Category PLASTICVILLE-USA/OPINIONS AND STORIES ABOUT LIFE IN THE VILLAGES, FLORIDA

PLASTICVILLE-USA

GIT-ER-DONE…

Drive around the various individual villages on any given weekday and you will see trucks and vans from all sorts of contractors, builders, flooring stores and home improvement companies. Now we’re not talking about areas of TV where new construction is taking place, we’re talking about fully completed residential sections. What’s going on?

It seems that the homes in TV are in a constant state of repair. It’s sort of like buying a home that’s never really finished. Villagers by the thousands are constantly doing something or other to their homes. They are putting in new kitchens, new flooring, changing the bathrooms. They are building and remodeling...

PLASTICVILLE-USA

FULL RETAIL LIST PLUS 10%…

You don’t have to hold an MBA from the Harvard Business School to know that the more captive your audience, the more you can charge for something. While major companies spend all kinds of money determining their clientele’s buying habits, it really helps when your customers shout their preferences out loud. And nobody does that any better than the villagers.

You cannot escape the signs..they are all over TV. They bid you welcome to “America’s Friendliest Hometown”. Right below that welcome is the phrase “A Golf Cart Community”. Newbies to TV can be forgiven for not quite knowing what that phrase means...

PLASTICVILLE-USA

3 TIMES IN LOVE…

In 1980 Tommy James came out with a popular song called 3 Times In Love. The basics of the song was that you went thru 3 lovers before you found “the one”. When it comes to owning a home in TV this seems to not only be a song title but a rule of thumb as to how many homes you will own when living the rest of your life in TV.

My in-laws are currently on their way to that goal. They bought their first house in 2005. It was a fully custom built Villages ranch style home in the village of Summerhill. At the time they had a very large home in Endicott, NY where they lived for at least 6 months out of the year...

PLASTICVILLE-USA

THE UN-VILLAGES…

Federal housing regulations require that all “Adults Only” 55+ retirement communities allow for 20% occupancy by those who are over 21 but under 55. Usually this amounts to a couple who moves in where one person is at least 55 and the other is under that age. It’s what also allows for Villager’s homes to be rented to people who are under 55. But the general rule is that in TV you’ve gotta be 55 to live there and you can’t have any children there for more than 30 calendar days a year. Right? Well..sorta..but there are a couple of exceptions. Welcome to the Un-Villages.

The Un-Villages are located around the outskirts of TV borders, the largest of which is Bison Valley which can be found just north of Route 466 near the Village of Summerhill...

PLASTICVILLE-USA

SCHOOL DAZE…

Although TV spans sections of 3 counties it was Sumter County who fell most deeply under the spell of Harry & Gary’s magic fairy dust. Marion County did so to a lesser extent, and it could be said that Lake County did not at all. Marion County hasn’t been uncooperative with Morse Industries, and to some extent does appreciate the increased tax base and boost to it’s business community that TV brings to the table. Lake County on the other hand seems to more or less just tolerate TV. The original Orange Blossom Gardens was built in Lake County as well as some other early villages along with the Spanish Springs Town Center and several strip malls that Morse Industries has developed there...

PLASTICVILLE-USA

HOMELESS & HUNGRY IN THE LAND OF PLENTY…

If you have ever lived in any sort of large metropolitan area you are not hard pressed to find people standing on street corners holding signs that say something to the effect of “Broke And Hungry-Please Help”. Once you notice them and if these places are somewhere on your regular route you also tend to find that these people are there daily. The clothes that they wear are often nicer than yours and they are talking on a cell phone. You might also notice that their signs change from time to time telling a different sob story.

Television documentaries such as National Geographic’s “Drugs, Inc.” exposes many of these people as professional beggars who are often out there hustling for their daily drug money...

PLASTICVILLE-USA

CHEAP AS CHIPS…

David Dickinson sometimes known as “The Duke” is a dapper, good-looking British antiques dealer who is one of the UK’s best loved television hosts. He’s one of those kinds of people who just brings a smile to your face. For years he hosted a show on British television called “Bargain Hunt”. The theme of the show is that two teams of people go shopping at a flea market, and then later on try to sell their pickings at an auction and make a profit. The show was shown in the US in re-runs for awhile on both HGTV and BBC-America.

One of Dickinson’s favorite lines was “It’s cheap as chips”. In the UK chips refers to French fries and in the UK a plate of chips are pretty cheap. So hence that phrase when referring to a good bargain.

Village...

PLASTICVILLE-USA

THE HO CHI MINH TRAIL…

During the Vietnam war the northern communists developed a strategic supply line that essentially skirted both north and south Vietnam by running through the countries of Cambodia and Laos. It was a masterful use of guerilla war tactics that North Vietnam used to it’s advantage.

Today there’s a new Ho Chi Minh Trail and it’s in TV. In many ways the new trail does the same thing. It skirts both TV and the law and is used by villagers in their golf carts as a strategic supply route.

While golf cart usage is permitted within the confines of TV it is NOT permitted outside of TV on regular highways such as US-441, US-301 and Florida-466...

PLASTICVILLE-USA

MAKEUS SICKBY M.D.

Just like any other community with a steady population of 110,000 TV has it’s very own hospital. The Villages Regional Hospital (TVRH) is a 250-bed facility that is located on the northeast side of TV right off US-441.

TVRH began back in the 90’s essentially as a dozen-bed Urgent Care clinic for Villages residents. As the community grew Gary Morse saw the need for a much larger facility. However, you can’t just decide to open up your own hospital. There are all sorts of State and Federal hoops to jump through before even the first shovelful of dirt could be turned. State authority is paramount...

PLASTICVILLE-USA

CLUELESS IN THE VILLAGES…

I was extremely fortunate to know all of my grandparents and most of my great-grandparents. One of the things I recall about all of them was just how “sharp” they were as they aged. It’s a given that as we get older we move a little slower, can handle a bit less physically and our reaction time slows down somewhat, but it is NOT a given that people lose their mental acuity.

After we moved into “the bubble” I was very surprised to find myself amongst the clueless. If you’re living in TV and it’s surroundings the clueless class is all around you. It’s bizarre. Probably the best demonstration is to enter any store such as the Publix grocery store, Walgreen’s or WalMart...