The Villages in Florida has more than 70,000 homes. It's still growing.

The locals say it's hard to describe adequately how vast The Villages is to someone who has never seen the development.

The 55-and-over "active adult" haven of more than 70,000 homes about an hour northwest of Walt Disney World in Central Florida covers 90 square miles, stretching 35 miles north to south across three counties. And it's ever expanding. During a recent trolley tour of the property, the guide joked that The Villages will eventually reach Key West.

"I believe it!" a voice shouted above the laughter.

At a time when municipalities are looking to expand by courting tech-savvy college graduates and young families, it's mostly retired baby boomers tooling around on golf carts and dancing to 1960s hits who are fueling the massive growth in the heart of the Sunshine State. But the possibility of an economic downturn combined with the sheer size of The Villages has some wondering whether the go-go days could soon be ending.

The population of Wildwood-The Villages increased nearly 5% to more than 151,500 from 2022 to 2023, making it the nation’s fastest-growing metropolitan area, according to the latest U.S. Census data. More recent estimates put The Villages' population alone at more than 150,000, with about three-quarters of those full-time residents.

A labyrinth of neighborhoods, recreation centers and traffic-calming roundabouts on both the east and west sides of Florida's Turnpike connect the development. Some homes are modest bungalows, while others are fancier, ranch-style residences. Prices range from roughly $300,000 to more than $1 million.

It has dozens of golf courses, its own health clinics and a hospital. Golf carts are more common than cars. Residents say you rarely see peeling paint, dead flowers or tall grass. Tongues are wagging over Costco's planned opening this year.

Every Thursday, a recreation guide thicker than some newspapers lists the upcoming schedule for such activities as lawn bowling, glass fusion and classic country and gospel sing-a-longs. The guide also includes thousands of clubs, from mah-jongg to martial arts to Mexican train dominoes.

Mention The Villages in casual conversation, and you'll almost certainly get an eye roll or a snicker, given the rampant internet rumors that say it's a place rife with randy residents. A common story is that a loofah tied to a golf cart indicates a person's interest in activities not listed in the recreation guide.

But residents and owners say Villagers tie loofahs on golf carts simply so they can pick them out in crowded parking lots. They insist they haven't seen any shenanigans along those lines and believe there are no more randy residents at The Villages than there are at any other development in America.

Three themed town squares resembling Disney's idyllic Main Street offer a mix of boutique and chain shops, restaurants and businesses. And a fourth town square is expected to open later this year in the new Eastport neighborhood in the southern part of the development.

The Villages, billed as "Florida's Friendliest Hometown," is a Census-designated place and not an incorporated municipality. If it were a Florida city, it would be larger in population than West Palm Beach and not far behind Fort Lauderdale. It's more than twice the size of nearby Disney World.

"To my knowledge, there is no retirement or assisted-living community that compares to The Villages anywhere in the U.S. or the world," said Jack McCabe, a real estate industry veteran of 43 years who heads McCabe Research & Consulting.

The Villages was the nation's top-selling master-planned community in 2024, according to the RCLCO consulting firm. The development has led the rankings in every year but one since 2010. It sold 3,208 homes last year, up 6% from 2023, beating No. 2 Lakewood Ranch in Sarasota, Florida, by nearly 1,000 sales.

RCLCO defines master-planned communities as those with comprehensive plans by master developers. They have a variety of housing types, sizes and prices, and owners share common spaces and amenities.

In many MPCs, the master developer sells lots to one or more builders. Not at The Villages. Management here builds all the homes. The vast majority are restricted to people at least 55 years old, but one neighborhood for all ages, Middleton, opened in recent years.

"They have created their own destiny," Karl Pischke, an RCLCO principal, said in an interview. "They operate differently from a lot of master-planned communities."

The development's roots go back more than 40 years.

In 1983, Howard Schwartz, a mail-order business owner, acquired a trailer park of nearly 400 mobile homes and later turned over management to his son, H. Gary Morse, according to the online publication Villages-News.com. Schwartz and Morse started building golf courses and swimming pools, making the park a retirement community, the publication noted.

Schwartz retired in the 1990s and lived at The Villages until he died in late 2003 at age 93. His son passed away 11 years later, and The Villages is now run by community development districts headed by manager Kenny Blocker, along with Morse's three children, Mark Morse, Tracy Mathews and Jennifer Parr.

Blocker did not return phone calls, and the human resources office declined to make other officials available for interviews, but residents and real estate agents say they've heard The Villages controls enough land for development well into the next decade.

Anything not part of the massive development is considered "outside the bubble." Politically, the place is predominantly red.

"We Democrats could almost caucus in a closet," said Ann Perdew, 79, a retired teacher who has owned a home in The Villages with her husband, Landon, since 2003.

At Lake Sumpter Landing Market Square, you can check on your retirement portfolio at Charles Schwab, buy a new living room set at City Furniture and wind down with dinner and drinks at Calypso, a Caribbean waterfront grill.

