Very few kids in our neighborhood-Thoughts?

Questions on how we spend our money and our time - consumer goods and services, home and vehicle, leisure and recreational activities
Post Reply
Topic Author
davebo
Posts: 1133
Joined: Tue Dec 16, 2008 11:02 pm

Very few kids in our neighborhood-Thoughts?

Post by davebo »

We moved into our home about 3.5 years ago. The general area that we live in is very desirable due to the schools and location to the city and major expressways to get around the area. When we first started looking in the area, we looked at the sections "in town" but the selection was fairly limited. Within our budget of around $500K, you were most likely going to get an older house with limited space, small yard, and high property taxes ($10-$12k/year). We probably looked at around 35 houses and were not able to find anything that worked, so we started moving our search out (same districts, but outside of the downtown areas)

We found a house that worked great...it's big enough, has a huge yard with big mature trees, it's right down the street from the school our kids go to, low property taxes (unincocporated), and the daycare situation is fantastic with the before/afterschool care being housed within a wing of the elementary school.

The one problem is that there are not a lot of kids in the immediate area. I think I start to realize this every Halloween when I hear about the vibrant section of town having hundreds of trick/treaters and it's basically deserted around us. I think part of this is due to the lack of sidewalks and street lights and I assume, like us, any kids usually travel to a different neighborhood to trick/treat.

When we first moved in, I didn't think too much of it because I figured there is no guarantee of a lot of kids (in the immediate area) no matter where you move. And because I didn't really know who lived around there. Now I'm starting to feel guilty as my son is in Kindergarten and probably would like to have some kids to play with in the vicinity. In the area that I grew up, I had a decent amount of kids around me and it had its pluses/minuses. I had the type of childhood where I could always go next door and find my neighbors or down the street to another friends house. The upside of this was obvious, but I do remember kinda feeling "trapped" with the same group of friends when I was kinda getting sick of them.

The area is fantastic in every other way. There are numerous tear-downs in our area and they are starting to work their way over to us because of the large lot size. I think in another 10 years, the area will look a lot different but my kids will be a bit older by then.

I know there could be some turnover with younger families moving in, but they are mostly 50's ranches so people can live in those houses for a long time and not have to deal with stairs!

What is your area like? If it's like this, do you wish you would've moved to a more vibrant area where there are a lot of kids playing around?
User avatar
White Coat Investor
Posts: 17413
Joined: Fri Mar 02, 2007 8:11 pm
Location: Greatest Snow On Earth

Re: Very few kids in our neighborhood-Thoughts?

Post by White Coat Investor »

We celebrate every family with children that moves into the area, but the price of housing means that lower income professionals (psychologists, professors, engineers, nurse practitioners) can only move in when they're about empty nesters and so the only kids belong to high income professionals for the most part. Docs, lawyers, business owners, two income couples etc. The last three move-ins included two physicians who bought and the governor's chief of staff (renting.) Most 30 year olds (those with young kids) just can't afford to buy here on anything near the median salary for the area. It's got its pluses and minuses. The kids that are here are great kids (lots of people left full bowls of candy on the porch this Halloween and not one of them was empty) but there aren't as many of them as I'd like. We do import trick-or-treaters though. Must be the full-size candy bars people are giving out.

Beats my last neighborhood, (where there were shots fired and we had a visit from the FBI) and the one before that (a half mile from the trauma center.) One of the top ten public elementary schools in the state based on the recent tests, very little crime, no graffiti, all great people, and seconds away from serious outdoor recreation. You can't have everything I suppose.
1) Invest you must 2) Time is your friend 3) Impulse is your enemy | 4) Basic arithmetic works 5) Stick to simplicity 6) Stay the course
chaz
Posts: 13604
Joined: Tue Feb 27, 2007 1:44 pm

Re: Very few kids in our neighborhood-Thoughts?

