4 ms·

The great outdoors is now a 4 foot strip of grass between your outer wall and the sidewalk or your neighbor's house, and the suburbs go on forever. The outdoors

The great outdoors is now a 4 foot strip of grass between your outer wall and the sidewalk or your neighbor's house, and the suburbs go on forever. The outdoors isn't as accessible as it seems for a lot of people. Doesn't apply in my area, but it's easy for me to understand.

zachthewf 7y ago
I dunno, I don't buy this explanation when I think about my anecdotal experience. As a kid I recall it was pretty easy to find fun games to play in yards or in suburban streets. All we needed was other kids. I suspect that this change is more cultural than environmental.
- PostOnce 7y ago
  You might be surprised by how many places have no yard anymore -- a huge number of subdivision houses don't have a yard big enough to throw a ball across. It's not like it was 20, 30, or 40 years ago. Where there was one house, now there are 8 or more. Let's not even get started with the HOA rules, good luck playing in the dirt, digging holes, playing with toys and building forts and stuff. HOA lawn codes and such.
dx87 7y ago
I don't think I've ever seen anywhere like that. I live in the suburbs near Baltimore, and even the lower income and Section 8 neighborhoods at least have a playground for kids, most have basketball/tennis courts as well, or some big open field that anyone can use. Everywhere I've visited while traveling has been like that as well. The outdoors is especially accessible if you have a car, there are federal and state owned parks all over the place.
oh_sigh 7y ago
Suburbs frequently have parks, fields, courts or trails embedded throughout them.
Barrin92 7y ago
>The outdoors isn't as accessible should be noted that this foundation (which seems to have quite a big interest in promoting the 'outdoors industry') seems to define the term as "uninhabited nature" going by their listed activities. Plenty of people are still socially active outside. I'm not sure why running in the city park, taking long walks or playing basketball on the court is supposed to be less valuable than hiking.
- RivieraKid 7y ago
  This is probably subjective but for me, walking or running in nature is a substantially better experience than doing that in a city park.

zachthewf 7y ago

I dunno, I don't buy this explanation when I think about my anecdotal experience. As a kid I recall it was pretty easy to find fun games to play in yards or in suburban streets. All we needed was other kids. I suspect that this change is more cultural than environmental.

PostOnce 7y ago
You might be surprised by how many places have no yard anymore -- a huge number of subdivision houses don't have a yard big enough to throw a ball across. It's not like it was 20, 30, or 40 years ago. Where there was one house, now there are 8 or more. Let's not even get started with the HOA rules, good luck playing in the dirt, digging holes, playing with toys and building forts and stuff. HOA lawn codes and such.

dx87 7y ago

I don't think I've ever seen anywhere like that. I live in the suburbs near Baltimore, and even the lower income and Section 8 neighborhoods at least have a playground for kids, most have basketball/tennis courts as well, or some big open field that anyone can use. Everywhere I've visited while traveling has been like that as well. The outdoors is especially accessible if you have a car, there are federal and state owned parks all over the place.

oh_sigh 7y ago

Suburbs frequently have parks, fields, courts or trails embedded throughout them.

Barrin92 7y ago

>The outdoors isn't as accessible should be noted that this foundation (which seems to have quite a big interest in promoting the 'outdoors industry') seems to define the term as "uninhabited nature" going by their listed activities. Plenty of people are still socially active outside. I'm not sure why running in the city park, taking long walks or playing basketball on the court is supposed to be less valuable than hiking.

RivieraKid 7y ago
This is probably subjective but for me, walking or running in nature is a substantially better experience than doing that in a city park.