Does anyone regret NOT having a yard with small kids?

[Anonymous]

DH and I are considering buying a townhouse with a very small yard. Parks and playgrounds are a few blocks away. I know we don't have time to take care of a yard, but part of me wishes we could have a yard for DD to play in. Has anyone else made this choice with small kids? Thoughts? We currently rent an apartment but there is a tot lot right across the street.

[Anonymous]

We live in a townhouse in a very family-friendly neighborhood. So kids are always outside playing. I wish we had a small fenced-in yard. It would make life a little bit easier.

[Anonymous]

I live in a rowhouse with a very small yard (we have a sandbox but no running around space), and we are 2-3 blocks from the park. We lived here before kids so in some sense we don't know anything different. I do think it would be nice to have a yard and not schlep to the park for quick play time before or after dinner. But we are fine the way things are for now.

[Anonymous]

We do it. Yes i do wish we had a yard, but not enough to change everything else that we love about where we live. We also have a very small yard, and close access to parks and playgrounds, so i dont really think my kids are missing out. But my kids are very young, so have to be supervised whether in my yard, or at a playground.

[Anonymous]

We lived in a rowhouse with a little patch of green when my kids were little. We were within a block of a park with playground. Honestly, I thought it was the best of both worlds. I really liked the social aspect of going to the park, seeing other people, etc. And then we had a little yard to play in when we wanted to stay at home.

It was when my kids were old enough to play outside for long periods of time without supervision but not so old that I felt comfortable letting them walk to the park without me that I felt acutely the lack of a yard. So, not really until elementary school. When we finally moved we ended up buying a house about the same size as our rowhouse but with a big yard. (And a better school system, but that's another topic.) We still live a few blocks from a park and now my kids walk there themselves when they want to play soccer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We lived in a rowhouse with a little patch of green when my kids were little. We were within a block of a park with playground. Honestly, I thought it was the best of both worlds. I really liked the social aspect of going to the park, seeing other people, etc. And then we had a little yard to play in when we wanted to stay at home.

It was when my kids were old enough to play outside for long periods of time without supervision but not so old that I felt comfortable letting them walk to the park without me that I felt acutely the lack of a yard. So, not really until elementary school. When we finally moved we ended up buying a house about the same size as our rowhouse but with a big yard. (And a better school system, but that's another topic.) We still live a few blocks from a park and now my kids walk there themselves when they want to play soccer.

pretty much this. It was OK...until she was 4ish an it just got old. We moved right before elementary school started and it is SOOOO nice to be able to just send her into the backyard when I need a breather.

[Anonymous]

I'm in a townhouse with a small fenced in back yard, which we never use. The kids are always out in the common areas. I'm the end unit and have a good sized "yard" for playing soccer, catch, etc. I suppose if we didn't have as much greenspace in the common areas, I wouldn't be happy here. Honestly, even my little fenced in yard is a pain in the neck. I'm happy with my deck and some potted plants and herbs.

[Anonymous]

OP, people aren't going to admit that they don't like their situation in these parts.
Ask kids who grew up like that.

[Anonymous]

We lived in a townhouse with a teeny fenced yard, but it was an end unit with a large green space. The issue was the big kids in the townhouse development would use it and play rough and unattended, so when my kids were little it was virtually unusable. We moved to a house with a yard and it changed our lives so much for the better.

[Anonymous]

OP here--thanks for all the responses. The location is very good for our commutes, right price, good school district, so we may end up compromising on the yard for now. DD is 2 and we're considering having another one.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here--thanks for all the responses. The location is very good for our commutes, right price, good school district, so we may end up compromising on the yard for now. DD is 2 and we're considering having another one.

Those are all very valid reasons-- and the same reasons that we used. We would love to have a yard-- but the only way we could afford a real yard is to move further out-- meaning worse school district and longer commutes. Longer commutes would mean less time to play in the yard anyway.

[Anonymous]

We have a giant fenced in yard but my kids are too little to go out there alone anyway. Who knows what they would get into unsupervised. We always go to the playground up the street because they like it better. I need to be active with them so it doesn't matter right now. Might be nice in a bit when I can send them out onto a playset or something.

[Anonymous]

You have to be happy with the choices you make, and end it at that.

We have a huge yard (3/4 acre in Burke)and I can tell you it was a total waste when the kids were young - and still is. It take over an hour to mow, we lose three weekends to leaf raking. Tree maintenance cost $1000 ever year or two. Kids don't play in the yards like "we" did when we were younger. Maybe if you are a SAHS with kids you might. But if you are a dual income or single parent - get a small yard and enjoy the time with your family.

[Anonymous]

We live on just over 1/3 of an acre in Fairfax County. Yard work takes a couple hours a weekend, so during nap time, that's usually what we are doing -the raking is particularly time-consuming as we have quite a few trees.

We are just about to trade that for almost no yard. Maybe I'll regret that when our kid is older, she's only 3 now, but I doubt it. She's going to be an only, and I don't forsee her playing alone outside for long periods of time, ever. She'd always want to go to the park to be with other kids anyway. She gets bored by herself and right now is too young to play outside alone.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We lived in a rowhouse with a little patch of green when my kids were little. We were within a block of a park with playground. Honestly, I thought it was the best of both worlds. I really liked the social aspect of going to the park, seeing other people, etc. And then we had a little yard to play in when we wanted to stay at home.

It was when my kids were old enough to play outside for long periods of time without supervision but not so old that I felt comfortable letting them walk to the park without me that I felt acutely the lack of a yard. So, not really until elementary school. When we finally moved we ended up buying a house about the same size as our rowhouse but with a big yard. (And a better school system, but that's another topic.) We still live a few blocks from a park and now my kids walk there themselves when they want to play soccer.

Similar situation for us. We had a rowhouse with a longish, very narrow yard and just moved out of it last year to a house with a bigger yard. Kids are 5 and 7, and are now thrilled that they can play soccer, football, baseball etc without the ball always going over the fence! I'm thrilled they have enough space to run around and burn some energy while I can still get stuff done around the house.

FWIW, we are "outdoorsy" people, love to eat outside, and send kids outside even in cold weather. DH views yardwork and home maintenance as therapeutic, so a big yard was always part of the plan for us. I can see if you are not really into having a yard, the work invovled could be frustrating.