[dynimagelv]

G'son used to play basketball in the street.....he was under STRICT orders from me that IF a car came and they did not IMMEDIATELY STOP THE GAME and get out of the street [even if it WAS the winning point] that the Goal became mine. He was put in charge of training all of the other kids in the neighborhood and it seems to have held....they all stop and move when a car comes......

[Buzz123]

Originally Posted by MomMom

Not really, when I was a kid (probably before you were born) back on the East Coast, we ALWAYS get yelled at by the neghbors to get out of the street.

It's nothing new or anything that happens "just" in Las Vegas. This has been going on for generations.

Some HOA's have rules about children playing in the street, most do not though.

As a kid, I couldn't understand what the heck adults were so upset for with us kids playing a game of kickball or hopscotch in the road. As an adult now, I find it a bit annoying, although my kids played in the street for their growing up years and the neighbors didn't seem to mind, at least they still haven't said anything to me about it.

Defiant little bas who won't move out of the road when you are approaching with the car or who give you "the look" because you are interrupting their activity by driving down the road ..now that's REAL annoying.

MM, I wish you'd say something I can't agree with once in a while. Are you other guys such old fuddy duddies that you can't remember being yelled at by your parents, but you still played in the street when they weren't looking? Laws against it? Jeezzzzz. More east coast anal mentality. What are you going to do, have curb tag police and haul 12 year olds to jail for playing hopscotch? OK, it's dangerous. But when haven't kids played in the street? We used to build bonfires and post lookouts so we could sled through the intersections and go for blocks from the tops of steep hills. He**, I even invented snowmobiles...in my mind...as I was towing my sled back up to the top. I think I was four years old when I got my first sled. It was at least a foot longer than I was. And I still have cinders under my skin from playing football and baseball on cinder coated streets.

The people who should go to jail are those parents that you see dragging six little kids across the middle of Maryland Parkway or H Street when there is a cross walk ten feet away. Drive through any minority neighborhood and everyone, kids AND adults are slowly meandering down the middle of busy streets, and daring drivers to hit them. Honk at one of them and everyone in the neighborhood would attack your car and call you a racist. There are Jay walking laws. It's a problem of enforcement.

I do agree there is a parenting problem. My mother taught me to stop at the curb and always look both ways before crossing AT THE CORNER. If I didn't, and she heard about it, I got my butt whacked. My sisters used to blackmail me with it. But drive around town, especially in parking lots, and you have to look in five directions at once for idiots walking out in front of moving cars without ever looking in your direction to make sure a car isn't coming.

We have a law. It says that pedestrians have the right of way CROSSING THE INTERSECTION IF THE ONCOMING CARS HAVE TIME TO STOP BEFORE YOU STEP OUT. It's a stupid law because people have always taken it to mean they can step in front of a moving car without being run over at any point in the street. By the number of pedestrian accidents we have I'd say it has never worked.

[LeavinMI]

I don't get it. We have a very nice park with basketball nets and everything in our neighborhood and yet still my son's friends are always tossing a football or skateboarding right in the street in front of my home. They are courteous and my son is a pretty smart kid. I just don't get why they wouldn't rather play uninterrupted at the park!! I'm thinking the onset of some ridiculous rebellion stage.

I watch when he doesn't know I'm watching and they do seem to make good decisions, but he pretty much knows that Mom will lay down the law if I see anything less than appropriate going on!

[thetalentedmrdiamonte]

Here's an interesting question to all the individuals here who claim "kids are brats" and that "parents whouldn't be allowing them to play in the streets anyway because that's what backyards are for.
Can Las Vegas (not the Strip) ever be a suitable place to raise a family already? This town has to grow up. It keeps acting like it's some rebel teenager. It has 2 million in the metro. Get over the brat moniker.
What if they live in an apartment, a condo, or even a house that doesn't have a backyard as so many homes in Las Vegas are? I can't understand why developers are even allowed to build houses so close to the curb and a wall so close to the back of the house. Yards barely exist in Las Vegas. It's sad. That is exactly why we are in this economic mess. Because of greed. Developers and politicians were greedy to build as many homes on as little land as possible. Cut the kids some slack already when they don't have backyards.

[MomMom]

Originally Posted by thetalentedmrdiamonte

Here's an interesting question to all the individuals here who claim "kids are brats" and that "parents whouldn't be allowing them to play in the streets anyway because that's what backyards are for.
Can Las Vegas (not the Strip) ever be a suitable place to raise a family already? This town has to grow up. It keeps acting like it's some rebel teenager. It has 2 million in the metro. Get over the brat moniker.
What if they live in an apartment, a condo, or even a house that doesn't have a backyard as so many homes in Las Vegas are? I can't understand why developers are even allowed to build houses so close to the curb and a wall so close to the back of the house. Yards barely exist in Las Vegas. It's sad. That is exactly why we are in this economic mess. Because of greed. Developers and politicians were greedy to build as many homes on as little land as possible. Cut the kids some slack already when they don't have backyards.

