THE VILLAGES, Fla. -- The roads that lead to Florida's fastest-growing retirement community are smooth, level, straight and easy for the residents' golf carts to navigate.

And the Republican candidates for president know them well.

"If you are a wise Republican politician, you manage to come to The Villages whenever you can," said resident Rich Cole, president of The Villages Republican Club of Sumter County, the largest GOP group in the state. "Our people are very concerned, very well-informed. And they're very fiscally conservative."

Nearly all of the Republican aspirants have stopped by at one time or another in anticipation of Tuesday's pivotal Florida primary. Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich will be speaking here today, and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney has a rally set for Monday evening.

Last week former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum visited, and before that -- back in the fall, before dropping out of the race -- Texas Gov. Rick Perry and businessman Herman Cain came through.

Time spent in The Villages is time well-spent for Republican candidates.

Carved out of 25,000 acres of cattle country in north central Florida, The Villages was established in the late 1970s for retirees who sought a clean and convenient community designed with them in mind. Residents, who must be at least 55 years old to own property, live along gated streets and have access -- via their golf carts -- to churches, theaters, restaurants and activities. People under the age of 18 can visit, but they can't live here.

A magnet for older people eager to escape the cold of the North, the population has boomed to nearly 90,000, still averaging 300 home purchases a month, many of them new homes.

A lot of the newcomers still call Pittsburgh home.

"We have two Pittsburgh clubs here," said Peggy Hannan, a supervisor of hosts in the lobby of the welcome center. She retired here from Glenshaw 12 years ago with her husband, David.

"They started the second Pittsburgh club after the first one got about 700 members, and the second one has 500. We have activities and golf leagues and go to spring training baseball games. We even have Pittsburgh trivia nights with so many people that we have to break it down into where you lived -- the north, south, east or west."

The Villages is sprawled into three Florida counties, but most of it is in Sumter County. It is represented by two U.S. House districts, both of which are decidedly Republican. There are nearly 40 golf courses -- though most of them have only nine holes -- and The Villages has its own newspaper, its own magazine and its own radio and television stations.