(Bloomberg) The Fastest-Growing Metro Area in U.S. Has No Crime or Kids

For Jerry Conkle, life in America’s fastest-growing metropolitan area moves as slowly as the golf carts that meander through his palm-lined neighborhood at dusk. Most days, he wakes early, reads the newspaper, and then hops into his four-wheeled buggy for a 20-mile-per-hour ride to one of the 42 golf courses that surround his home.

“It’s like an adult Disney World,” Conkle, 77, said of The Villages, Florida, whose expansion has come with virtually no crime, traffic, pollution — or children.

The mix has attracted flocks of senior citizens, making The Villages the world’s largest retirement community. Its population of 110,000 has more than quadrupled since 2000, U.S. Census Bureau data show. It rose 5.2 percent last year, on par with megacities like Lagos, Nigeria, and Dhaka, Bangladesh.

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Posted in * Culture-Watch, * Economics, Politics, * International News & Commentary, Aging / the Elderly, America/U.S.A., City Government, Economy, Ethics / Moral Theology, Housing/Real Estate Market, Politics in General, Theology, Urban/City Life and Issues

4 comments on “(Bloomberg) The Fastest-Growing Metro Area in U.S. Has No Crime or Kids

  1. BrianInDioSpfd says:

    It also has vibrant Episcopal Churches in and around it.

    We’ve enjoyed visiting a relative who lives there.

  2. Terry Tee says:

    Sun City AZ similarly has no children. Green Valley just south of Tucson has a few. Churches may be vibrant with elders, but gee … something missing without squalling babies and enthusiastic children bringing up the offertory or serving in the sanctuary.

  3. Tegularius says:

    [blockquote]Golf-cart accidents have killed more people than criminals, said Elaine Dreidame, president of the Property Owners’ Association of The Villages.[/blockquote]

    So motor vehicle accidents kill more people than criminals–isn’t that true of virtually every metro area in the country?

    Nationally, vehicle fatalities outnumber murders by more than 2:1.

  4. Katherine says:

    [url=http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2657325/Ten-women-man-black-market-Viagra-thriving-swingers-scene-Welcome-The-Villages-Florida-elderly-residents-Sex-Square-cocktail-honor-woman-68-arrested-public-sex-toyboy.html]Another take[/url] on The Villages from the Daily Mail. Age is no bar to outrageous behavior.