I visited The Villages with my mom when my parents were moving to Florida and, although it wasn't right for them, it seemed like a very large and active community. I believe you could stay in a home in the community for a week or so if you were trying to decide to buy or not. They had a few of these rental homes sprinkled throughout the area. I particularly liked that residents could get around by golf cart or car and that the cart paths were well maintained. It's a great way to maintain independence even if you may decide to stop driving. Good luck with your search!

I just read that the Villages is requiring it's residents to transfer to their health system insurance and there are problems with clients being able to keep same doctor...doctors leaving without notice, medications not being able to be refilled...what a mess. We have Medica, Medicare and are free to go to any doctor in the Medica system...all excellent doctors, I might add. There is confidence that our personal physician will be there for us for many years. Mine is an internist. Soooo...how is that health system in Florida? Did I just read about one bad incident that does not represent the general care in that state?

Leesburg is Florida's most sea tempest safe city because of its sea tempest and typhoon scores of zero consolidated with a low surge score. The city involves around 24 square miles of focal Florida's Lake County and is home to more than 21,000 inhabitants.

I just checked out Leesburg and even found some monthly rentals...thank you very much!!
Comment...what's worse...10 below zero temps with icy walkways, driveways roads, risk of falling and breaking something....for 6 months not to mention 2 to 3 feet of snow 6 months of the year or 90 degree and high humidity temps for that many months. I am honestly weighing the pros and cons. High temps and humidity are common here in Minnesota from July through August. We have found, with our good working dehumidifier which can empty a couple gallons of water out of the air in our home in a day, we use less air conditioning though we do use it.

<90 degree and high humidity temps for that many months. >
I live in Tampa, and it is not over 90 very day for 6 months of the year--more like 3-4. In the winter, we can open our windows and turn off the air conditioning. So while I am no expert on Florida, I would say that if you're not sure really warm and humid weather is your cup of tea, shoot for the northern half of the state. And keep in mind that although COL is lower in the center of the state, it can feel hotter because you don't get that breeze. Tampa is on a bay and a river, not the ocean, but we get a fresh breeze even in the dead of summer, something that DC, for example, where I grew up, does not enjoy.

By the way, we lived in Minnesota for three years, in Northfield. I loved it, but I could not stand the length of the winter. It was sunny and the snow was beautiful, but 6 months of wearing a coat (and boots, and a scarf, and gloves, and a hat!) was not for me.

Living in Florida, I miss the fall. But that's what travel is for! We have a gorgeous winter, and I have never found that hot weather prevents us from going out and doing things, whereas ice and snow did prevent us from deciding to drive to the Twin Cities, for example, and we seemed in general to stay in more.

So that's my two cents--cold is worse than heat! For me :-)

I also really relate to this comment you made:
<We have been here on Big Swan Lake for about sixteen years and just don't feel we have the deep roots.>
Minnesotans are so nice, it's a cliche, but they do not warm to newcomers quickly. I got the feeling I'd have to live there for 30 years before people considered me a local, and maybe not even then.

In Florida, most people aren't from here originally, which means that even those who are (Tampa has natives going back generations, believe it or not) are welcoming to newcomers.

The villages are a hot mess imo. I think Mt Dora is a nice community. Doctors are iffy in Fl. Very hard to find a good one. My husband and I both travel outside our county for our Doctors. I would not go to my local hospital unless an ambulance took me there without my knowing.
Florida is a melting pot.

It's a big state--you can't really generalize much about health care, or schools, or even politics, on a statewide level. There are excellent doctors and hospitals in and around Tampa, but one often has to wait a long time for a first appointment with a specialist.

I would settle on a short list of locations first, then start eliminating them as you come across deal breakers, such as health care issues.

More reading for you:

http://www.city-data.com/forum/florida/

"Doctors are iffy in Fl. Very hard to find a good one"

This is the very sort of "information" the OP is going to have to wade through and attempt to evaluate.

I <B>strongly</B> disagree with this, IMO, irresponsible and over-general assertion about the quality of healthcare in this state.

Macross, perhaps you'd like to take some responsibility and amend your statement to say that, "<B>I</B>, or <B>we</B> [have and for whatever reason found it] very hard to find a good one."

There is a more or less universal "truth" these days however. Doctors may not accept new Medicare patients, and it may be hard to find a doctor who does. It IS something to consider.

I'm a little concerned about moving back to Naples this next year and having to find a new doctor (my old one has passed away). Nearly all general practitioners seem to be accepting medicare patients for payment, HOWEVER, in order to see one you have to join their concierge program. These programs seem to range from $2500 per year to $10,000 per year. This is NOT for the services, but merely for the right to see them if and when you need service.

