I hadn’t thought much about the Villages in Florida. I did a quick check, it resides in an area of 33square miles, that’s huge. With approximately 80k people. So how can some I’ve listen to complained about growth just outside the community. It’s a community of 55 years and older.
Dottie and Tom are natural, honest and real, thanks for sharing from your heart! Neighbors and friends make living in TV fantastic. Growing up, our neighborhood was an extension of our family. We shared freshly baked bread, cakes, casseroles, and other goodies. TV has that charm. People are so friendly and helpful. The temperature may be hot, but that's why God invented air conditioning!
We really enjoyed the interview of Dottie & Tom. We are so happy for all of you that they “get it now.” We have really enjoyed meeting them and getting to know them and look forward to their return.🥰
Thanks so much for this informative show. Your sister, Dottie, and brother-in-law, Tom, are so nice. I’m glad they changed their minds about TV. It was good to hear how their impressions of TV changed. ❤
Urban legend. Its usually starts with “ a doctor told me” along with the colored loofas that are really used to locate their golf carts in a parking lot of them.
Love your sister, Jerry! She’s sweet & beautiful! She & her husband shared a lot of good things about The Villages. I would want to move there if I didn’t already live next door!
Dottie is like me, a homebody. Tom likes fishing but he didn’t mention anything else. It seems yes, you have to go there first. It’s like Bucees, you just need to go there. The Villages is a very clean and well kept up area. I hear people are nice and will help you if needed. Just for us personally the homes are nice, but too close. We also like to keep our camper and Vette on our property. Plus I can fly my Mets and Commanders flags.😊
Great video. I am always telling friends from back home that they have to come here to see it for themselves. No photos or stories will do the job. I hope they do choose to buy a house here. It would be nice for you to have family here. 😀
Fantastic show Linda & Jerry. Your family did such a great honest job answering all the important questions. Its real good hearing what out siders think of TV. Thank you again for thinking of us and showing us how wonderful the villages really are.
It goes to show you that preconceived notions rarely jive with reality. Glad your Sister and her Husband had theirs changed. TV helps its residents not just pass their retirement years, but provides new learning experiences, many activities, a plethora of places to eat, and makes them want more time to repeat. Most importantly, people make wonderful new friends.
Great video - thanks for sharing 😊Dottie and Tom did an excellent job of explaining what they now like about being in TV after vacationing there twice now 👏🏻 I hope they find a nice home to buy and settle down in😎🌞
Love the Villages! You all were so nice. We rented with another couple. It is a fun place! Would love to live there! The heat in the Summer...scares me
I need to be in an area with moderate weather all year long with no freezing or really hot weather. No AC all day. We liked visiting, but we were there probably in the fall. Kathleen
@dagmaryork4940 We went on a train to Seattle a few months ago. Loved it. Will be back to visit. We live on the central Oregon coast and love it, too. Have a good day. Kathleen
Great video. That was great to hear them and share their opinions. So sorry we missed both of you on our last visit for the month of June. We’re coming as soon as we can. See you when we get there !🌴🌴🌴
What an insightful video with Dottie & Tom freely sharing their thoughts & feelings. Great responses & an eagerness to participate in life of a Villager!! We so enjoyed their positivity & willingness to talk about their experiences. Hopefully we will see them return soon as TV renters or owners❤️😎
The Villages is a great place for many people. It is especially good for people who like lots of things to do. Also it is very well maintained but I will say it can lead to the notion that the whole world should be the same. What you do need to realize is that it's VERY, VERY EXPENSIVE to buy and maintain homes in this community including association fees. As with most "planned" communities there are LOTS of rules. People who need "affordable" housing need not apply. Most people who maintain everything in this community can't afford to live there even if they qualify as 55+. The time children and grandchildren can stay for a visit. All that said, if you choose to live in The Villages enjoy.
This doesn’t have anything to do with the video, but…I remember a while back Linda mentioned that she’d pay a hundred bucks for a garden tomatoe because she loves them so much. I thought she was crazy because we grow tomatoes in our garden. Well, I had one yesterday and thought if I could not grow them, I would pay a hundred bucks too! Thank you, Linda for mentioning that because now, I won’t take the taste of a garden tomatoe for granted any longer! I really hope that we can “see you when we get there” soon!!
What a great idea for the show. Jerry and Linda are the most gracious people you will ever meet. We stopped by to drop a couple things at their house that we had brought for them and were invited in and had a wonderful visit. They are as advertised.
Great show today. I just arrived for a 2 month lifestyle visit and renting a home. Looking forward to exploring and enjoying all The Villages has to offer.
The folks that I have known that moved there (4 families) eventually left. When more care is needed later in life folks chose to be near family. TV is for a season.
Love that your family visits. Knowing how upset they all were when you decided to move. Glad they see what you find so inviting in Florida. Thanks for sharing and keep making these videos !!
Thinking about showing this to a few relatives when we go visit up north next week! We both had a few similar experiences leaving our old home to move here. Thanks
I went to seminary in Louisville and served a church in Jeffersonville, many years ago. Small world! It sounded like your sister and her husband had a great time. They reminded me of a lot of folks I knew back in my Kentuckiana days. I enjoyed the video very much but the primary concern I have about The Villages still lingers after I watched the video. It’s seems to be an incubator for people who are all the same (affluent and white) to gate behind while the rest of the world marches on. All the nightly concerts and dancing and activities remind me of the feeling I got from summer camps I went to as a child, kind of leaving me on a mountain top. But what happens when you never get off the mountain top?
