other community/facility in the world with currently 540 holes. (Mission Hills in China is second with 216 holes).
31. At build out there will be 621 holes of golf in The Villages FL.
32.
South of CR466A there are two new country clubs (Bonifay and Evans Prairie) and
one new executive golf course (Palmetto) bringing the total in The
Villages
to 11 country clubs and 30 executive course.
33. By final build out The Villages will operate 12 country-club championship courses.
34. There are about 10,000 tee times available each day in The Villages.
35.
Last year a total of 55,663 Villagers played one or more rounds of golf for a
total of 2,546,611 rounds of golf. The approximate number of miles driven in
golf
carts for this many rounds of golf on The Villages golf courses total
6,330,365 miles. That's a distance equivalent to driving around the world at the
Equator 254 times.
36. There were 1,832 holes-in-one recorded in The Villages last year. That's 5 holes in one recorded every day of the year in 2011.
37. 316 Villagers shot their age or better last year a total of 1,500 times.
38. Statistically, there were 5,810,493 golf balls lost in The Villages last year. Wouldn't Ralph like this?
39. About one-third of Villages residents are regular golfers
40. Playing 36 holes per day, a Villager could play 15 straight days of golf in The Villages without repeating a hole.
41. Golf cars are the vehicle of choice in The Villages. There are over 50,000 golf carts in The Villages
42. The Villages Golf Cars has three showrooms in The Villages and they combine to sell more Yamaha golf cars than any other dealer in the United States.
43. 315 Holes of golf in The Villages have Received Audubon International's Silver Certified Sanctuary Designation.
44.
The CBS Sunday Morning segment of May 2011 featured a video segment on The
Villages Golf Carts and it continues to make the rounds on YouTube
with over 4 million views.
45. Villagers play 5,200 softball games each year
46. There are currently 133 men's softball teams, 15 ladies teams, and 68 co-ed teams competing in 17 leagues over three seasons.
47. The Villages has 216 softball teams (2,592 players) playing 164 games per week and approximately 2,296 games for the winter season which is the busiest.
48. Softball totals for the past year are 555 teams (6,660 players) playing approximately 5,572 total games over 3 seasons.
49.
The two largest recreation events in The Villages each year are Camp Villages
with over 7,000 Villagers and grandchildren participating, and the Senior
Games,
where Villagers compete in multiple events in sixteen different sports ranging
from bocce to basketball, archery to volleyball.
50. 1,417 athletes participated in one or more events in this year's Senior Games in The Villages, totaling 2,796 entries in all 16 sport
51. 157 athletes (11%) of the athletes participated in more than five events in this year's Senior Games in The Villages.
52. Six Senior Games sports do not involve a ball - archery, badminton, horseshoes, shuffleboard, swimming, and track (excluding field events).
53. The Villages has more than 100 tennis courts.
54. There are over 100 pickle ball courts in The Villages.
55. There are five water towers in The Villages.
56. There are over 1,200 miles of water mains.
57. There are over 8,000 manholes in The Villages.
58. The Villages population is larger than 93.4% of the municipalities in Florida (28th largest of 411)
59. At build-out the population of The Villages will make it the 14th largest municipality in Florida
60. The Villages population is larger than 31 of the 67 counties in Florida
61. There are 3 dog parks in The Villages (Paradise, Mulberry, & Brinson-Perry)
62. Homes prices range from $100,000 to over 1 million dollars
63. The Villages Regional Hospital started 11 years ago with 60 beds and now has over 200 beds.
64. The Villages is home to a 99,000 square foot VA Outpatient Clinic
65. The Villages Regional Hospital has a comprehensive stand-alone cancer center - The Moffitt Cancer Center
66.
The Villages has partnered with USF Health (University of South Florida) to
bring free screenings and a lecture series to thousands of Villagers on
critical
medical issues and initiated The Villages Health Survey, intended to become the
world's definitive study on mature adults. (The University of South Florida
is the ninth largest university in the US and its medical university has the
largest distributed residency program in the nation.)
67. There are currently eight major grocery stores.
68. The Villages has over 100 dining choices on property (and many more nearby).
69. Villagers spend over $200 million dollars annually in eating and drinking establishments.
70. The Villages is the safest single site development in the country with the lowest crime rate.
71.
The Villages Community Watch is comprised of six full time and 294 part time
employees. According to the Community Watch its employees patrol
80,000 miles of neighborhood streets each month while averaging more than 3.5
passes by everyone's home every 24 hrs. In 2011 employees performed
more than 209,000 security activities or actions during the year.
72.
The Villages Homeowners Association membership totals nearly 25,000 members. The
VHA turned 22 years old in 2013. One of the first projects
of the VHA was working on a petition drive requesting approval for construction
of a golf cart bridge over US 441/27.
73. The Villages has its own Polo stadium and Polo leagues. The Villages polo club has the largest polo crowds in the U.S. with over 30,000 spectators a year.
74. There are over 12,000 people who work in The Villages, or for businesses in the community.
75.
The Villages has its own Charter School for employee children, allowing a
student to attend from Pre-K3 thru High School. The Villages Charter School is
an A-rated High School with 99% of students graduating. 93% of students at The
Villages Charter School advance to higher education
76. The Villages Charter School has over 2,200 students per year and an expansion project is well underway.
77.
The Villages operates its own Lifelong Learning College for residents on the
high school campus. The Villages Lifelong Learning College offers 2,000
total
courses per year
78. The Lifelong Learning College has about 18,000 residents attending around 25,000 sessions each year.
79. The Villages has seven fire stations. The Villages Public Safety Department has almost 90 employees, about 70% are trained medics and 30% are trained EMT's.
80.
10,230 calls were made by the Public Safety Department in The Villages last year
- about 1% were for fires (flames), 10% were service calls, 9% were false
alarms, and 80% were medical/rescue calls.
81.
The survival rate for sudden cardiac arrest in The Villages Fl last year was 44%
- about 7 times the national average of only 6%. Contributing to this high
survival rate are the many Villagers taking CPR training - over 7,000 in the
last five years; and neighborhood CPR/AED programs.
82.
There are 1,915 residential streets North of CR466A in The Villages. Sources of
information include The Villages Homeowners Association, Wikipedia,
Villages Commercial Property Management, Villages Community Development
Districts
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