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That's a matter of preference for the parents, and obviously some parks are okay and others not so much, but many inner-city neighborhoods are tight knit communities where the people know each other and look out for the children of the neighborhood. The business owners on the block act as "eyes on the street" as do other adults or older kids in the area. Check out Jane Jacobs's writing on sidewalks and parks as places of community, or some of William Whyte's research on city parks and why some of them work and some don't. It's interesting stuff, and may debunk some of the myths surrounding urban public space and the issue of safety.
You did not answer the question.
In Colorado, there is no specific legal age, but most judges use 10 as an age when kids may be left alone unsupervised.
In Colorado, there is no specific legal age, but most judges use 10 as an age when kids may be left alone unsupervised.
Actually my answer was that the specific age of a child being able to hang out in a park without his/her parents would have to depend on the park itself as well as the parents' preference (thus making it impossible to decide one age for every child), but I agree that 10 is a suitable age.
When I was a kid, my older sister and I use to have to spend a lot of time at my mother's job and we would play in a park nearby without supervision all the time. It was a small neighborhood park, and more often than not it would just be my sister and me. I can remember doing that as young as 6 or 7 with my sister being 9 or 10. This was in a poor, "questionable" area of Norfolk, but that park was safe (and still is), and we never had any problems. That was my point by referencing the studies done by Jacobs and Whyte that just because it's a park in the city doesn't mean it's dangerous, even if the area surrounding it is (as in my case).
I never had a problem with the small square footage of my urban apartments. In fact, when I bought my suburban home, I felt it was too big. Now I'm building a cabin in the woods that's not even 800 sq ft.
No, my problem with urban living was never the limited space inside the domicile, it was the limited space outside the domicile. It's just too darned crowded in the city for my tastes.
Actually my answer was that the specific age of a child being able to hang out in a park without his/her parents would have to depend on the park itself as well as the parents' preference (thus making it impossible to decide one age for every child), but I agree that 10 is a suitable age.
When I was a kid, my older sister and I use to have to spend a lot of time at my mother's job and we would play in a park nearby without supervision all the time. It was a small neighborhood park, and more often than not it would just be my sister and me. I can remember doing that as young as 6 or 7 with my sister being 9 or 10. This was in a poor, "questionable" area of Norfolk, but that park was safe (and still is), and we never had any problems. That was my point by referencing the studies done by Jacobs and Whyte that just because it's a park in the city doesn't mean it's dangerous, even if the area surrounding it is (as in my case).
A 9 year old supervising a 6 year old is probably OK; however, if something had happened your mom might have received a citation. Certainly, you can't leave a 5 year old in charge of a 2 year old blocks from home, "safe" neighborhood or not. I said nothing about the danger of the park itself due to its location. It's just not a good idea to leave small children usupervised, anywhere. They don't always understand about crossing streets, what to do if someone gets hurt, etc.
What age do you consider appropriate to send kids to a park blocks away?
I'm not sure. I wasn't allowed to do it until elementary school, around 6 years old. And my sisters would be allowed to go with me, so eventually it was a gaggle for four kids between 3 and 8 trouncing through the woods. It seems to be the same in the neighborhood I live in now, except it's more urban.
The only episode of Wife Swap I saw cracked me up. Some woman from some suburb of Boise swapped with a mother from Ohio. When the suburban lady from Boise found out that the mother in Ohio let her kid walk to school by himself she thought it was the most horrendous thing ever. Definitely a geographical difference, because they do that around here all the time.
My brother and I walked school from kindergarten through 6th grade, then were bused. I feel that's fairly safe b/c the school would notify the parent if the kid didn't show up, and all kids were walking at the same time though not necessariy together. I'm more concerned about kids going to a park and staying there alone w/o adult supervision. My kids were 10 and 7 when I let them do that.
What is a city exactly or how are we defining that? NYC? I live Uptown New Orleans...and houses here are close together, yards are small..but it is a sidewalked traditional 19th century suburb...and much different than say, living in the French Quarter or the Central Business District but its far nicer and more community oriented than late 20th century suburban America.
The last apartment I lived in was a 3 BR, 2 BA, 2500 sq ft downtown loft with 14' ceilings in a two-story brick 1904 warehouse building. There were 22 original 4'x8' windows with original unfinished pine floors. There were 4 of us living there, and it was way more space than we needed. As great as it was to show off the space to guests, the utilities were ridiculous. Granted, the rent was cheap by most downtown standards - $1200/month for 2500 sq ft - but our average utility bill was $400-500/month. This was mostly due to the landlord's lack of maintenance and attention to equipment - our A/C unit was too small for the space, so it ran constantly during the hot days of summer. As much as I disliked the landlord and the high utility bills, I loved the apartment's location and view of Downtown Jackson's skyline.
