Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have a great yard in the City, so it is definitely possible. That would be the best of both worlds. If you live close to a park that works too. My kids love being walkable to their friends and visiting the playgrounds with them, which would not be possible in the suburbs.

Ummmm this is ENTIRELY possible in the suburbs. We are Walkable to friends, a couple of playgrounds, pool, tennis court, baseball fields, community garden, farmers market etc. Perhaps you should be more adventurous and walk beyond your 5 block city radius.

+1. Pretty much all of Falls Church City and good big swathes of Arlington, to start!

We have a large yard now and we love it. There's room for a nice sized garden, fruit trees, plenty of space to play ball or horseshoes, a fire pit, there's even room for a pool or spa plus lots of room for a large patio/grilling area. We spend lots of time back there every day.

Anonymous wrote:I think, since you have a young child, you will really regret not having even a small yard for him or her to play in.

+1. My kid spent many days / afternoons playing in the backyard.

Part of our calculus was that we knew our kids would be in aftercare and summer camps. So there's not that much time to use a yard. We have a nice big patio out back that we use on weekends-but we spend a lot of time at the playground. For us it was a good trade off for not having yard work. And now that DH is out of the picture, I'm really glad I don't have a yard to keep up with!

We bought a home with a large yard, and I hate it. It's so much maintenance. If we don't pay for mosquito spraying, DS can't go out there without coming in 5 minutes later covered in welts. If we don't pay for yard care, DH spends 2-3 hours a week mowing and weed whacking the fence line. In retrospect, I wish we had bought a townhouse sized yard. Enough space for a kiddy pool or sand box, but without the hassle. A fenced patio would be good too.

The only positive of the yard is having a potty spot for the dog when it's pouring rain or negative temperatures.

Anonymous wrote:I have a great yard in the City, so it is definitely possible. That would be the best of both worlds. If you live close to a park that works too. My kids love being walkable to their friends and visiting the playgrounds with them, which would not be possible in the suburbs.

Ummmm this is ENTIRELY possible in the suburbs. We are Walkable to friends, a couple of playgrounds, pool, tennis court, baseball fields, community garden, farmers market etc. Perhaps you should be more adventurous and walk beyond your 5 block city radius.

I'm a single mom and I just sold the SFH for a TH. It doesn't have a yard but it has a huge deck. I guess I could knock the deck down and have a yard. But I bought and end unit that backs to woods. On the side of my house is common green space that leads to woods and a creek.

My kids are 6 and 9. What they miss most is their swingset and trampoline. That being said, over the last year my kids really weren't home much to use the play equipment. After school there were activities and then homework, dinner and bed. No need to jump on the backyard trampoline if you've been at Parkour for an hour.

For the summer the oldest is at sleepaway camp so she's not here to enjoy the play equipment and the youngest is in sports camp all day. By he time he gets home I can barely get him bathed and fed before he crashes.

I'm loving the no maintenance. I have a tiny sliver of dirt that can accommodate 5 small plants. That's the extent of my gardening and I love it.

I had the SFH for 15 years--and now I realize all that I was missing.

I didn't want a yard when we bought our SFH but my husband loves landscaping so I gave in. I grew up in apartments and didn't see the need. However it's been fun to have now that our oldest is 3. She loves feeding birds, finding bugs, throwing a ball, playing with the sandbox etc. I definitely appreciate it more now.

OP here, yes I'm a newly single mom and I'm looking at townhomes in the suburbs not the city.

Let's not assume that because OP is a single parent that they don't have any money. As a single parent myself, I get that all the time and it's an unfair stereotype and untrue in my case anyway.

OP, I moved from a townhouse to a SFH with a huge yard when my kids were 6 and 3. They have played in the yard maybe a dozen times in 6 years. They just prefer indoor sports and activities, and as they've gotten older, we're not home that often after school and on weekends.

We are moving this summer and I would love to find a great townhouse. I hate yard work and have not at all enjoyed having a big yard. I can't wait to say goodbye to endless clean-up, mowing, raking, mosquito spraying, etc. I'd rather spend that time and money doing something with my kids.

I think you have to go by what is best for you and your kid. Just because a lot of people see a SFH as a step up from a townhouse doesn't mean that's the right choice for everyone. I keep reminding myself of that when yet another real estate agent assumes I am looking at a townhouse because I can't afford something 'better'.

^And as far as yard maintenance? Ha. We used a weed wacker to "mow" the grass.

We lived in a townhouse (before kids) and used our little backyard all the time. We grilled back there, sat and socialized back there, sunned back there, even filled a small pool and sat in it sipping wine. When we moved to an apartment the one thing that I missed the most was that little backyard.

Now that we have kids and dogs a backyard is an absolute must.

We have a DC rowhouse with a small yard and outsource the yard maintenance. Because the space is so small, outsourcing doesn't cost a lot, but having the small space for kids in as well as ornamental plants does a lot to make city living enjoyable.

We bought perfect house for us: not big but very walkable on a small lot, ok front yard that we fenced in + patio in backyard. And my problem is: I cannot let the kids (4 and 2 yo) play in the sandbox in the front yard while I cook. Having a fenced in backyard for the 30 min/1 hours between 5.30 and 6.30pm so we can do housechores inside would be awesome..

I don't regret my choice as it enabled be to afford the location and schools and so on but a backyard is very practical.

I don't understand the PPs turning this into a suburb vs city discussion and how they walk eberywhere while everyone else drives around. OP was asking about no yard vs having a yard (she could already be looking in the city for all we know).

My advice OP is that back to back townhouses with no back windows seem really dark. I would want a small outdoor space at least for some natural light, but nothing too overwhelming that you can't maintain.