On each page of this website, click on the tabs at the top to learn more. We are America's Premier Retirement Community We know this because we visited everywhere else ... and then settled here. _______________________________      Sun City Center is an all-volunteer community.  We are not incorporated, but then nearly all the "business districts" of Hillsborough County aren't incorporated either.* (Don't worry, it works just fine!)      Our homes are our own just like "up north".  Many parts of Sun City Center have formed Home Owner Associations, and we even have a couple of condo associations covering a few housing units, but there are many homes that are not part of a Home-Owner Association.      We're all members of the Community Association (CA)  The CA manages the recreational facilities in town.  There are three "campuses", Central, South and West.       The West campus is a recent gift of the community's developer, WCI.  We have a wooded area, garden plots, and parking for recreational vehicles (with a waiting list, I'm afraid).       The South Campus is home to our two Dog Parks (one for big dogs, the other for little dogs), a softball field, 10 har-tru tennis courts, horseshoe, volleyball and Pickle Ball courts, and our main Community Hall with assigned spaces for our MacIntosh Computer lab, the Minibus scheduling office and rooms for table tennis, dancing and for meetings for as many as 800 people.      The Central Campus contains the main CA business office, our remarkable library, the office for our all-volunteer Security Patrol, lawn-bowling courts, swimming pools, and buildings for the wide variety of arts, crafts and hobby interests that you will see by flipping through the pages of this website.      Back in 1961 when plans were first announced for a retirement community run by old volunteers, the most common reaction was "I don't get it.  Who's really going to run that city?"  The answer is that we do very well by ourselves, thank you, and with the wealth of talent that a retirement community draws, you can be sure you will be mixing with professionals from every walk of life.           * In this county with 1,200,000 residents, only the cities of Tampa, Temple Terrace and Plant City are incorporated; about 2/3 of the population lives in unincorporated communities.  The Sun City Center population in 2009 is 11,000.      Sun City Center is an age-restricted community about 20 miles south of Tampa.  That puts us 10 minutes from beaches on Tampa Bay, and less than an hour from the "Best U.S. Beach in 2005" on the Gulf of Mexico.        Making friends is as easy as joining an activity that interests you, and you'll find yourself embraced by your new community.      Some of the things people find most surprising here:  We have no local government.  There is no Mayor  -- if we need government, we go to our commissioners of Hillsborough County at the SouthShore Center about 3 miles from Sun City Center.      We do have a Community Association (CA) that oversees all of our recreational facilities, our meeting and club rooms, and you can 'visit' them on the pages of this website.  Our CA dues starting in 2010 will be $256 per person per year.  If you live in Sun City Center, you must join the CA.      And many houses are in "Property Owner Associations" that help keep the neat appearance of our streets intact.  Some are managed by a professional organization, others rely on fellow residents to keep tabs on things.  The annual cost per household varies too -- in fact, there are over 100 such "POAs" in town so it isn't possible to characterize them here.      Another surprise is the use of golf carts (oops, they are now being called "golf cars") on all our streets.  By special action, the county and state allow our residents to drive unregistered golf cars on the streets and the drivers need not have any operator's license.  It's a big help to those who really shouldn't be driving a big car around anymore because they can attend all the club and social functions, do their shopping, visit friends in the hospital ... even play golf!      Most importantly is that Sun City Center works on volunteerism. None of our CA Board members is paid and all of the clubs and organizations are run by volunteers.  Even this website is run by one of the residents who manages and pays for the site.  (That's me!  And I love doing it.)  But you will find all sorts of ways to volunteer your time and talents in worthwhile endeavors here -- many in ways that are paid positions in other towns.  We've found that volunteers do a better job often than folks who "have to be at work" to get the job done. If you like what you see here, we'll be glad to send you more information about Sun City Center. Write to: jbowker@tampabay.rr.com                                                   John Bowker, Hospitality Chairman