I'm watching this a few days later, but really enjoyed hearing about Dottie's and Tom's impressions and experiences. Such nice people, and it was easy to see that they were being honest in their comments. Hopefully, you can feature them when they visit again!
This was GREAT! I enjoyed it so much. I had taken a little bit of a break from your videos...I prefer videos shorter 15 minutes or so as opposed to 30 minutes videos. It was great to see you with family. I caught mysdlf smiling during the video. I wish there was a way I could ask you a quick somewhat personal question about your family that only you could see. Let me know, please. Thank you and God bless you all.
Great interview. Please explain the disconnect with restaurant food quality. This couple clearly enjoyed their restaurant experiences, however I have listened to other Village RU-vidrs saying the opposite, that restaurant food quality is not a plus and in fact lacking.
Nice to meet Jerry’s sister & her husband. Sounds like they’ll definitely be back. Moving so far away from the home you’ve known all your life can be quite the adjustment so having family come visit is wonderful. Thanks for another great video, see you next time & have a great weekend😘
This was so Great, thank you guys. So helpful to get an unvarnished opinion of the Villages and I am SO GLAD they Liked it, as I too want to make a visit down to see what this magical place is all about. :) Thanks...
What a great show! 😍 Sounds like they’ll be snowbirds in no time. 👍🏻 Personally I’m a homebody too, and find myself home alone here a lot while my hubs is out clubbing, lol, in 3 different clubs. But, I still love it here, especially the wildlife, landscaping, live oak trees, and our wonderful neighbors. Will never like the heat though. And we do wish we had family here, especially our toddler grandson. ❤
Thanks for the video! It certainly looks like you have converted your in-laws to Village people. It was nice hearing them talk about any preconceptions they had, what they experienced during their visits and how they plan to spend more time in the Villages.
What a wonderful testimonial! We are going for a lifestyle visit in August and we already put our house in the north for sale! So exciting! We would love to see you when we get there! Thank you for your wonderful videos! ❤
Very nice and interesting to hear what your Sister and Brother-in law thought of The Villages when they first visited and what they think now. I tried to describe The Villages to a Friend currently living on Long Island and she asked if we have stores. LOL It's so hard to explain The Villages that's why I told her you have to come see it to understand how it looks and functions! When you mention retirement community, most people think of a group of homes surrounded by a wall with 1 large rec center and a pool! Thanks Jerry and Linda. I don't know if you realize that your previous professions show through your videos! I learn a lot from them and I can tell you two were and are two fantastic teachers! ❤❤
I'm with Tom; I love the colorful homes you showed us in that cart ride. All the new developments in my area are various shades of beige and it's so boring. I love colorful seaside towns and the 'Painted Ladies' Victorian homes of San Francisco. Even though the newer parts of TV have cracked down on the more colorful homes, I am glad that you can find homes in shades of blue and yellow with accents of different colors. And hooray for people who love to eat!
I’ve been watching, considering and will be there next month for a lifestyle visit and I get annoyed with people when I mention TV and they immediately go to the STDs and loofah rumors🤦🏻♀️. I don’t even live there and I get defensive of TVs and it’s not even mine… maybe it will be 🤔 someday.
common theme of TV is "Not what we expected." It's always the golf cart rides that pushes them over the edge!🛺 😳So happy your Sis and her hubby had a great time and maybe they will be living there near you sooner than later. xox
As long as hurricane exists and automobiles exist, Florida will be getting more and more expensive. The average retiree wouldn’t be able to afford to live there. But then again you probably could’ve comfortably if your income is around 150,000 to 200,000 a year. I used to live in South Florida and wow the homes doubled insurance tripled taxes doubled and car insurance I moved in 2019 to Missouri. Everything is half of what it is in Florida.
Great interview! Wonderful to get Dottie and Tom's "outsider" perspective. Near the 14:00 minute mark, what is the area that Tom mentioned with different-colored houses?
It appears your sister and brother in law enjoyed their visit. I too am like Tom and dont like hot weather. But I enjoy using my snowblower to clean my driveway and sidewalks and my neighbors too. I would like the live entertainment at night on the squares.Also the neatness of the homes and guidelines to follow, BUT I also like the variety of older neighborhoods like where I live. I do have a golf cart and I do enjoy that part, but I would miss my family and friends to much to move. Variety is the spice of life, if not. you wouldn't travel and take a cruise.
The broadcast is true BUT it’s become more suburbia than a quiet gated community as it was originally intended by the founder. Per Capita there’s not enough restaurants and parking spaces for 150k residence plus 20+ K snowbirds except during the hot summers. It’s congested otherwise as they keep building houses for the money to be made. It’s a congested playground for seniors.
Hi Jerry and Linda! I am super curious, are all family pools the same size or is there one in the Villages that is larger than the rest? Looking forward to going next month 😊
I believe the family pools are basically the same size. They may be slightly different in shape and some are infinity type, but similar in size. Our viewers will let us know.
My husband and I are on a business a vending business well we went to The villages different times to fix people's jukeboxes and they were so bad three different people they wouldn't want to pass what they owed us so the hell with the villages we don't bother with anybody in the villages anymore we definitely don't take any work for the villages anymore because the people have been terrible and we also were cheated they did not want to pay what they owed us three difgert people I'm the villages
