Yes! One more HR question for you... (Denver, Highlands Ranch: loan, home)

[Kibbiekat]

Originally Posted by Froud

oh yes it is just soooo hot(says recent transplant from tucson)

I sense some sarcasm... I am from Fresno, and, to me, highs in the 90's are an every day all summer thing. A heat wave is 105 or above! I don't miss that!

[mczabe]

And coming from the capital of humidity, the dry heat really wasn't as bad as what NJ doles out most summer days.

But regardless, the valid point is that if people here are not used to this level of heat - and it was hot - that could certainly impact whether or not they felt like hanging out in the 'hood.

[bhcompy]

douglas county starts the week after july 4 on 3 out of 4 tracts(last tract started last week). so they're probably at school

[kimmer]

Originally Posted by mczabe

Oh no! Maybe we should buy in your neighborhood so we can start a play outside and bond with your neighbors trend!!!!!!

Oooooh! Let me know where you buy, cause we're looking for the same thing! (See my thread on Littleton subdivisions, LOL!)

[2bindenver]

I have kids and live in HR. Most activities over the last few weeks have centered around the pool, the movies, the mall, bowling, going to Boulder, Dillon, Estes Park...it's too hot to walk the dog. When my youngest gets together with her peeps they opt for the playground at school or civic center park near the library, sometimes Redstone...I guess the older they are the more they organize an actual activity.

The elem. school set has started already if they are on a 4 track plan, the middle & high schoolers start next week.

[denverian]

Originally Posted by livecontent

I have observed this many times in driving from the less affluent neighborhoods to neighborhoods of more wealth--the lack of children playing outside. I believe is a result of the entertainment that children have indoors--computer, TV, computer games and recreation rooms. While poorer neighborhoods have some of these toys; It is certainly less.

I believe many poorer residents do not have air-conditioning, so children go out more to get air. Air conditioned children are pampered and consider "outside" as hotter then it is because they are comparing it to air-conditioned living.

There are larger homes in richer areas. Children will have more separate areas to recreate alone with friends away from their parents and siblings, in recreation rooms and separate bedrooms. Smaller homes do not all have these amenities so that children, especially as they get into teen years have to go "outside" to be with their kind, away from their observation of their family.

I have written on this forum about this issue as I travel across the metro area to visit relatives---I do not like to take the highways; I like to see the different changing neighborhoods on side roads.

It is certainly noted as a contributing cause of obesity. I think it is somewhat sad that with the great parks and neighborhoods of Denver, we have become residents of our own private indoors.

As we avoid the "outside"; we then make our "inside" our guarded abode, not only in living and recreating, but in our thinking about the different people who dwell on the "outside" of our comfortable ideas and thoughts. Is this a behavior we want in our progeny???

Livecontent

Good point. All the "rich kids" are inside playing video games, getting fat! But then that doesn't explain Stapleton. We have tons of kids out playing every evening, parents socializing, parks full of people. It's very social here.

[denverian]

Originally Posted by 2bindenver

I have kids and live in HR. Most activities over the last few weeks have centered around the pool, the movies, the mall, bowling, going to Boulder, Dillon, Estes Park...it's too hot to walk the dog. When my youngest gets together with her peeps they opt for the playground at school or civic center park near the library, sometimes Redstone...I guess the older they are the more they organize an actual activity.

The elem. school set has started already if they are on a 4 track plan, the middle & high schoolers start next week.

Funny, my dog still poops when it's 95 outside, so I still have to walk her.

[bhcompy]

Originally Posted by denverian

Funny, my dog still poops when it's 95 outside, so I still have to walk her.

you dont have a backyard?

[mczabe]

Originally Posted by bhcompy

douglas county starts the week after july 4 on 3 out of 4 tracts(last tract started last week). so they're probably at school

From what I could tell, about half of the elementary schools in HR are conventional schedule, which starts next week.

And again, it's all times of day, and weekends too! I'm gonna chalk it up to the weather and hope this weekend's great weather brings everyone (and their dogs ) out of their homes. If you see a beige minivan with PA plates cruising your neighborhood, stop and wave!

[frogandtoad]

Originally Posted by denverian

Good point. All the "rich kids" are inside playing video games, getting fat! But then that doesn't explain Stapleton. We have tons of kids out playing every evening, parents socializing, parks full of people. It's very social here.

I totally disagree with this. Ever been inside the house of people with no money? They have video games and large screen tvs as much as the next guy. It's totally unfortunate. You can go into someone's house who is on food stamps, and barely scraping by, yet they've got way more eletronic gadgets than I do. That theory just don't hold up. And "middle America"? They're the biggest consumers of all that crap of all! The people with more money--upper middle class and upper class may be overscheduling their kids (we need more Waldorf schools!!) but they aren't plopping them in front of a tv. The lower income families are also the ones with the obese children, statistically. The less money you have, the more likely you are to be obese, to eat poorly, to get too little exercise..

Most of the people I know w/money have limits on tv, videos, etc. On the other hand, I know several kids who have single parent households whose mothers use the tvs as babysitters when the kids come home from school. They can't afford daycare (or after school care) and they want to be sure their kids are home, safe, not out "in the streets" so they encourage them to watch tv. It's hard on them--of course they know tv isn't best, but by the same token, they need to be sure their kids are safe.