[trobesmom]

The Villages reminds me of The Truman Show.

[Ghaati]

Originally Posted by sheena12

You are correct about the composition of the Villages. Retirees, many from up-state NY, the Rust Belt Midwest, with large SS checks and Civil Service Pensions. Few professionals.

Cops, firemen, Foreman, Autoworkers, and tradesmen. Few if any are college-educated or middle class.

They also sold "expensive" homes, by Florida standards, up north. Left with $350-$500 or more in their pockets from homes they either inherited or bought for $10,000-$50,000 iif that - in the 60s or 70s. Older Baby Boomers.

These are not "rich people" or middle-class people. They went to "The College of Hard Knocks".

ALSO - These are NOT Floridians.

Florida does not deserve a black eye for this one.

Generalize much?

[Ghaati]

Originally Posted by trobesmom

The Villages reminds me of The Truman Show.

Only because it's been publicized for years, and there are legends (and myths) surrounding its existence that are no longer (or never were) true, but the place can't seem to (or possibly don't want to) shake it off.

Combine it with the Stepford Wives, Cocoon, and top it off with a splash of Rocky Horror Picture Show, and you have a general idea of the Villages.

[sheena12]

Originally Posted by Ghaati

Generalize much?

No. I look at the statistics and demographics.

[Vision67]

Interesting


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YBMnxCtgZpg

[Ghaati]

Young Turks have a weird take on things. I've seen their videos before. In this case they're sort of right, but in some ways totally far off.

"People" aren't having sex in public. One drunk couple was caught I think 2 years ago getting sloppy in the town square late at night. One of that couple, if I recall correctly, doesn't live in the Villages.

It is not a "retiree" community. It's a 55+ community. There is a distinct difference, it's not a matter of semantics. Many Villagers are still working, and there are even some families who live in the Family village areas, with kids and play swings - those are for people who actually work for Villages offices and in stores in the squares.

The town squares are public property, not private property. Anyone can go to them. The buildings are owned by the Morse family, and some of the businesses in the buildings are owned by them as well. But the streets are public streets and all businesses are open to the public.

A lot of the information people have now about the Villages is old and outdated. Many of the "older boomers" are already dead or in nursing homes. The younger boomers (such as myself) are moving in and replacing them, and we have a different mindset because we weren't raised by the Beavers. We were raised by the people who came after the Beavers, and before the hippies.

There are a LOT of wealthy people living in the Villages, but this is wealth proportional to expense, not comparable to other populations in other states. They're wealthy here, because the cost of living is low, there's no state income tax, they get Homesteader exemption on their property taxes, you can get to most places in the Villages by golf cart which could set you back around $10 a MONTH in gasoline, or 0 if you have an electric cart. Portions at restaurants are huge, so you can easily spend $15 for a lunch and enjoy half of it for lunch the next day.

The woman whines about HOAs and construction crews going through the lobby...

Well we have no lobby. We are a community of individual houses on our own lot of land - we own the land as well, we don't rent it like in some communities.

We have no HOAs, though we do have mandatory amenity fees. We take care of our own properties, or we can hire whoever we want to do our landscaping for us if we prefer.

The political posturing is mostly true however. Things weren't nearly AS heated up in the previous election, though the Hillary haters were pretty venomous.

So the video is an amusing, but deceptive mish-mosh of the Villages.

[Johnathon Hills]

Originally Posted by OptimusPrime69

Just another example of the crazy that comes out of FL making it a relative laughingstock to the nation. Stay classy, Florida.

Yet the VAST majority of residents in The Villages are from the Northeast & Upper Midwest.

Oops, too late to delete your asinine comment......

[Johnathon Hills]

Originally Posted by sheena12

You are correct about the composition of the Villages. Retirees, many from up-state NY, the Rust Belt Midwest, with large SS checks and Civil Service Pensions. Few professionals.

Cops, firemen, Foreman, Autoworkers, and tradesmen. Few if any are college-educated or middle class.

So cops, firemen, etc. are racists and not professional. Gotcha. Also, "professionals" are not capable of racism. Also, gotcha.

[Johnathon Hills]

Originally Posted by sheena12

No. I look at the statistics and demographics.

So you agree that 52% of homicides are committed by blacks, who make up 13% of the population?

[Ghaati]

Originally Posted by Johnathon Hills

So you agree that 52% of homicides are committed by blacks, who make up 13% of the population?

In the Villages, that isn't true.

I'd say around 100% of homicides in the Villages are committed by whites, who make up 98% of the population. That's a best guess though.