The Villages, Florida
Peter Titmuss/UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty Images
Peter Titmuss/UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty Images
If its demographics and the ubiquity of its golf carts make The Villages seem like America’s largest retirement community, that’s essentially how it was founded. According to Vanity Fair, Harold Schwartz was able to sell off his tracts of land in Florida by turning them into a series of developments that offered an all-inclusive lifestyle for Baby Boomers.
The result is a town where about 70% of its residents are over 55 and where that’s usually how old someone needs to be to qualify for a house. And while the golf carts have become a signature aspect of the local culture in their own right, they’re also there because there are dozens of golf courses in the area.