Post by chaz »

Tradeoffs abound.
Chaz | | “Money is better than poverty, if only for financial reasons." Woody Allen | | http://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/index.php/Main_Page
User avatar
celia
Posts: 16774
Joined: Sun Mar 09, 2008 6:32 am
Location: SoCal

Re: Very few kids in our neighborhood-Thoughts?

Post by celia »

EmergDoc wrote:...lots of people left full bowls of candy on the porch this Halloween and not one of them was empty...
...sounds sad, as if kids are trick or treating in deserted neighborhoods. Part of the fun is having people appreciate your costumes.
A dollar in Roth is worth more than a dollar in a taxable account. A dollar in taxable is worth more than a dollar in a tax-deferred account.
2comma
Posts: 1241
Joined: Thu Jul 15, 2010 11:37 pm

Re: Very few kids in our neighborhood-Thoughts?

Post by 2comma »

chaz wrote:Tradeoffs abound.
So true. I love Halloween and have complained annually about how few "trick-or-treaters" we get each year. This year three, most we ever had was a dozen. I have a friend that revels in having his next door neighbors help him with yard work and constant visits but me, I'm more like Mr. Wilson on Dennis The Menace.
If I am stupid I will pay.
User avatar
GerryL
Posts: 3902
Joined: Fri Sep 20, 2013 11:40 pm

Re: Very few kids in our neighborhood-Thoughts?

Post by GerryL »

As a boomer I grew up in a suburb where kids easily outnumbered adults and pets combined. We played in each others' yards and each new addition was a potential babysitting gig for the older kids. I think that is very different from the experiences many families have today. My nephew, who recently graduated from college, never played in any neighbor's yard and was driven to all of his "play dates" (a term I don't think existed when I was a kid).

No kids playing in the yards on my little street. The kids I remember hearing in the yard next door when I was buying my house 24 years ago are all grown and sometimes bring their kids to play with their grandparents. Neighborhood experiences vary over time and geography.
bnes
Posts: 404
Joined: Thu May 22, 2014 12:29 am
Contact:

Re: Very few kids in our neighborhood-Thoughts?

Post by bnes »

I "staged" our house when the neighbouring property went on the block.
We scattered extra kid's toys in the yard, and set up a lemonade stand for each day of open house.
We invited friend's kids to our house, and had them jump as loudly as they wanted on the trampoline.

A sour faced couple came back to inspect. A nice family with young kids however won the house.

--
See the blog http://playborhood.com/ ... perhaps you can make your neighborhood into the type of place families with kids move to.
Mudpuppy
Posts: 7409
Joined: Sat Aug 27, 2011 2:26 am
Location: Sunny California

Re: Very few kids in our neighborhood-Thoughts?

Post by Mudpuppy »

An advantage is that you are close to the school. When I was in elementary school, my closest friends did not live on my block, but they did all live within a few blocks of the school. It made very little difference to my parents if they had to pick me up from school or from my friend's house a few blocks over.

I would assume the key here is meeting the other parents of kids in your son's class and arranging "play dates" after school at your house.
User avatar
Padlin
Posts: 988
Joined: Thu Mar 01, 2007 6:46 pm
Location: MA

Re: Very few kids in our neighborhood-Thoughts?

Post by Padlin »

Sounds like a similar area. When we moved in it was a newish country neighborhood with smaller homes, hence it was mostly young couples just starting off with small kids.

Fast forward 35 years.
All the kids are grown up and gone leaving parents just reaching retirement age. Houses have grown in size due to additions but young couples don't want the small ranches anymore so it's still desirable. As folks retire they are moving to more lively area in the city or heading to warmer climes, those are slowly being replaced with younger couples. I have heard from one family that they wished they had noticed the lack of kids, they are currently looking to move again for that reason. I think out of maybe 30 homes in the area, maybe a half dozen have little kids.