YIKES again!!! You have got to be kidding me....doctor concierge programs?!!! Is that even legal. What doctor who has taken an oath would do something like that? It sounds immoral! I am on Medicare with Medica and have received excellent care up in Minnesota. The best I would say. I am careful who I choose. If changing doctors, it can take up to a year to get admitted to the care now. I suppose in moving, I had better be sure we are pretty darn healthy before moving. Besides being very helpful...some of you are scaring me a bit....Concierge???? YOU Sure????
Also, I have looked in to Leesburg....interesting. I feel like all of you are helping me walk through this overwhelming project. I am grateful for that. You are giving me so much good material to check out...nice direction...good questions....making me think carefully about it. Did I say thank you?

Roamsaround
Curious, why don't you like the Del Webb communities? I like the Pulte homes...they apparently bought out Del Webb. But I have only seen the pictures on my computer. That' like seeing the first pictures of our cabin on our first cruise...can be a shocker when seen in real life.

It's not that I don't like Del Webb communities - In fact I said they are very nice. The grounds are well kept, the houses are all nicely maintained. It's difficult to fault anything from the aesthetic point of view.

The simple fact is they are just not the type of community that fits my and spouse's lifestyle.

We retired to a island in the Caribbean and built and now live in a stand alone home. We are not in a "retirement community" or even a gated development. We have many friends (both retired and non-retired) who live on the island that we socialize with. We are perfectly fine with having to go off-island and/or back to the US for medical care when needed and being in an area prone to hurricanes and/or flooding potential storm surges is not a major concern for us - if it happens, it happens.

That's not meant to imply our retirement home setting is better or worse than the one you are looking for, it just different.

My sister loves her community and my spouse and love ours. I wouldn't trade places with my sister and she wouldn't trade places with me. We both have what we want.

That's why you have to do your own first hand research. You want to find out what's best for YOU not what others think you'll like.

Good luck finding a place to spend your "golden years".

Yes, there are doctor concierge programs in some areas. A dear friend of mine who lives in Bellevue, WA discovered several years ago that her long-time primary care doc had joined one of these programs so was no longer available to her. There was a surge in such programs as Obamacare started up. Interesting, since then, I have not heard of new ones in my area. Florida may be a different situation, I don 't know. But it is worth checking into before you make any commitment.

You have got to be kidding me....doctor concierge programs?!!! Is that even legal. What doctor who has taken an oath would do something like that? It sounds immoral! I am on Medicare with Medica and have

Doctors do have the right to run their practice like a real business. And I don't think it had anything to do with Obamacare. the insurance industry took over medical "care" by telling doctors who and how they could treat patients, even if they didn't agree that that was the best for the patient LONG before the ACA--the 90's.
There are plenty of non-concierge practices, particularly that are now affiliated with hospitals. There are fewer and fewer stand alone private practices for doctor groups.

Ah, yes, now I understand. Here in Minnesota many doctors tend to be affiliated with clinics. I can decide what doctor I want to see and check if this person is part of my insurance system. So far it has worked out well. The trend here also is having hospital physicians so private physicians don't always attend at hospitals. I have been fortunate to pick and choose a hospital to go to depending on it's specialty. For instance, Abbott, Northwestern is best known for it's cardiac care unit so also is St. Cloud Hospital. Having done exams in a number of ERs at Mpls. Hospitals, I know what hospitals to avoid because of questionable care. Hmmm...moving to a new area...I won't know any of that. But, hospitals do have ratings and are also categorized as far as trauma 1,2,or 3. I expect that's pretty standard nation wide.

Soooo...now to find a place to rent for about a month in a 55+ community in Florida...something like that. Because we own our own home here in Minnesota and still have responsibilities here...more than a month would be tough. Also, I am just not willing to give up even one month of summer here...we only get a couple...and it's over...I think there may be some monthly rentals in Leesburg. We would like to tack on a little time on the coast for a vacation...haven't had one in 2 years.

My doctor went to concierge service for most of the practice several years ago. I'm in my 30's so have no need of it and just use PA who's not part of the concierge service. It seems like a neat idea for those who can and want to pay for it. The doctor takes on fewer patients, has longer appointments, and is available after hours for consultation. I imagine if I had multiple medical issues or something complicated, I'd consider it. Most doctors up here (in VA) aren't concierge and my parents who live in central FL seem perfectly happy with their doctors- also not concierge.