Anonymous
Post 06/15/2012 14:26     Subject: Is your neighborhood a GHOST TOWN??
Anonymous wrote:We live in AU park and know all of our neighbors extremely well to the degree that we have vacationed with some. We have block parties and bbqs and play dates.

However, most if not all of the kids are HIGHLY scheduled with sports and extracurriculars. My kids are 5 and 7 and all of their friends (with 2 working parents or 1) are in camp all summer long (except for the weeks when they'll be out of town on vacation). There is very little spontaneous play or just hanging out. The kids are too busy.

I makes me sort of sad. We've joined in with the camp rotation this summer because I didn't want my kids to be alone all summer long. I wish there were more kids around during the day.


This exactly us except we live in Chevy chase dc near the metro. After a few years of fighting the tide and trying to have "old fashioned" summers that are spontaneous, I gave up. My kids were -always- alone.

The school year is just as (pointlessly) structured around here. The striving parents won't admit it this way, but much of the enrichment scheduling is aimed at resume building. ie, unathletic indifferent kids playing 3 sports and playing two instruments.

Plus tutoring on Monday just because. No deficiency, mind you. Just getting that edge in math.
Anonymous
Post 06/15/2012 14:01     Subject: Re:Is your neighborhood a GHOST TOWN??
No. Ours is filled with kids and there are constantly neighbors walking up and down the street all days of the week.

I WAH and there is always somebody around to talk to. We are in Clarendon. It is a walkable-- car-negative neighborhood so people are always on foot to stores, etc.
Anonymous
Post 06/15/2012 14:00     Subject: Re:Is your neighborhood a GHOST TOWN??
We live near downtown Silver Spring, and not a ghost town at all. Kids are out playing until we call them inside.

Teens mow lawns here, too. And kids walk the family dogs.
Anonymous
Post 06/15/2012 11:30     Subject: Re:Is your neighborhood a GHOST TOWN??
Ours is definitely not a ghost town, and we love it. Maybe the prices are just lower here so more parents can be at-home and the houses are generally more within reach of young families. Kensington near Oakland Terrace.
Anonymous
Post 06/15/2012 10:48     Subject: Re:Is your neighborhood a GHOST TOWN??
We live in Garrett Park MD - great great neighborhood for families. Tons of kids and families who know each other & socialize, playing together all the time and in organized activities - swim team, school activities, etc. Such an awesome community - charming pool, little neighborhood restaurant, farmers market. 4th of July & Halloween parades.....
Anonymous
Post 06/15/2012 10:48     Subject: Is your neighborhood a GHOST TOWN??
Anonymous wrote:Yes, there's no more fighting in the dance hall.

Heh. That ran through my head too.
Anonymous
Post 06/15/2012 10:42     Subject: Is your neighborhood a GHOST TOWN??
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I don't know what my neighborhood is like during the week because I am not there. I am at work.


Do you not come home at night?


Not the PP but when my kids were younger and in day care/after care we typically got home at 6:30. For a good chunk of the year it was already dark at that point. And we needed to make and eat dinner, do homework and get to bed. In the summer we used to try to go to the pool a few times in the evening. So not a lot of playing in the street due to the fact that we worked.


Yes, this is exactly us. We get home bw 6:30-7:00. At that point, every second is a race to the finish line (bedtime). Dinner, potty, baths, brush teeth, etc. It's usually dark in the wintertime but in the summertime, too, we don't go outside bc there is just too much to do in order to get DD to bed at a decent hour. Plus, DH and I are exhausted and trying to get to bed also.


It is also worth noting that for kids in school/after care, they've been with other kids for 10 hours by the time they get home. Mine, at least, needed a little downtime in the evening.


Yes, this is how ours are too. And, blush, how DH and I are too (having been with other people all day long at that point, dealing with traffic, etc.).
Anonymous
Post 06/15/2012 10:36     Subject: Is your neighborhood a GHOST TOWN??
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I don't know what my neighborhood is like during the week because I am not there. I am at work.


Do you not come home at night?


Not the PP but when my kids were younger and in day care/after care we typically got home at 6:30. For a good chunk of the year it was already dark at that point. And we needed to make and eat dinner, do homework and get to bed. In the summer we used to try to go to the pool a few times in the evening. So not a lot of playing in the street due to the fact that we worked.


