Pros and cons to not having a backyard?

[Anonymous]

Weighing in because I am a single mom of one child. I turned down a few really nice townhouses because I thought "a kid needs a yard." I bought a house with a very small (1/8 acre) yard.

Honestly, I wish I hadn't. It's a pain in the ass to maintain - sometimes it's hard to fit in that 1-2 hours a week (between rainstorms and activities and acceptable mowing hours for neighbors) and I don't have the money to hire someone for something I can do myself.

My child almost never plays in the yard because she is an only child. Most of the people chiming in saying "get a yard" have multiple kids. With multiple kids, you can send them outside to play. With one kid, that kid would generally rather go to the playground, unless you find a playdate. We used the nearby (walkable) playground a TON when she was younger.

If I had the decision to do over, I'd skip the yard in favor of some nice hardscape for entertaining and dining. As long as you have a playground within walking distance, and someplace to learn to ride a bike, you should be ok.

[Anonymous]

You'll regret it. We have a single family with a small backyard which is mostly deck. My child can't go out back and run around without me because there's no space. Plays in the front yard sometimes but I can't see her and our street is a main thoroughfare. Go for a backyard even it's a small patch of grass.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Will your kid play by themselves in the yard? We have a yard because we have a dog and kids, but we walk the dog so we don't have poop in the yard. We do have a water table, outdoor basketball goal, etc that keep the kids entertained when we're grilling, etc. I would have a hard time not having any outdoor space. That said, we have a quarter of an acre and it's too much. We finally had to hire someone to mow because it took a good chunk of every weekend to mow and edge it all (and we're on a corner, so A LOT of edging). I do know larger lots in our neighborhood sell for more, although we paid more for it and pay more in taxes.

Not sure who you are asking. I'm the SAH pp with the WOH husband. When the kids were very little I was out there in the yard with them of course. As they got older, they would go outside and play on the play system or in a wading pool - whatever we had out there at the time. We still went to playgrounds a lot as an added diversion. We also have dogs and they are let out in the yard throughout the day (we pick up after them). They also get walked.

The kids are old enough to help with the yard work now (pulling weeds, mowing the lawn, chopping wood, etc). Between the 4 of us we manage quite well.

A quarter acre yard doesn't seem like a lot to me. You can mow that pretty fast and you don't usually have to edge it more than a couple of times a month. Weeding is a pain but can be managed.

I actually don't mind yard work and I think that my husband actually enjoys mowing with our riding mower (relaxing productivity).

I was responding to the OP. You know...the one who started this thread? I wasn't furthering the SAH/WOH debate.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Am I the only one wondering what a back-to-back townhouse looks like? Seriously. The ones I know of in DC have like an inner courtyard strip that serves as an extended driveway for all the cars to park behind each unit's back area. Like that?

Something like this: http://www.weichert.com/m/propertydetails.aspx?p=62771566&index=20&q=20904&sortorder=asc&sorttype=Price&zip=20904

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Will your kid play by themselves in the yard? We have a yard because we have a dog and kids, but we walk the dog so we don't have poop in the yard. We do have a water table, outdoor basketball goal, etc that keep the kids entertained when we're grilling, etc. I would have a hard time not having any outdoor space. That said, we have a quarter of an acre and it's too much. We finally had to hire someone to mow because it took a good chunk of every weekend to mow and edge it all (and we're on a corner, so A LOT of edging). I do know larger lots in our neighborhood sell for more, although we paid more for it and pay more in taxes.

Not sure who you are asking. I'm the SAH pp with the WOH husband. When the kids were very little I was out there in the yard with them of course. As they got older, they would go outside and play on the play system or in a wading pool - whatever we had out there at the time. We still went to playgrounds a lot as an added diversion. We also have dogs and they are let out in the yard throughout the day (we pick up after them). They also get walked.

The kids are old enough to help with the yard work now (pulling weeds, mowing the lawn, chopping wood, etc). Between the 4 of us we manage quite well.

A quarter acre yard doesn't seem like a lot to me. You can mow that pretty fast and you don't usually have to edge it more than a couple of times a month. Weeding is a pain but can be managed.

I actually don't mind yard work and I think that my husband actually enjoys mowing with our riding mower (relaxing productivity).

I was responding to the OP. You know...the one who started this thread? I wasn't furthering the SAH/WOH debate.

Thank you for clarifying and really that's fine. I'm not Op and this is really not about SAH/WOH - it's a personality thing. Some folks like yard work and some folks don't want to spend their time doing it. That's fine.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Am I the only one wondering what a back-to-back townhouse looks like? Seriously. The ones I know of in DC have like an inner courtyard strip that serves as an extended driveway for all the cars to park behind each unit's back area. Like that?

Something like this: http://www.weichert.com/m/propertydetails.aspx?p=62771566&index=20&q=20904&sortorder=asc&sorttype=Price&zip=20904

I think that instead of having a back door that leads out into a small yard, the back wall is shared between two houses. The actual development looks more like apartments/condos from the outside but inside is a townhouse. There is no backyard.

[Anonymous]

Jumping in... Neither of us work from home or are stay at home parents. We work full time and also have one kid with a large lot - half acre.

