Having lived in various different places - dense city, suburban town, more rural town, for us it all came down to the city planning, far more than any other fac

Having lived in various different places - dense city, suburban town, more rural town, for us it all came down to the city planning, far more than any other factor. Living in a small but dense NJ town with close town-houses and good sidewalks our kids were free to walk to the neighbors and they knew all the kids on the street. Our neighbours actually positioned kids toys on all the front lawns when selling their house to emphasize the child friendliness of the area. Because the houses were close - feet between them, with many per block, the density meant every block had plenty of kids, and the walks were short enough to let them out. Smaller city streets kept cars slower too. But being a smaller town the only people around were neighbors keeping everyone feeling safe. Cities have a density that stops parents wanting to let their kids out - think midtown Manhattan - just too much going on to let a younger child run free. Conversely, living in more rural CT the house plots are so big it's a schlep to a neighbors, and there are no sidewalks. There are far fewer kids in walking distance because of the plot sizes. Without sidewalks and bigger distances the cars travel far faster too. There's always an F250 traveling 50 in a 25 ready to mow down a whole family without noticing it. Given a little freedom our kids could easily walk to their neighbours, to the local school to play soccer in the school yard, or on the playground, and they'd meet so many more kids, even relatively young. Towns need to be designed to be social - older towns are far better for this, the pre-car ones. Find a smaller town build before 1900 and it'll be great to raise a family in.