From watching the town grow, it seems most young couples head for new growth areas, they prefer the bigger 4 bedroom 4 bath homes. Don't seem to mind that it's farther to school, they all drive their kids anyway.
Regards | Bob
lululu
Posts: 1378
Joined: Thu Apr 10, 2014 4:23 pm

Re: Very few kids in our neighborhood-Thoughts?

Post by lululu »

GerryL wrote:As a boomer I grew up in a suburb where kids easily outnumbered adults and pets combined. We played in each others' yards and each new addition was a potential babysitting gig for the older kids. I think that is very different from the experiences many families have today. My nephew, who recently graduated from college, never played in any neighbor's yard and was driven to all of his "play dates" (a term I don't think existed when I was a kid).
Same here. I don't know where the kids are. Another downside of this is no one to hire to do chores, which used to make me and the other family kids tidy sums and made life easier for older people.
livesoft
Posts: 86077
Joined: Thu Mar 01, 2007 7:00 pm

Re: Very few kids in our neighborhood-Thoughts?

Post by livesoft »

We live halfway between two elementary schools within walking distance of both. I generally walk by 4 schools every day when walking the dog. I know all the neighborhood kids and their parents from these walks and also from living here 20 years. Yesterday, I saw many people while I was out walking 8 miles (great weather yesterday). I also saw a newborn out for its first carriage ride and I spoke to my almost 90-year-old neighbor at the mailboxes. Since people see me all the time, they stop me and chat. My dog is a well-behaved chick magnet, too, which helps a lot.

When looking for a home, my spouse wanted to see kids playing on the cul-de-sacs that we were looking at. Now 20 years later, our kids are grown. People move away, but new families move in because of the schools, so lots of kids are still around.

Halloween is great because the adults set up clusters of outdoor treat stands for the parents which include beer, wine, barbecue, and chili. Presumably the kids still get candy.

It's also fun to see the teenagers and young college students and graduates come back and visit. It is even more fun to send my college-age kids to the neighbors so that they can eat them out of house and home instead of costing me money.

I think the bottom line if you want kids around is to live near good elementary schools.
Wiki This signature message sponsored by sscritic: Learn to fish.
tim1999
Posts: 4205
Joined: Tue Dec 16, 2008 6:16 am

Re: Very few kids in our neighborhood-Thoughts?

Post by tim1999 »

My market is a little different. Housing generally gets older, less expensive, and the schools are worse the further you get into the city.

I am in my early 30s and can tell you that very few people my age here are buying/can afford large homes in the suburbs - the areas that were typically dominated by families with kids in the past. 2,500+ square foot houses on half acre + lots in developments with the resulting tax bills and maintenance costs/time requirements are not appealing to this crowd or are out of reach. Whereas, years ago, I grew up in such a neighborhood and almost every house had young kids. I also think that anecdotally, independent of published statistics, the birthrate among the 25-35 year old professional crowd here has declined considerably.

In my area, most people my age are buying either new/newish cookie cutter townhouses in the suburbs. There is one development where I would not be surprised if it consists of at least 70% people aged 23-35 (friend of mine was the builder's sales agent). They are also buying old, smaller homes for cheap in the more desirable areas of the city and fixing them up.
User avatar
bottlecap
Posts: 6906
Joined: Tue Mar 06, 2007 10:21 pm
Location: Tennessee

Re: Very few kids in our neighborhood-Thoughts?

Post by bottlecap »

The reality is that kids either don't play much outside anymore or they don't have time to. Moving because of a lack of kids alone in the neighborhood would not likely be worth it.

Our street has lots of kids and, with the exception of a couple of days a month, the street is a ghost town. The kids are either inside (presumably doing copious amounts of homework after school - according to my neighbors), at day care/school, at after school activities or sports, or are on vacation break with their family somewhere. I would imagine that older kids not involved in sports or music are probably doing community service somewhere so that they can get into the college of their choice. There's just not much time for neighborhood friends like there used to be.

Our 3 year old has a friend that was born one week apart down the street and about 95% of the time we walk down there to see if she can play, it turns out she's not there - usually because the whole family is at sporting event/recital of either her older brother or older sister.

