The Villages is definitely one place that’s getting cooler with age. Check out these fun facts:

1. The Villages population passed 100,000 in early 2013 with the total population projected to be close to 110,000 by 2015.

2. An average of 20 people move into The Villages every day.

3. To maintain its 55+ status under federal law, at least 80 percent of homes must be occupied by at least one person who is 55 years of age or older.

4. The average age in The Villages for a male is 62 and female is 60.

5. Persons under the age of 19 years are not permitted to reside within The Villages but may visit for a maximum of 30 days per year unless a longer exemption is granted.

6. Three Villages subdivisions are designated as “family units” and are not subject to the under-19 restriction.

7. In 2011, The Villages sold almost one percent of all the new homes in the entire United States.

8. One real estate journal reported that The Villages sold about 2.5 times more homes than the second largest development in the United States in 2011. In 2012 they sold 1,417 more homes than the 2nd largest development.

9. Forbes Magazine named The Villages as the fastest growing town (under 100,000) in the United States from 2007 to 2010, about 25% more than second fastest Pecos, Texas, and far ahead of the rest in the top 25 fastest.

10. There are about 46,000 homes occupied in The Villages as of January 1, 2013. The current projected total number of home sites available at build out is 56,268.

11. New home sales in The Villages continue to average approximately 200-250 per month.

12. Pre-owned home sales in The Villages are currently averaging 200 per month.

13. Half of the people buying homes in The Villages pay cash for their house.

14. The average household income for home buyers in The Villages is $93,800.

15. The average household income for the state of Florida is $47,661.

16. When The Villages opened up home sales South of CR 466A – 55 homes sold in first eight days.

17. Villages range in size from 100 homes to 1550 homes. The Village of Duval is the largest with 1550 homes.

18. The Villages property area covers over 32 square miles and 23,000 acres.

19. There are over 100 miles of golf cart paths.

20. The Villages occupies parts of three counties in Florida (Lake, Sumter & Marion).

21. The population of the Villages grows by approximately 4,500 annually.

22. There are three town squares (Spanish Springs, Lakes Sumter Landing and Brownwood).

23. There are ten commercial areas (Lake Sumter Landing, Spanish Springs, La Plaza Grande, Buffalo Ridge, Colony Plaza, Southern Trace, Spanish Plaines, Mulberry Grove, Brownwood Paddock Square, and soon Antrim Dells (will be next to Brownwood Square).

24. Commercial property at the Villages FL averages a 97 percent occupancy rate.

25. The Villages is planned to be home to 2.7 million square feet of commercial buildings and retail tenants.

26. Approximately 150,000 people travel through The Villages each day along its busiest corridor US 441/27.

27. There are over 2,200 organized clubs in The Villages.

28. There are currently 63 recreation centers in The Villages.

29. There are currently eight villages south of CR466A (Pinellas, Pinellas at Cedar Grove, Pinellas at Evans Prairie, Gilchrist, Fernandina Fernandina at MacClenny, Sanibel and Charlotte) bringing to total number of villages in The Villages FL to 78.

30. The Villages has more holes of golf than any other community/facility in the world with currently 540 holes. (Mission Hills in China is second with 216 holes).

31. At build out there will be 621 holes of golf in The Villages FL.

32. South of CR466A there are two new country clubs (Bonifay and Evans Prairie) and one new executive golf course (Palmetto) bringing the total in The Villages to 11 country clubs and 30 executive courses.

33. By final build out The Villages will operate 12 country-club championship courses.

34. There are about 10,000 tee times available each day in The Villages.

35. Last year a total of 55,663 Villagers played one or more rounds of golf for a total of 2,546,611 rounds of golf. The approximate number of miles driven in golf carts for this many rounds of golf on The Villages golf courses total 6,330,365 miles. That’s a distance equivalent to driving around the world at the Equator 254 times.

36. There were 1,832 holes-in-one recorded in The Villages last year. That’s 5 holes in one recorded every day of the year in 2011.

37. 316 Villagers shot their age or better last year a total of 1,500 times.

38. Statistically, there were 5,810,493 golf balls lost in The Villages last year.

39. About one-third of Villages residents are regular golfers

40. Playing 36 holes per day, a Villager could play 15 straight days of golf in The Villages without repeating a hole.

41. Golf cars are the vehicle of choice in The Villages. There are over 50,000 golf carts in The Villages

42. The Villages Golf Cars has three showrooms in The Villages and they combine to sell more Yamaha golf cars than any other dealer in the United States.

43. 315 Holes of golf in The Villages have Received Audubon International’s Silver Certified Sanctuary Designation.

44. The CBS Sunday Morning segment of May 2011 featured a video segment on The Villages Golf Carts and it continues to make the rounds on YouTube with over 4 million views.

45. Villagers play 5,200 softball games each year

46. There are currently 133 men’s softball teams, 15 ladies teams, and 68 co-ed teams competing in 17 leagues over three seasons.

47. The Villages has 216 softball teams (2,592 players) playing 164 games per week and approximately 2,296 games for the winter season which is the busiest.

48. Softball totals for the past year are 555 teams (6,660 players) playing approximately 5,572 total games over 3 seasons.