My, my...who on here said kids were brats?

As I've stated before, in my post above, this particular argument transcends all generations and all different locales. It is not just something that is particular to Las Vegas.

The reason why we have so many parks here is because of the small yards, but that too, is quite ordinary in any of the Southwestern cities and California as well. You are correct though, more houses on an acre means more money, so greed is the motivation for building homes so close together. Again, it is not particular to Las Vegas.

And 2 million people in the metro area? There's 2 million in the entire valley which includes the cities of Las Vegas, North Las Vegas, Unincorporated Clark County and Henderson. There's about 1/2 million +/- in the Las Vegas Metro area.

Las Vegas needs to grow up? Ummm...no. It's a place built for adults, always has been and always will be. We can't help that families with kids have found it nice here too, so in my opinion, with all the amenities for families that the city has spent money on to accomodate them, I don't think the city has to "grow up"

Again, the issue of people being irritated by kids playing the street is not particular to just one city....it's been happening all over and long well before you were born!

[MR77]

I said they were brats and IMO they are. Sadly, through no fault of their own, they are raised in condos and apartments by parents who had no business having kids in the first place and because of the complete lack of discipline and parenting, they turn out like brats. I feel justified calling them so.

[Buzz123]

Originally Posted by MR77

I said they were brats and IMO they are. Sadly, through no fault of their own, they are raised in condos and apartments by parents who had no business having kids in the first place and because of the complete lack of discipline and parenting, they turn out like brats. I feel justified calling them so.

I'll bet someone at sometime said the same thing about you. Weren't you ever a kid or don't you remember? We were all brats at one time to somebody. I've heard what you are saying all my life, and I believe my dad, who would have been 101 in March, told me he ran into the same thing from adults when he was a kid. I think Adam referred to Cain and Abel as brats too.

[thetalentedmrdiamonte]

Originally Posted by MomMom

My, my...who on here said kids were brats?

As I've stated before, in my post above, this particular argument transcends all generations and all different locales. It is not just something that is particular to Las Vegas.

The reason why we have so many parks here is because of the small yards, but that too, is quite ordinary in any of the Southwestern cities and California as well. You are correct though, more houses on an acre means more money, so greed is the motivation for building homes so close together. Again, it is not particular to Las Vegas.

And 2 million people in the metro area? There's 2 million in the entire valley which includes the cities of Las Vegas, North Las Vegas, Unincorporated Clark County and Henderson. There's about 1/2 million +/- in the Las Vegas Metro area.

Las Vegas needs to grow up? Ummm...no. It's a place built for adults, always has been and always will be. We can't help that families with kids have found it nice here too, so in my opinion, with all the amenities for families that the city has spent money on to accomodate them, I don't think the city has to "grow up"

Again, the issue of people being irritated by kids playing the street is not particular to just one city....it's been happening all over and long well before you were born!

When I referred to 2 million residents in the metro area, I was referring to the city of Las Vegas, Henderson, North Las Vegas, Boulder City, and unincorporated Clark County. Metropolitan area. Not the Metro police area. If you go to the United States Census Bureau's website, it'll mention that Las Vegas MSA surprassed the 2 million threshold in 2008.

[thetalentedmrdiamonte]

Originally Posted by MR77

I don't know the answer to your question, but I have a big problem with these little brats playing and skateboarding in the neighboorhood where I live in the southwest part of town. They dont even move out of my way. I have to drive around them. Sometimes if I honk at them they sort of shift over to the side of the road. One of them is gonna get hit by someone one day. I've seen the dad of one of these kids standing in the garage and witnessing how his clueless his child is to traffic and he does nothing about it.

When I was a kid we would play in the road. If we saw a car coming we'd get the hell out of the way. But these kids have no fear. Too bad there are not some train tracks near by these kids could go play on.

And Mom Mom, he said brats.

[jfkIII]

Originally Posted by PinkString

Where I live, kids play in the streets with their skateboards, scooters and bikes. There are 3 parks within walking distance, and one park inside the community. But they play in the street. Maybe they can't read, but their parents can. It specifically states for the kids to NOT play in the street. For their safety and others.

Pink, I'm going to take 2 guesses here as to why they don't go the parks:

1) Their parents are fearful of their child getting abducted or hurt, and them not being right there to prevent it from happening.

2) The kids are your typical kids who feel the park is too far away in case they want a drink, get snacks, or to lug equipment. Mind you, even if the park is 1 block over...they feel it further than the house and hence, the street becomes their playground.

My parents used to order us to go play in the parks...and sure I would get hurt and limp home sometimes...once I was even threatened by a bigger bully with a knife...but somehow we all survived. I never wore a bike helmet and put over 1400 miles (odometer) on my 3-speed. It's just a different time and generation. No wonder childhood obesity is at a high.