We are contemplating making the move and I'd love to hear the pros and cons from anyone who is living there. Thanks so much!!!

you have to be a little more specific
there are several communities in florida called "the villages"
whats the name of the town??

I live 20 minutes (south of)from west palm,
I can help you with anything on the east coast between jupiter and north miami

Thanks so much for your reply Auryn. These are the Villages in Sumpter County. It's all a bit confusing because it's mainly listed as the villages Florida.

ok so I looked up Sumter County,
you are up near the Ocala area.
That is a very very rural part of florida.
Agriculture and horses is king there.
from the county map it looks like you would be at the closest a couple of hours from any big city- meaning tampa and orlando.

that part of florida is very "southern"
here is a page that has more information.
http://www.epodunk.com/cgi-bin/genInfo.php?locIndex=8939

as far as weather, the winters are cooler than southern florida where I am and the summers are very humid.

My IL's and dh's aunt and uncle live there, and it is awesome. LOVE IT!

There are several town squares, in each little area, and they each have live music every single night. Each little town has its own feel, and all the peeps drive around in golf carts, even through McD's and to the grocery store.

The homes there are nice, the yards are small but nice, and they have tons of clubhouses, family and adult only pools, and golf galore.

I say go for it.

ocala is where John Travolta lives -- soo.....it's a "nice" area. upscale in some places and oh so "low-rent" in others -- drive through there at least 2x a year and would.

inland enough that tho' it will get hurricane hit once in a while -- it most likely won't suffer the catastrophic damage the coasts would.

ocala is on a I-275, and via that only 1.5 hours to tampa (well at least the way I drive!) and also a close shot over to the Orlando area.

and 301 connects to I-10 which connects to I-95 at Jacksonville....easy to get anywhere.
(just watch out for the 2 speed trap towns on 301!)

Their website in case you haven't seen it: http://www.thevillages.com/index.htm

Thanks so much everyone for your help. I really do appreciate it. It sure is a lot to check into when you're making a big move. I think we may make some arrangements to do a preview there at the villages and check it out. It sounds really nice but I have come across some people who have had a problem with the construction of their homes. Of course when you have that many thousands of home, you kinda expect a few problems here and there. Again, thanks so much!!

My only negative of them is the traffic circles that they have. They have several of them, and I always get confused on where I am going b/c I never pay attention.

As far as quality of the homes go, my IL's home is very nice and they have had no problems at all. The builders let them do a few things to customize their house, and it's pretty nice. My MIL told me last hurricane season that some homeowners had some problems with flooding, but it was minimal.

Thanks Michelle. I had read where some of the newest homes have had some problems with the siding not being installed properly. But again, with so many homes going up, I would expect a problem here or there. I believe that there is a years warranty on the new ones so I would think that if there were a problem it would be dealt with. I would also make sure that a very thorough inspection be done. The homes really look nice and with so much in the way of activity to be had there, it seems like a great place to be as you get older. Less chance of becoming inactive. I'm trying to figure out about the bond and the amenity fees etc. I'm not real familiar with the CDD and I'm a bit concerned about additional fees that aren't real obvious at first. I have found that their real estate taxes are quite a bit more than I'm used to paying. The villages have told us that it was between 2 and 2 1/2% of the purchase price of your home. Still got lots of questions. Thanks again for your help...

LMAO! You have got to read this article about the Geriatrics Gone Wild. It is hysterical.

http://www.nypost.com/seven/01252009/news/nationalnews/retire_to_the_bedroom_151976.htm

I found it very interesting about the sexually transmittled diseases. And the police officer's comment about two men with canes fighting over a woman.

Oh dear Lord, I have now heard it all!!! Did you send this to your hubbys relatives? I'd LOVE to hear what they have to say about it. WAAAAAAYY too funny!!! Oh the visions, they won't leave my head. My hubby read the article and is now looking at golf carts.

I am from Gainesville,fl which is maybe 2 hours north of the Villages. I know that there is a car show there every year but have never had the opportunity to go (my husband is a Marine so I no longer live in florida) but my parents try to go every year. The last time I was in that area they were still in the development stages and was no where near what it is today. Its not far from Ocala wich is a fairly nice town, Lots of hourse farms (many owned by big names such as Sher, Tom Petty (who is originaly from Gainesville) and many others)

LOL I posted it to my Facebook acct so that all of dh's family can see it. Hilarious! I can't wait to hear what they say.

You've got to have a golf cart if you live at The Villages. Some of them are all done up to look like Cadillacs and old fashioned cars. My IL's had a big debate on whether they should get an electric one, or gasoline. My MIL was afraid that the electric would conk out on her and she'd be stranded.

Last Christmas dh's dad was driving us around in their golf cart and crashed into one of the arms that you have to go through to get into each development. He just kept on going, and said that someone breaks the arm nearly every day.