Backstory
After 25 years in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, we are wondering whether to spend retirement somewhere else. We’ve been weighing pros and cons, like these.
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Winter In the Bubble – #656
We lived in a bubble in the winter of 2018. We spent the coldest, snowiest months of the year at The Villages, a huge community for active adults over 55. The winding streets have beautiful landscaping, flowers bloom all year long, there is nightly dancing to live music, dozens of golf courses, a polo field, eleven country clubs and recreation galore.
It is Florida’s magic kingdom for mature adults.
A 50 page newspaper lists hundreds of events each week by different interest groups. You can go to the card game, the lecture, the swimming pool, the pickle ball court or the talent show.
But it is indeed a bubble. What’s missing? The sound of children playing in the streets, neighbors with hair that is not gray or white, anything messy.
The Villages is pristine and perfect. Over 100,000 retirees call it home. Every resident you meet sings its praises.
Critics say it is too sheltered from the outside world and lacks diversity. Residents feel they have earned this perfection in retirement and they make no apologies for their lifestyle. They volunteer, donate, support churches and tend to local underprivileged kids.
We have to decide whether we’d like to live there someday.
P.S.
What things would you take into consideration when deciding where to spend your retirement? Scroll down and share in COMMENTS. Thanks.
[Show #656]