If you plan to move here or to any other 'exclusive community' you should try a vacation rental first. They all have rental units available for a week or a month. Most of the current residents did exactly that and therefore understood what the community they were getting into was all about. Almost to a person they love living here.
The few, who are unhappy and will or have moved away, they didn't give The Villages a good trial run. If I haven't been clear before, this is a very different lifestyle. Several of the locals I've met had just come back from a Caribbean cruise. They all said something like: "It was like living in The Villages but on the ocean." This really is permanent resort living.
Yes, you can get around nearly the entire community on a golf cart. There are over 100 miles of paved golf cart paths. Population now hovers at around 108,000+ over a 50% increase since the 2010 census. About 20 people move into The Villages every day of the year. There are new subdivisions and more golf courses being built. For the golf nuts, there are currently 540 holes with build-out projections at 621 holes, the largest concentration of greens in the world.
As for the singles scene, it does exist but in truth the majority of the residents are couples. Sure they might spend their days at different activities, pools, clubs and golf courses but in the evening they tend to show up to happy hour together.
Is The Villages for everyone? Absolutely not. For like minded individuals this really can be paradise, but you had best be sure this is your cup of tea or glass of wine because this is definitely not for everyone. Might I repeat -- definitely not (but then again).
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I hadn't heard of The Villages. In looking up information, I see a couple of books fairly critical, but I also see reviews by the residents that mention they had a planned transition from a developer run local government to one run by the residents.
I would love to learn more about how they went about setting up the planned transition, what the plan was, and how it went (it seems to be going well, but I have no idea).
If you come across any information on that planned transition and can pass references along (online, offline, maybe a local who keeping records), that would be wonderful. thankseversomuch!
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