The Villages, a fast-growing active retirement haven in central Florida north of Orlando, is one of Forbes' Best Places To Retire In 2025.

Ken and Kathy Granacki are doing retirement their way. In their early 50s they decided to leave Bend, Oregon. For years, they had lived and worked on a 10-acre spread there, operating a dog kennel and grooming facility. They sold the property at Bend’s sky-high prices and moved (along with their three white Samoyed show dogs, Howdy, Gator and Rumor) to a boat, a spacious 64-foot-long Grand Banks trawler. Then, they began slowly working their way up and down the East Coast, asking themselves whether a port-of-call or someplace near it might be the ideal place to retire.

Last year, after three years at sea, they settled on The Villages, a fast-growing active retirement haven in central Florida north of Orlando, midway between the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico (or as the Trump Administration calls it, the Gulf of America). “We decided to sell the boat and go back to land,” says Ken. Their new home is a three-bedroom, three-bath, one-story house with 3,500 square feet—more living space than the boat, and for that matter, the facility they left behind in Oregon. Also left behind: the Beaver State’s colder weather and stiff personal income tax. (Florida doesn’t have an income tax.) “Here, every week is six Saturdays and a Sunday,” exults Ken, now 57, a year older than his wife.

Samoyeds (from front) Rumor, Gator and Howdy accompanied Ken and Kathy Granacki on their nautical search for their best retirement place.

The Granackis’ water-based search produced a solid result. The Villages, with a population of 155,000, is the only Florida community to win a spot on Forbes’ new list of

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