Unfortunately, scheduled "play dates" are the only surefire way to give your kids play time with other children. Don't move just yet. Ask friends or coworkers who might be in family neighborhoods how things go there before taking the plunge.

JT
Call_Me_Op
Posts: 9881
Joined: Mon Sep 07, 2009 2:57 pm
Location: Milky Way

Re: Very few kids in our neighborhood-Thoughts?

Post by Call_Me_Op »

You should move to my neighborhood. So many kids come by at Halloween, I cannot keep up with them. There are waves and waves - literally hundreds.
Best regards, -Op | | "In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity." Einstein
Philliefan33
Posts: 8
Joined: Mon Oct 20, 2014 3:37 pm

Re: Very few kids in our neighborhood-Thoughts?

Post by Philliefan33 »

When we moved into our newly-built subdivision 20+ years ago, there were kids galore. As preschoolers / young elementary students, my daughters spent their “playtime” in one of the yards with a lot of neighbors.

However as they got older (somewhere around 5th grade) there was hardly any time spent with the neighbors, as the kids stared becoming involved in different activities. Some played soccer, some danced, some were in after-school care, etc. There was less time for “hanging out”, and there were new friends from school, teammates, etc. While my girls remain cordial acquaintances with the neighbors, there is only one that is considered a friend (and she isn’t a neighbor that my girls played with when they were young – they met as teammates in middle school).

So even if you move to a neighborhood with a lot of kids, there is no guarantee that the kids will all be buddies that pal around for their entire childhood. But if you stay in your current neighborhood, it sounds like your kids will have a monopoly on doing the yard work for the older neighbors and babysitting for the younger kids as the neighborhood turns over.
mw1739
Posts: 1147
Joined: Mon Mar 21, 2011 5:44 pm

Re: Very few kids in our neighborhood-Thoughts?

Post by mw1739 »

EmergDoc wrote:We celebrate every family with children that moves into the area, but the price of housing means that lower income professionals (psychologists, professors, engineers, nurse practitioners) can only move in when they're about empty nesters and so the only kids belong to high income professionals for the most part. Docs, lawyers, business owners, two income couples etc. The last three move-ins included two physicians who bought and the governor's chief of staff (renting.) Most 30 year olds (those with young kids) just can't afford to buy here on anything near the median salary for the area. It's got its pluses and minuses. The kids that are here are great kids (lots of people left full bowls of candy on the porch this Halloween and not one of them was empty) but there aren't as many of them as I'd like. We do import trick-or-treaters though. Must be the full-size candy bars people are giving out.
This describes my situation almost perfectly. My wife and I are the youngest in our neighborhood by 10 years or so, but it's exactly where we want to live, and I don't feel bad that our income and NW allowed us to purchase in such a nice area. I wish my kids had more kids their age around, but they generally enjoy playing with kids a few years older as well.
maroon
Posts: 453
Joined: Tue Sep 08, 2009 11:59 pm

Re: Very few kids in our neighborhood-Thoughts?

Post by maroon »

This is a really interesting thread. When I was a kid, I explored/played out on the street with the other neighborhood kids.

Now, in my neighborhood of starter homes, I see the little kids playing outside. The high school kids I only see in the mornings as they're waiting for the bus. No one's driving them to school!

I have a relative who lives in a far more upscale neighborhood. I've literally never seen kids playing on his street. Never. My relative's kids are (over)scheduled with baseball practice, T-ball practice, soccer practice, piano lessons, gymnastics, school plays, etc. I suspect the other kids in their neighborhood have the same sort of scheduling issues. (Also, kids are bussed into their neighborhood for Halloween.)
flyingaway
Posts: 3908
Joined: Fri Jan 17, 2014 9:19 am

Re: Very few kids in our neighborhood-Thoughts?