Yes, this is exactly us. We get home bw 6:30-7:00. At that point, every second is a race to the finish line (bedtime). Dinner, potty, baths, brush teeth, etc. It's usually dark in the wintertime but in the summertime, too, we don't go outside bc there is just too much to do in order to get DD to bed at a decent hour. Plus, DH and I are exhausted and trying to get to bed also.


It is also worth noting that for kids in school/after care, they've been with other kids for 10 hours by the time they get home. Mine, at least, needed a little downtime in the evening.
Anonymous
Post 06/15/2012 10:33     Subject: Is your neighborhood a GHOST TOWN??
Anonymous wrote:We live in AU park and know all of our neighbors extremely well to the degree that we have vacationed with some. We have block parties and bbqs and play dates.

However, most if not all of the kids are HIGHLY scheduled with sports and extracurriculars. My kids are 5 and 7 and all of their friends (with 2 working parents or 1) are in camp all summer long (except for the weeks when they'll be out of town on vacation). There is very little spontaneous play or just hanging out. The kids are too busy.

I makes me sort of sad. We've joined in with the camp rotation this summer because I didn't want my kids to be alone all summer long. I wish there were more kids around during the day.


Any swinging going on?
Anonymous
Post 06/15/2012 10:32     Subject: Is your neighborhood a GHOST TOWN??
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I don't know what my neighborhood is like during the week because I am not there. I am at work.


Do you not come home at night?


Not the PP but when my kids were younger and in day care/after care we typically got home at 6:30. For a good chunk of the year it was already dark at that point. And we needed to make and eat dinner, do homework and get to bed. In the summer we used to try to go to the pool a few times in the evening. So not a lot of playing in the street due to the fact that we worked.


Yes, this is exactly us. We get home bw 6:30-7:00. At that point, every second is a race to the finish line (bedtime). Dinner, potty, baths, brush teeth, etc. It's usually dark in the wintertime but in the summertime, too, we don't go outside bc there is just too much to do in order to get DD to bed at a decent hour. Plus, DH and I are exhausted and trying to get to bed also.
Anonymous
Post 06/15/2012 10:28     Subject: Is your neighborhood a GHOST TOWN??
We live in AU park and know all of our neighbors extremely well to the degree that we have vacationed with some. We have block parties and bbqs and play dates.

However, most if not all of the kids are HIGHLY scheduled with sports and extracurriculars. My kids are 5 and 7 and all of their friends (with 2 working parents or 1) are in camp all summer long (except for the weeks when they'll be out of town on vacation). There is very little spontaneous play or just hanging out. The kids are too busy.

I makes me sort of sad. We've joined in with the camp rotation this summer because I didn't want my kids to be alone all summer long. I wish there were more kids around during the day.
Anonymous
Post 06/15/2012 10:28     Subject: Is your neighborhood a GHOST TOWN??
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I don't know what my neighborhood is like during the week because I am not there. I am at work.


Do you not come home at night?


Not the PP but when my kids were younger and in day care/after care we typically got home at 6:30. For a good chunk of the year it was already dark at that point. And we needed to make and eat dinner, do homework and get to bed. In the summer we used to try to go to the pool a few times in the evening. So not a lot of playing in the street due to the fact that we worked.
Anonymous
Post 06/15/2012 10:21     Subject: Is your neighborhood a GHOST TOWN??
We live in Chevy Chase (Section 5) and there are not many kids who play in the yards on weekends. They do a little after school. We do see teens walking up to the Country Club to go to the pool. People are nice, but they are also very busy. For instance, I have only ever seen two households that seem to do their own gardening. Given my background, I find it funny that you never see a teenager cutting a lawn or shoveling a driveway in my neighborhood. It's a different world from whence I came.
Anonymous
Post 06/15/2012 10:14     Subject: Is your neighborhood a GHOST TOWN??
OH, at night? Yeah, I guess so. But it's still rather ghost-townish because we're all inside getting our kids to bed. I didn't know OP was looking for a party-hearty atmosphere at nighttime.
Anonymous
Post 06/15/2012 10:10     Subject: Is your neighborhood a GHOST TOWN??
Anonymous wrote:I don't know what my neighborhood is like during the week because I am not there. I am at work.


Do you not come home at night?