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To be clear, I don't think this kind of thing is common. But it's also not common to see children walking alone in America, at least in the parts I've been to.
by graeme 12y ago
To be clear, I don't think this kind of thing is common. But it's also not common to see children walking alone in America, at least in the parts I've been to.
It's the latter that's the problem. The former is merely a symptom of the latter, whether or not it is common.
- ashark 12y agoIn much of Suburbia you'll at least get some funny looks walking along certain streets, unless you're obviously out specifically for exercise (wearing exercise clothes, walking/jogging with a purpose) or otherwise have some sort of suspicion-shield, like a stroller, and aren't wearing clothes that look too cheap or dirty. Skin color is probably also a factor. Walking to get places is for criminals or poor people :-(
- SiVal 12y agoI don't know what places you are referring to as "much of Suburbia", but a large number of us who read HN live in Silicon Valley suburbs where you see people walking around all the time. Kids on skateboards, groups of young, Indian software developers, joggers, solo guys like me walking along listening to podcasts, old Chinese couples, parents walking over to a student-teacher conference, teens walking over to friends' houses to play video games, etc. That's the way it was where I grew up on the East Coast (minus the Chinese and Indians), and the way it was around Harvard when I lived in Cambridge, and the way it is now here in Silicon Valley. I'm not saying that no such places exist. You might be describing those few neighborhoods that are mostly populated by wealthy retirees whose kids have grown up and left, but this is hardly the general case in American suburbs.
- DanBC 12y agoLos Gatos / Monte Sereno has places where walking is fine and other places where walking is just weird. As a visitor it used to be confusing working out which was which. Gilroy Outlets are separated by roads and it's really hard to cross from one bit to the other. Part of the reason it's so hard to cross is that drivers just aren't used to seeing pedestrians at the various crosswalks and they seem to forget the rules of the road - they sort of stop and wave you over. That's nice but dangerous because other cars are not stopping unless the lights tell them too. Sand Diego had some similarly confusing bits where walking is fien and other bits where walking was for weirdos. So, even though this is very likited experience, I sympathise with people who say that walking as a mode of transport is an oddity.
- ashark 12y agoIt's likely my middle-westernness is showing. My guess is most 'burb dwellers around here would consider the SV neighborhoods you're describing to be "in the city".
- bglazer 12y agoThere's an entire country chock full of low density suburbia in between Cambridge and Silicon Valley.
- SiVal 12y agoYes, I lived there, too. I lived in the Rocky Mountains for several years, and my comments are just as true of the suburbs of Denver (say, Boulder) or Salt Lake City (Provo/Orem) as they are of the coasts. Of course, if you get far enough from a large city and low enough density, you'll get fewer and fewer people walking around, almost by definition, but then that's not where most American suburbanites live.
- lsaferite 12y agoI lament this fact constantly. As a child I was super free-range. We would leave our house at sun-up and just had to be home by sun-down. We would explore for miles and miles. I'm so sad my children will never experience this freedom.
- happyscrappy 12y agoDon't punish your children out of your fear of dealing with CPS. They will be fine. You will be fine.
- danielweber 12y agoIt only takes one call to CPS for things to suddenly go very very wrong.
- happyscrappy 12y agoThat is not a valid excuse for keeping your kids indoors.