The Villages, Florida

The Villages is a master-planned, age-restricted community located in Central Florida, between Ocala and Orlando.

With the exception of small parts which overlap existing cities, the majority of the community is located outside of any city jurisdiction.

Originally formed in the 1960's as a mobile home park called Orange Blossom Gardens, the development grew substantially in the mid-1980's due to the marketing success of H. Gary Morse, son of one of the original founders. Morse realized that the most successful developments featured well-maintained amenities and nearby extensive commercial development (e.g. grocery stores, restaurants, etc.) and began to purchase large tracts of land in adjacent areas.

Morse also took advantage of unique provisions of Florida law which allows his company to essentially run the area as a mini-government in perpetuity. The Villages is divided into 12 "community development districts" (which are governed by residents, handle local issues such as paving and street lights, and are paid for by special assessments included within the property tax bills). However, The Villages is also under the jurisdiction of four development districts which are structured in such a manner that they have NO residents (only commercial and developer-owned property); as such, Morse's company has the legal right to nominate company employees or affiliates to the districts' boards. These larger boards maintain the numerous amenities for which The Villages is world-renowned (such as nearly 50 golf courses: for many years the advertising slogan was "Free Golf For Life", technically inaccurate as the courses are paid for by monthly amenity fees charged to each property owner).

The community is age-restricted as allowed by Federal housing law: at least one person age 55 or over must reside in any home, and no person under age 19 may do so except to visit (for no more than 30 days per year) or in cases of hardship.

The Villages is a strongly conservative area (Morse himself was a major donor to the Republican Party) and has become a popular point for conservative political rallies: in 2008 Vice-Presidential candidate Sarah Palin spoke to a crowd estimated at over 60,000.

External Links

• The Villages
• The Villages Community Development District (the website provides public information on all Community Development Districts located within The Villages area)