Post by flyingaway »

These days, big kids stay inside home to play computer games. On the other hand, our court got so many small kids recently I had to get an umbrella insurance two months ago. (A family with 4 small kids just moved in).
Topic Author
davebo
Posts: 1133
Joined: Tue Dec 16, 2008 11:02 pm

Re: Very few kids in our neighborhood-Thoughts?

Post by davebo »

Philliefan33 wrote:When we moved into our newly-built subdivision 20+ years ago, there were kids galore. As preschoolers / young elementary students, my daughters spent their “playtime” in one of the yards with a lot of neighbors.

However as they got older (somewhere around 5th grade) there was hardly any time spent with the neighbors, as the kids stared becoming involved in different activities. Some played soccer, some danced, some were in after-school care, etc. There was less time for “hanging out”, and there were new friends from school, teammates, etc. While my girls remain cordial acquaintances with the neighbors, there is only one that is considered a friend (and she isn’t a neighbor that my girls played with when they were young – they met as teammates in middle school).

So even if you move to a neighborhood with a lot of kids, there is no guarantee that the kids will all be buddies that pal around for their entire childhood. But if you stay in your current neighborhood, it sounds like your kids will have a monopoly on doing the yard work for the older neighbors and babysitting for the younger kids as the neighborhood turns over.

Yeah, that’s how my childhood was too. Realistically, there were only 3 houses with kids that I played with and a bunch with kids either 1-3 years older or younger. For as many benefits to having a lot of kids, I remembered distinctly (by the time I was in 4th grade or so) really disliking having friends as neighbors. I found that I could never just be outside or have other kids over to my house without having to invite the next door neighbor over. I guess, realistically, there are kids in the area but we just haven’t made the required effort to get the ball rolling.

One of the interesting things is that we really don’t see anyone outside. My kids are outside all the time in the summer time (both front/back yard) and we always walk to the school and play at the park and on the fields. We ride our bike around the entire neighborhood and there are rarely people outside.

I think my specific area is kinda “stuck” in some sense because there is a lower perceived value here vs. neighboring incorporated towns. This has been kinda interesting to me because I wondered why people would pay a premium to live in the incorporated towns (and 60% higher property taxes) when they are literally just a block away and have the exact same school district. The houses in my area are probably too expensive to knock down ($250K for a dump) without being within the city limits of the pish-posh incorporated town. We have one street that has a lot of large tear-downs, but I think it’s not spreading to the rest of the area because people don’t want to build 2-story big houses next to ranches.
sdrone
Posts: 108
Joined: Wed Jun 10, 2009 11:17 pm

Re: Very few kids in our neighborhood-Thoughts?

Post by sdrone »

Same thing happened to us. We moved into the perfect neighborhood - great schools, close to both elementary and high school, close to expressways, close to restaurants, not a lot of traffic on the street, etc.

The neighborhood/subdivision/houses are between 40 and 45 years old. We found that most people in the neighborhood were a bit older than us and their kids were already grown or moved out.

There are several things to keep in mind.

1. Kindergarten kids don't socialize like kids who are in school all day. They don't have a lunch period, recesses, etc. So while they have "friends" the friends are different. They don't know where anyone lives.
2. We walk to school each day, but most people don't, even if they live close. So you don't "run into" other parents
3. Once a kid moves into all day school (1st grade) several things happen
3a. Kids socialize. Their social groups get much bigger, and they learn more about other kids - where they live, etc.
3b. There are more activities (girl scouts, boy scouts, for instance) that enable kids to broaden their social groups
3c. As kids get involved in more things, parents get involved in more things, which means you'll find out who lives nearby.

TL/DR: We thought we might be in the same boat (though we didn't consider it a problem). As our kids moved into 1st grade and beyond we've discovered kids that live in the area as there is a lot more interaction between both kids and parents.
lululu
Posts: 1378
Joined: Thu Apr 10, 2014 4:23 pm

Re: Very few kids in our neighborhood-Thoughts?