Every night of the year, weather permitting, residents and visitors jam the town squares for live music. On a recent Wednesday at Lake Sumpter Landing, couples danced to "My Girl" by the Temptations and the Four Tops' "Can't Help Myself" while vendors hawked knick-knacks under white tents. Also among the vendors: health insurance giant Humana and someone selling golf cart window screens and visors.

Meanwhile, one guy walked around with "I See No Reason to Act My Age" emblazoned across his T-shirt. It's a familiar refrain.

"You can be crazy here and it's OK," agreed George Harter, 68, a retired engineer.

The number of sports and activities draws many of the residents to The Villages.

"If you want a club for left-handers who are missing a thumb and from New Hampshire, it would be here," Carolyn Clark, 76, said, only half-kiddingly, over the din at Lake Sumpter Landing.

Chris Picard, the busy bartender at World of Beer in Brownwood Paddock Square, concurs.

"If you're bored in The Villages," he said, "chances are you're boring."

Still, no one says The Villages is another Garden of Eden, the terrestrial paradise of Biblical times.

Among the biggest complaints are The Villages' traffic congestion and the lines for a restaurant table during winter. The development is landlocked in the middle of the peninsula, so visiting children and grandchildren can't make quick trips to the beach. Fine dining and high-end shopping options are limited, and the dependency on golf carts is a drag for people inevitably caught in one of Florida's frequent summer downpours.

Some say the many social cliques bring back bad memories of trying to fit in during high school and that The Villages could easily overwhelm introverts, although they're welcome to start their own club to commiserate.

Owners who buy new and existing homes in The Villages this year pay a monthly $199 amenity fee, though the cost varies for residents who have been here longer. A small number of homes are governed by homeowner associations, but deed restrictions cover all the properties, according to James Cooper, a real estate agent for Realty Executives in the Villages.

That means homeowners painting their facades have to stick to an approved color palette. For example, no purple paint allowed. And they need to get architectural committee approval before they can add a spa or make other major changes.

"I've talked to a lot of people who love it and a lot of people who got tired of it," McCabe, the real estate consultant, said of daily life in The Villages.

McCabe believes an economic recession is coming this year that will affect real estate projects across the nation. But aside from any slowdown, he said, The Villages may reach a point at which it becomes too big and can't maintain the same level of development and services residents have come to expect.

"Some projects that go so well for so long usually reach a pinnacle where they tend to slow down," he said.

Like the broader housing market in Florida, listings in The Villages are piling up as the pace of sales weakens. Reasons vary, from elevated mortgage rates to soaring insurance premiums in a hurricane-prone state.

Existing properties are staying on the market for 70 to 80 days, up from 50 to 55 days a year earlier, according to Cooper, whose real estate business is almost entirely in The Villages.

More than 660 homes were listed for sale recently, according to a recent Homes.com search, but this time last year, there were only about 400, Cooper said. Sellers are also competing against a steady supply of finished new homes from the developer.

"I will say it's a buyer's market in The Villages right now just because of the number of homes for sale," Cooper said in an interview.

Wayne Michelcavage, a tall and lithe beach volleyball player, said the number of activities drew him here years ago. He and his girlfriend live in New Jersey, first renting in The Villages for three months, then four months, and now six. They've decided they want to buy but aren't sure whether that'll happen before they leave for New Jersey at the end of April.

If not, "we will rent again next year and start looking again," he said.

Brad Blackburn and his wife bought a three-bedroom home in December. He's retired from the Department of Agriculture, while his wife still works as a nurse. They bought a used golf cart for $5,600, seeing no need to shell out up to $27,000 for a newer model.

"I drove 3,000 miles in three and a half months last year," said the athletic-looking Blackburn, 68. "They run forever."

Another homeowner, Mike McNeill, started visiting his mother at The Villages in 2008, a year after she moved here. McNeill, a Boston native, went to college in Vermont and told his roommate at the time he'd never live above the Mason-Dixon line ever again. And he kept his word, though he still has the New England accent.

When it was time for him to retire after 31 years as an elementary school teacher and assistant principal in Houston, the lifelong bachelor moved to The Villages. McNeill, 59, said he became a first-time homebuyer in 2019, paying $184,000 for a furnished two-bedroom in the De La Vista West neighborhood.

He works 18 hours a week at one of the golf courses arranging tee times. The perks are good, including half-price golf for employees, and his pay supplements his schoolteacher pension. He likes sitting at the bar at the Lake Sumpter Landing RJ Gator's, eating dinner and playing trivia, calling the barkeeps by their first names.

He echoes some of the same concerns as other residents. Aside from the crowds and deed restrictions, some people wonder about a plan to build homes in the southern portion of The Villages before nearby shops, restaurants and other amenities arrive. That means new residents will have to drive farther north for those things in the meantime and take a leap of faith that they'll eventually get what was promised.

But most of their worries are tempered by what they say is a development that seems to get most things right.

"You can lead a very comfortable life," McNeill said. "If you can't find happiness here, you're a miserable person."