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No, because a porch or stoop is also a place to watch and interact with life on the street, yet still acts as private space, but it is not the same as a front yard.
Why, if the purpose is the same, is a yard so "different"? I already posted some links that having a yard can cut down on air-conditioning costs by keeping the house cooler. Surely as much of an expert as yourself knows about "heat islands".
but weren't you just suggesting that the kids should be playing on the street?
No, I was not. I said that parents use lawns as a physical barrier between their home and the street, and they want their homes and their kids as far as possible from the street. Malloric said that he played in the street all the time as a kid, maybe you are getting his post and mine confused?
No, I was not. I said that parents use lawns as a physical barrier between their home and the street, and they want their homes and their kids as far as possible from the street. Malloric said that he played in the street all the time as a kid, maybe you are getting his post and mine confused?
I do not understand why you are constantly ascribing negative motives to people who think differently than you. You are NOT a parent. Even if you work with parents, you don't really know how parents think unless/until you become one. I learned this by becoming a parent.
Malloric seems to have lived in a very quiet neighborhood.
What is so positive about kids being "in the street" anyway? What is to be gained by that?
Last edited by Katarina Witt; 05-06-2012 at 07:55 AM..
I do not understand why you are constantly ascribing negative motives to people who think differently than you. You are NOT a parent. Even if you work with parents, you don't really know how parents think unless/until you become one. I learned this by becoming a parent.
Unless there's something deeper I'm missing, I don't see any negative motives there, at least in a literal sense; and he said he suggested children should play on the street.
Unless there's something deeper I'm missing, I don't see any negative motives there, at least in a literal sense; and he said he suggested children should play on the street.
It's this constant yammering about people being afraid of socialism (from other threads, this is a long term poster here) and the like that make me see a negative motive in this statement:
Quote:
I said that parents use lawns as a physical barrier between their home and the street, and they want their homes and their kids as far as possible from the street.
No one has said that in this thread. A couple of us PARENTS have said we want/wanted our kids to be safe. The poster I was responding to is not a parent. He also has an admitted dislike for yard work and the like, and thins a front porch serves the same purpose as a yard. He uses his to sit around and drink beer.
My kids rarely played in the front yard; it faces directly south and when they were small had little shade. (The maple tree we planted there has gotten quite large; it would be a good place to sit down with a book in the summer.) However, I never had any feelings that I wanted them away from "the street" in a metaphorical sense, e.g. removed from society, which I think is what this poster means. My kids played in the back yard, where our property is contiguous with that of two other families who had kids about the same age; when one group of kids would go outside, often the others came out too and played together.
I think wburg thinks that kids who have yards to play in are isolated from the other kids in the neighborhood. Now there are a few cul-de-sacs (gasp!) in my nieghborhood, and those kids did/do play in their street. Guys often shoot baskets in the front yard, into a basket that is mounted on the garage, at least in my nieghborhood. Interestingly, when people are house hunting, one hint is to drive around and see if there ar toys, etc in the front yards, baskets on the garages, and so on, indicating a presence of kids there.
It's this constant yammering about people being afraid of socialism (from other threads, this is a long term poster here) and the like that make me see a negative motive in this statement:
The "afraid of socialism" posts were at least over half a year ago and in a totally different context; it seemed like a rather large logical leap to be able to ascribe extra motives above what was literally written. And in any case, you missed that the same poster said he did not think children should not be playing in the street:
It was definitely not obvious to me that anywhere more was meant that what was clearly written nor that the street was meant in a "metaphorical". Possibly, but unless the poster says so we can't know for sure, and we are making assumptions without basis. I thought you were arguing out of nowhere for no apparent reason. I strongly dislike it when people read into my (or other people's) statements more than actually was said. It becomes a messy very confusing conversation dealing with somewhat imagined ideas and becomes a guessing game with people jumping to conclusions. People have totally misinterpreted what I've said in real life and on the forum from reading the wrong things into it.
I think it's a good policy not to read things into posts that aren't clearly stated.
Quote:
No one has said that in this thread. A couple of us PARENTS have said we want/wanted our kids to be safe. The poster I was responding to is not a parent. He also has an admitted dislike for yard work and the like, and thins a front porch serves the same purpose as a yard. He uses his to sit around and drink beer.
This is true and I don't see anything wrong with his preferences. But not really relevant to what his post meant.
And yes, I actually disagree that parents want their homes and kids as far away as possible from the street, for the reasons you just gave.
Though, in some places children playing in the street can be safe. I remember people playing "street hockey" as a kid. And I saw a streetview of a kid playing basketball in a rather dense area but the residential streets were low traffic.
If you look at old city photos, children playing in the street was much more common, partly because car traffic was much less common.
Why can't people without kids can't have an opinion about neighborhood design?
Maybe because your opinion on neighborhood design wouldn't benefit somebody who has kids. Its easy for you to say that kids should play in the street because you don't have any. Its completely different when you have one and safety becomes a huge priority. My kid isn't old enough to run around on our yard, but I feel much better knowing he has yard to play on when he gets older and I can keep a better eye on him. playing in the streets could be more dangerous. That doesn't mean kids can't or shouldn't play in the streets, but having a yard gives kids a much safer option.
Having a yard is best for kids... but my kids keep playing in the street anyway. Even 1/3 an acre isn't big enough for them; though at least our street is not busy at all.
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Even 1/3 an acre isn't big enough for them; though at least our street is not busy at all.
