The Villages, FL 128 Apartments for Rent

The motto here is "Floridas Friendliest Retirement Hometown." Really gets you excited to move, huh, recent college grads?

The Villages in Florida is neither a city nor a town; it's a census-designated place (CDP) covering portions of three counties and consisting of a group of retirement communities. If you listen to people like Governor Rick Scott or people who live in The Villages, it is a piece of paradise for anyone over 55 who likes golf, tennis, and a fast game of pickleball (Is there such a thing as a fast game of pickleball?). The master-planned community is filled with baby boomers and other seniors who just want to live among people like themselves. Its a like a well-to-do cult of retirees or wannabe retirees who are all convinced that retirement is fun. Pickleball, anyone?

It Takes More Than One Village in The Villages

Anyone who wants to rent a house, garden home, condominium, or apartment in central Florida and live among like-minded late-middle-aged people or senior citizens will probably find The Villages to be paradise on earth. The Villages is composed of dozens of small yes villages offering residents easy access to everything they need to enjoy life and live comfortably. Each village has 100 to 1,550 homes, and scattered throughout are recreation centers, golf courses, fitness centers, swimming pools, walking paths, and commercial centers. Even your pooch will like it here because there are several dog parks, but be sure to play by the rules or everyone will talk about you behind your back.

Not everyone in the Villages is a retiree. Plenty of people move to this location while still working either in preparation for retiring in the near future, or because they like pickleball. However, approximately 70 percent of the people living here are over 65 years old, so you dont have to worry about living next to a rowdy bunch of college students. There are even families with children; its kind of surprising they let them in, but then this community has to be a safe place for kids. The biggest threat is getting run over by a runaway golf cart or three-wheeled bicycle.

If you snore loudly or have other unmentionable, noisy habits, it is important to remember the houses are built close together. There are some houses and pet-friendly apartments for rent, but be forewarned that almost 97 percent of the housing is owner-occupied, leaving only 3 percent for renters. There are a few row houses, very few small apartment buildings, and only a slightly more of high-rise apartment buildings. The whole point of The Villages is to retire in your own home and live the good life. Approximately 75 percent of the structures are less than 15 years old, making them quite a bit younger than the people living in them.

Communities, Not Neighborhoods

As mentioned, The Villages is composed of mini-communities. When you choose a place to live, it is not really the neighborhood that influences the decision. A bigger factor is the location of the community. Is it close to your favorite activities, like swimming, tennis, or shopping? Do you want to be able to walk to the golf course, or are you content to ride a golf cart and scare the miniature poodles taking their owners for a morning stroll? Quick game of pickleball anyone anyone out there? Most places in The Villages are fairly expensive to rent, but just think of all the amenities that rent gets you.

Family Units Do Exist

It should be noted that there are several subdivisions of family units that allow people under 19 as residents. Otherwise, there is an age restriction for permanent houseguests, which suits most seniors just fine. They dont want their unemployed adult children or unruly grandkids taking up space for any length of time and interrupting a busy schedule of coffee in the Town Square and craft classes in the afternoon.

A Civil North and South

If The Villages were divided into neighborhoods, though, there would only be two north and south.

North: The north section of the CDP is the more expensive one. The houses cost more to buy, and rental rates for houses and apartments are higher. $$$$

South: In the south section of The Villages, housing costs approximately 30 percent less than the northern half of the community. It should be noted that some people who own homes and condominiums do not live here fulltime, increasing the number of vacation rentals during certain months of the year. $$$

Life in the Slow Lane

Life in The Villages is as quiet as the pacemakers keeping many residents healthy and active. This is not a community for everyone. It is designed to offer everything people need to live a full life without the need to commute, so there are churches, The Villages Health Care Centers (that use an electronic medical record system), a Lifelong Learning College, and many other amenities within easy reach.

Its entertaining in itself to watch the seniors try to figure out how to answer their iPhones, but The Villages offers a lot more in the way of entertainment. There are communities with Town Squares that have restaurants and stores, free entertainment each evening, movie theaters, and places to gather with friends. Heck, you could disappear into one of the many retirement communities comprising The Villages and never be seen again.

The Villages is in central Florida, halfway between the Atlantic coast and the Gulf and close to all the tourist attractions money can buy. When you need a break from pickleball, and another round of golf sounds kind of unexciting, it is easy to find a host of other activities. Are you ready? The Villages is only an hours drive from Disney World, Universal Studios, and Sea World. It is only a half-hours drive to Silver Springs. You can drive 77 miles and reach Daytona Beach. If you miss the big city, Miami is 281 miles south of The Villages. There is always the option of going fishing too, in the Gulf or on designated waters in the Village Community Development Districts.

On second thought, life in The Villages is only as slow or as fast as you want it to be. That is the quality that makes life here especially nice for residents. Instead of life doing the dictating, the residents dictate to life. Perhaps that really does make The Villages paradise. Its certainly something to think about.