Post by lululu »

Cherokee8215 wrote: I am in my early 30s and can tell you that very few people my age here are buying/can afford large homes in the suburbs - the areas that were typically dominated by families with kids in the past. 2,500+ square foot houses on half acre + lots in developments with the resulting tax bills and maintenance costs/time requirements are not appealing to this crowd or are out of reach. Whereas, years ago, I grew up in such a neighborhood and almost every house had young kids.
I'm a few decades older than you, and "in my day" :) middle class families with kids lived in 1000 to 1500 sq ft houses. No one would have considered a 2,500 square foot house as being in their financial ballpark or necessary.
leonard
Posts: 5993
Joined: Wed Feb 21, 2007 10:56 am

Re: Very few kids in our neighborhood-Thoughts?

Post by leonard »

Your son will get to choose friends based on something other than convenience and proximity. How is that bad?
Leonard | | Market Timing: Do you seriously think you can predict the future? What else do the voices tell you? | | If employees weren't taking jobs with bad 401k's, bad 401k's wouldn't exist.
User avatar
dbCooperAir
Posts: 1107
Joined: Tue Jan 07, 2014 9:13 pm

Re: Very few kids in our neighborhood-Thoughts?

Post by dbCooperAir »

No worries, we live in a older rural area. That means most of the kids were older and moved out when we had our kids, then toss in the rural part and that means even less kids. You just end up picking up and dropping off more (playing taxi service). I also grew up an area with lots of kids playing outside so I understand that part of it. Our kids are now teenagers and it worked out great, there are some advantages that you may see latter.
Neither a wise man nor a brave man lies down on the tracks of history to wait for the train of the future to run over him. | -Dwight D. Eisenhower-
anonforthis
Posts: 414
Joined: Sat Oct 19, 2013 1:45 pm

Re: Very few kids in our neighborhood-Thoughts?

Post by anonforthis »

We have no kids in our neighborhood except our kids (not as we know of anyway). Most people here are over 50. We live here almost 10 years and not even 1 kid knock on our door on Halloween. There was 1 break in 1955 and it was teenagers from other neighborhood. We have always leave our car key in the car and garage door opens and never have any problem. I think more kids street is just more trouble but that's my opinion.
bungalow10
Posts: 2311
Joined: Sat Apr 09, 2011 6:28 am
Location: Chicago North Shore

Re: Very few kids in our neighborhood-Thoughts?

Post by bungalow10 »

I live in an older neighborhood 1/2 mile from the elementary school. I walk my son there every day. Most of his friends live in the new subdivisions that are a few miles away and are driven to school. It's kind of a shame, because the older neighborhoods are more kid-friendly. More places to ride bikes, more parks, easier access to schools, after school activities, library, etc.
An elephant for a dime is only a good deal if you need an elephant and have a dime.
gloomydog
Posts: 136
Joined: Sun Nov 18, 2012 8:05 pm

Re: Very few kids in our neighborhood-Thoughts?

Post by gloomydog »

I know there are kids in at least 2 houses in my neighbourhood of 16.

In early summer they sometimes play around the estate, and there are no cranky Mr Wilsons to yell at them. But they really don't play outside that much even though they appear to be happy, well adjusted kids. They go to a lot of enrichment classes, as far as I can tell. I don't think they have time. This Halloween there were 0 rings. ;) More candy for us!

The kids all go to the same school and despite all being of different ages, play together happily on the rare occasions I see them.

One thing I have noticed is divorce rate appear to be very high. One set of kids alternate between living here and at their dad's place elsewhere. I would bet there are a lot of kids in the same situation, so whatever chances they have of playing outside is maybe halved or less.
User avatar
White Coat Investor
Posts: 17413
Joined: Fri Mar 02, 2007 8:11 pm
Location: Greatest Snow On Earth

Re: Very few kids in our neighborhood-Thoughts?