We wanted to purchase rather than rent, and there are no properties downtown for purchase, so we now live 3.5 miles north of Downtown in an eclectic historic area of the city - historic in Mississippi is early 1900's, since a lot of our truly historic buildings were burned during the Civil War. Our 1938 starter house is 1500+ square feet with 2 bedrooms, 1.5 bath, formal dining room, small/medium kitchen, an office and a sun room. The lot is between 1/4 and 1/3 acre, and the neighborhood environment is great - the old growth trees and grid-like layout encourages outdoor activity. We don't have sidewalks, yet you can see residents walking at all hours of the day.
We could have bought a house in the suburbs for a similar price and size, but we just didn't see the point. We never have to battle with the rush hour traffic - I work downtown and use only city streets, and my wife actually teaches at a school in a suburb, but all the traffic is coming into the city in the morning and leaving the city in the evening, so it doesn't affect her drive. We live close to a lot of great restaurants and shopping areas, which is convenient on weekday evenings and weekends. There is always something going on not far from the house, so we can be spontaneous with our plans more so than if we lived in the suburbs. I can walk or drive to the local grocery, pick up some ingredients for dinner, and be home within 15 minutes - and it's not Wal-Mart, in fact the closest Wal-Mart is 15 miles from our house (not everyone in the South shops at Wal-Mart).
Also, living in an older home (that has been well maintained and updated) has more appeal to us, with the original hardwood floors throughout, the attention to detail, the built-in corner cabinets in dining room, the 9' ceilings with picture rails in every room, etc. We don't have a 2-car garage, but we do have a 75+ year old oak tree and 2 large pecan trees that provide shade (less need for cooling = lower electric bills) and delicious nuts throughout the year. We also have mail slots instead of mailboxes, which is not common in the Jackson metro area. I know every persons' name on my street, albeit there are only 8 houses on my street, and we don't have a homeowner's association with a list of everyones' name on my fridge. I feed my neighbor's dogs when he and his family are gone on vacation, and vice versa. I helped another neighbor fix a broken pipe that had frozen last winter. It's just a great environment to live in.
We will never need more than 3 bedrooms, and I can't see us ever needing more than 2,000 sq ft. I would rather have some work space out back where I can do wood and metal work than have a "man cave" or "scrap booking room." To each his/her own though...
What is a city exactly or how are we defining that? NYC? I live Uptown New Orleans...and houses here are close together, yards are small..but it is a sidewalked traditional 19th century suburb...and much different than say, living in the French Quarter or the Central Business District but its far nicer and more community oriented than late 20th century suburban America.
That is a great question, as I live in Jackson - which is the largest city in Mississippi, but many would not consider a population of 175,000 a large city.
If I did not live in Jackson, New Orleans would be my home. I can sleep well at night knowing I'm just a few hours away... for now.
What is a city exactly or how are we defining that? NYC? I live Uptown New Orleans...and houses here are close together, yards are small..but it is a sidewalked traditional 19th century suburb...and much different than say, living in the French Quarter or the Central Business District but its far nicer and more community oriented than late 20th century suburban America.
Good point. I think most people on these forums would consider streetcar suburbs "the city." I live in one myself (Jamaica Plain, Boston). While we have single family homes, they are like you said; more community oriented. The homes are still organized in blocks and homes are still oriented toward the street. The streets are not dead ends or cul-de-sacs but generally connect to other streets. We have a neighborhood center with many shops and restaurants (all in a dense, walkable setup).
I guess the definition could vary. For me, a city is at least a semi-dense (not necessarily wall to wall, but close to it) area that is generally walkable and generally transit friendly. You should be able to walk to some sort of shopping or dining. I think most importantly, homes and businesses should be oriented to the street and most should be designed for pedestrian access and not cars (it's hard to find anywhere anymore entirely like this which is why I use the word, "most"). By my personal definition (not scientific by any means), a streetcar suburb is urban (they are, by nature and name, transit-oriented and moderately dense). When I say "surburb" it's generally in reference to the post WWII suburbs which are auto-oriented and homes are often on dead-end streets designed to ignore the streets rather than oriented toward them.
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