Weeds in mulch/landscaping - that's easy. It takes about an hour once a month to go out with a hoe and turn the mulch and kill the weeds.

Lawn maintenance - Used to do it myself and it took an hour and half to mow and edge with a walk behind mower. Hired a lawn service so I could focus on landscape work/projects instead.

I find it hard to believe that people don't have time. Especially during the summer months in the evening. Even 30 mins doing something means you can get a lot done. Added bonus is that it is decent exercise too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Weighing in because I am a single mom of one child. I turned down a few really nice townhouses because I thought "a kid needs a yard." I bought a house with a very small (1/8 acre) yard.

Honestly, I wish I hadn't. It's a pain in the ass to maintain - sometimes it's hard to fit in that 1-2 hours a week (between rainstorms and activities and acceptable mowing hours for neighbors) and I don't have the money to hire someone for something I can do myself.

My child almost never plays in the yard because she is an only child. Most of the people chiming in saying "get a yard" have multiple kids. With multiple kids, you can send them outside to play. With one kid, that kid would generally rather go to the playground, unless you find a playdate. We used the nearby (walkable) playground a TON when she was younger.

If I had the decision to do over, I'd skip the yard in favor of some nice hardscape for entertaining and dining. As long as you have a playground within walking distance, and someplace to learn to ride a bike, you should be ok.

You need to teach your child to be able to entertain herself.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Having access to a playground would be more valuable. I have a yard now and my kid prefers the playground.

My experience too. The playground has lots of equipment and other kids. DS far perfers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Weighing in because I am a single mom of one child. I turned down a few really nice townhouses because I thought "a kid needs a yard." I bought a house with a very small (1/8 acre) yard.

Honestly, I wish I hadn't. It's a pain in the ass to maintain - sometimes it's hard to fit in that 1-2 hours a week (between rainstorms and activities and acceptable mowing hours for neighbors) and I don't have the money to hire someone for something I can do myself.

My child almost never plays in the yard because she is an only child. Most of the people chiming in saying "get a yard" have multiple kids. With multiple kids, you can send them outside to play. With one kid, that kid would generally rather go to the playground, unless you find a playdate. We used the nearby (walkable) playground a TON when she was younger.

If I had the decision to do over, I'd skip the yard in favor of some nice hardscape for entertaining and dining. As long as you have a playground within walking distance, and someplace to learn to ride a bike, you should be ok.

I agree with this. We have one child and a dog, and live in a SFH with a backyard. Dog and kid are rarely back there--occasionally on the weekends, but that's even not very common given heat and mosquitos. So, use is limited to spring and fall, for the most part. There's a neighborhood playground and Rock Creek Park within three blocks, so we use those for dog and kid instead.

[Anonymous]

If you have a problem with mosquitoes one solution is getting rid of bushes/trees. We cleared a lot of bad trees and were very pleasantly surprised that the bugs/mosquitoes aren't nearly as bad as there's less shade for them to hide in.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Weighing in because I am a single mom of one child. I turned down a few really nice townhouses because I thought "a kid needs a yard." I bought a house with a very small (1/8 acre) yard.

Honestly, I wish I hadn't. It's a pain in the ass to maintain - sometimes it's hard to fit in that 1-2 hours a week (between rainstorms and activities and acceptable mowing hours for neighbors) and I don't have the money to hire someone for something I can do myself.

My child almost never plays in the yard because she is an only child. Most of the people chiming in saying "get a yard" have multiple kids. With multiple kids, you can send them outside to play. With one kid, that kid would generally rather go to the playground, unless you find a playdate. We used the nearby (walkable) playground a TON when she was younger.

If I had the decision to do over, I'd skip the yard in favor of some nice hardscape for entertaining and dining. As long as you have a playground within walking distance, and someplace to learn to ride a bike, you should be ok.

You still need a yard to place a patio. Also I was an only child and spent hours in my yard. You have to host playdates too, not always go over to someone else's house.

[Anonymous]

If I were a single parent with a 6 year old, I would look for a townhouse or apartment community with shared amenities for gardening, pool, playground, etc.

[Anonymous]

We had a small backyard where we had small wagon car and a small sand box. My kid spent many days playing in sandbox and the yard got a lot of use especially that my kitchen window overlooks the yard, so I could see and hear from kitchen. It is also fenced so a stranger cannot just enter easily. It was great. Our yard was simple, we did minimal maintenance / basically cutting grass and I would throw fertilizer and seeds in spring. I didn't add herbicide or pesticide to it, so it looked very natural with lots of clover. We paid a Highschooler to mow it biweekly. Totally worth it.

[Anonymous]

15:25 - my child can entertain herself, but she's an extrovert who likes the company of other kids. A playground has other kids, and fun equipment. Our backyard does not.

Also, once you hit a certain age, if your child is in school and extended day all day, the kids go outside several times. If you have activities like soccer, that's more time not spent in the yard. If you're a busy parent, you may not have the time or inclination to spend 1-2 hours a week doing yard work during much of the year. Frankly, I don't anymore, though I did before I had my child.

Instead of a back-to-back townhouse, I might look for a townhouse with a wee bit of outdoor space and a bigger common area with a playground and pool.