The strange world of Florida’s golf cart city, The Villages
It was no surprise to learn that Tim Fletcher drives his golf cart to the golf course.
It was a little more unusual to hear that he also uses it to go to the doctor’s. And to the supermarket. And the bookstore. And just about anywhere else an active 69-year-old pensioner’s day might take him.
Mr Fletcher and his wife Faye are residents of The Villages, a city-sized retirement community in central Florida sometimes referred to as “Disney World for old people”.
More than 100,000 people, all aged 55 or above, live in villas spread across three postcodes of pristinely-maintained suburban streets and faux old-fashioned town squares that feel like film sets. The development, which bills itself as “Florida’s Friendliest Retirement Hometown”, is owned by a billionaire Republican family and is expanding rapidly.
The lives of its residents are connected by more than 100 miles of trails and streets which they travel by golf cart, often mingling freely with cars on the road. The roadways are so extensive there is even a GPS system for golf cart drivers.
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