Post by White Coat Investor »

celia wrote:
EmergDoc wrote:...lots of people left full bowls of candy on the porch this Halloween and not one of them was empty...
...sounds sad, as if kids are trick or treating in deserted neighborhoods. Part of the fun is having people appreciate your costumes.
You can't walk around with the kids AND man the candy bowl. Sometimes you've got to let it sit a bit.

There are downsides to having kids around too. My 5 year old got caught doorbell ditching the next door neighbor the other day. He tried pretending he was asleep by snoring behind the hedge after he got caught. The empty-nesters thought it was hilarious, thankfully.
1) Invest you must 2) Time is your friend 3) Impulse is your enemy | 4) Basic arithmetic works 5) Stick to simplicity 6) Stay the course
Topic Author
davebo
Posts: 1133
Joined: Tue Dec 16, 2008 11:02 pm

Re: Very few kids in our neighborhood-Thoughts?

Post by davebo »

sdrone wrote:Same thing happened to us. We moved into the perfect neighborhood - great schools, close to both elementary and high school, close to expressways, close to restaurants, not a lot of traffic on the street, etc.

The neighborhood/subdivision/houses are between 40 and 45 years old. We found that most people in the neighborhood were a bit older than us and their kids were already grown or moved out.

There are several things to keep in mind.

1. Kindergarten kids don't socialize like kids who are in school all day. They don't have a lunch period, recesses, etc. So while they have "friends" the friends are different. They don't know where anyone lives.
2. We walk to school each day, but most people don't, even if they live close. So you don't "run into" other parents
3. Once a kid moves into all day school (1st grade) several things happen
3a. Kids socialize. Their social groups get much bigger, and they learn more about other kids - where they live, etc.
3b. There are more activities (girl scouts, boy scouts, for instance) that enable kids to broaden their social groups
3c. As kids get involved in more things, parents get involved in more things, which means you'll find out who lives nearby.

TL/DR: We thought we might be in the same boat (though we didn't consider it a problem). As our kids moved into 1st grade and beyond we've discovered kids that live in the area as there is a lot more interaction between both kids and parents.
I didn't view it as a bad thing either, but I think a chain of events got me thinking. At first, I really liked the idea of the area not swarming with kids because my kids would be able to choose who they wanted to hang out with as opposed to being stuck with the neighborhood friends. That probably sounds kinda bad, but I got to the point growing up where I didn't really want to play with the kids in my neighborhood everytime I went outside. I remembered just wanting to shoot baskets on my own and then having other people come over and join me.

I think it will probably end up being not as big of a deal as I'm thinking now. My son is in school from 8 - 4 right now and gets plenty of interaction there. It's more the weekends where there is downtime where I realize he probably would like having someone he could play around with.
TRC
Posts: 1969
Joined: Sat Dec 20, 2008 4:38 pm

Re: Very few kids in our neighborhood-Thoughts?

Post by TRC »

Seems like you're options are to:

1) Bring your kids to where the other kids are. When he gets older, he can probably ride his bike?
2) Bring the kids to your house/yard. Again, when they get older, bikes are an option
3) If it really bugs you, you can always move. But that seems drastic.

We moved into a new neighborhood for similar reasons....mainly for saftey (no traffic) and to get into a real neighborhood. Our hood is "transitioning" and younger families are starting to move in. That being said, our kids really only have 1 girl to play with that's right next door, but they have a ball. There's a few other kids several houess down, but they are never outside and decline play dates. I'm optimisitic that more families will be moving in.

FWIW - When I was a kid I had a TON of kids in my neighborhood, but all were either 3+ years older or 3+ years younger. I played with them, but when I was old enough, I rode my bike to my core group of friends 5+ miles away.
rec7
Posts: 2369
Joined: Tue Oct 28, 2008 7:22 pm

Re: Very few kids in our neighborhood-Thoughts?

Post by rec7 »

No kids in our neighborhood when we moved in but 25 years later I know where 7 live. Neighborhoods do this as they age. We moved into a neighborhood that was 28 years old at the time.
Post Reply