49. The two largest recreation events in The Villages each year are Camp Villages with over 7,000 Villagers and grandchildren participating, and the Senior Games, where Villagers compete in multiple events in sixteen different sports ranging from bocce to basketball, archery to volleyball.

50. 1,417 athletes participated in one or more events in this year’s Senior Games in The Villages, totaling 2,796 entries in all 16 sports.

51. 157 athletes (11%) of the athletes participated in more than five events in this year’s Senior Games in The Villages.

52. Six Senior Games sports do not involve a ball – archery, badminton, horseshoes, shuffleboard, swimming, and track (excluding field events).

53. The Villages has more than 100 tennis courts.

54. There are over 100 pickleball courts in The Villages.

55. There are five water towers in The Villages.

56. There are over 1,200 miles of water mains.

57. There are over 8,000 manholes in The Villages.

58. The Villages population is larger than 93.4% of the municipalities in Florida (28th largest of 411)

59. At build-out the population of The Villages will make it the 14th largest municipality in Florida

60. The Villages population is larger than 31 of the 67 counties in Florida

61. There are 3 dog parks in The Villages (Paradise, Mulberry, & Brinson-Perry)

62. Homes prices range from $100,000 to over 1 million dollars

63. The Villages Regional Hospital started 11 years ago with 60 beds and now has over 200 beds.

64. The Villages is home to a 99,000 square foot VA Outpatient Clinic

65. The Villages Regional Hospital has a comprehensive stand-alone cancer center – The Moffitt Cancer Center

66. The Villages has partnered with USF Health (University of South Florida) to bring free screenings and a lecture series to thousands of Villagers on critical medical issues and initiated The Villages Health Survey, intended to become the world’s definitive study on mature adults. (The University of South Florida is the ninth largest university in the US and its medical university has the largest distributed residency program in the nation.)

67. There are currently eight major grocery stores.

68. The Villages has over 100 dining choices on property (and many more nearby).

69. Villagers spend over $200 million dollars annually in eating and drinking establishments.

70. The Villages is the safest single site development in the country with the lowest crime rate.

71. The Villages Community Watch is comprised of six full time and 294 part time employees. According to the Community Watch its employees patrol 80,000 miles of neighborhood streets each month while averaging more than 3.5 passes by everyone’s home every 24 hrs. In 2011 employees performed more than 209,000 security activities or actions during the year.

72. The Villages Homeowners Association membership totals nearly 25,000 members. The VHA turned 22 years old in 2013. One of the first projects of the VHA was working on a petition drive requesting approval for construction of a golf cart bridge over US 441/27.

73. The Villages has its own Polo stadium and Polo leagues. The Villages polo club has the largest polo crowds in the U.S. with over 30,000 spectators a year.

74. There are over 12,000 people who work in The Villages, or for businesses in the community.

75. The Villages has its own Charter School for employee children, allowing a student to attend from Pre-K3 thru High School. The Villages Charter School is an A-rated High School with 99% of students graduating. 93% of students at The Villages Charter School advance to higher education

76. The Villages Charter School has over 2,200 students per year and an expansion project is well underway.

77. The Villages operates its own Lifelong Learning College for residents on the high school campus. The Villages Lifelong Learning College offers 2,000 total courses per year

78. The Lifelong Learning College has about 18,000 residents attending around 25,000 sessions each year.

79. The Villages has seven fire stations. The Villages Public Safety Department has almost 90 employees, about 70% are trained medics and 30% are trained EMT’s.

80. 10,230 calls were made by the Public Safety Department in The Villages last year – about 1% were for fires (flames), 10% were service calls, 9% were false alarms, and 80% were medical/rescue calls.

81. The survival rate for sudden cardiac arrest in The Villages Fl last year was 44% – about 7 times the national average of only 6%. Contributing to this high survival rate are the many Villagers taking CPR training – over 7,000 in the last five years; and neighborhood CPR/AED programs.

As you can see this is a world unto itself.  If you have a golf cart you can sell your cars and never need to leave The Village for anything,  The landscaping is fantastic.

We went to see our friend Steve & Judy at their beautiful home over looking a golf course.

We meet Steve a number of years ago through Walk to Emmaus.  Miss Peggy and I have been very active in the Emmaus community in the past 10 years.  Steve meet Judy at The Villages as the shared many of the same interests   golf, church, etc.  She went on the Walk to Emmaus three years ago.  For more information about The Walk to Emmaus contact Miss Peggy or I, or click on the link below for a video:

We are a great time, and host while at The Villages.  We had a great tour of the community (not all of it!) and a great lunch.  Thanks Steve & Judy.

On the way back we stopped at Sam”s Club and bought 2 more batteries to move our battery bank up to 4 large batteries.

We honked our horn at Howard & Linda from  RV-Dreams.com.  as we drove past their campsite, click on their link to learn about Linda’s stain glass classes in nearby Micanopy, FL.

We were told of a little crab carry out joint in Lake City, and  we went for their carry out of shrimp & oysters.  Boy O Boy do they know their garlic.  It was great.

Tomorrow we hope our transmission is done!

Check out our new page above regarding RV Budgeting.