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We have outgrown our 2 bedroom beach-front condo in Brooklyn and are looking to (maybe) buy a house in the suburbs.
We have been around Ridgewood/Glen Rock area of NJ and noticed that there no kids or adults outside anywhere. We drove to a community park, and noticed very few people there also. This is on a sunny winter weekend.
In the city, the kids just come out and play with other kids. There is always somebody outside.
My initial impression of the suburbs is that everybody is pretty much under house arrest.
Is this really the case ?
We are afraid of making a mistake on this one.
If moved into suburbs recently or if you reside in the suburbs, please voice your take on this.
Did this happen on the exact same sunny weekend that you had the exact same experience in Syosset/Woodbury?
We actually are all under house arrest and it would be a violation of our sentencing to tell you about all the towns in NJ that have vibrant downtowns and tons of kids playing outside.
Also, I would need to be sure that you aren't that guy riding around in the van with the blacked-out windows offering candy; I wouldn't want to enable your "activities".
Lets be real. Today's children are not as active as past generations.
Yeah I know, we walked to school up hill both ways and with no shoes.
Kids today would rather play video games or be texting to someone than to actually be playing outside whether it's the summer or winter.
When was the last time you saw a family of 4 or more at a restaurant actually talking to each other? Even the parents are on their cell phones or iPads.
The family unit is gone. Hence the reason kids are obese and getting fatter and lazier.
Lets be real. Today's children are not as active as past generations.
Yeah I know, we walked to school up hill both ways and with no shoes.
Kids today would rather play video games or be texting to someone than to actually be playing outside whether it's the summer or winter.
When was the last time you saw a family of 4 or more at a restaurant actually talking to each other? Even the parents are on their cell phones or iPads.
The family unit is gone. Hence the reason kids are obese and getting fatter and lazier.
Like anything else, there is some truth to this, and some of it is just hype. We were out to dinner last Saturday at a bar and grill type place and there were more than a few families interacting as normal. The parents set the tone-if they can't put down their devices then of course their kids won't. I wouldn't think of picking up my Blackberry at the dinner table and neither would my wife. We also see lots of folks out at the parks/in the woods with their kids. We take our 17 month old hiking in a Kelty Carrier so that she can go everywhere we can go, and when she's old enough she'll be on the trail right beside us. All of that said I do think that some parents are a little too fearful and don't let their kids play outside the way they did as children. That's sad.
Lets be real. Today's children are not as active as past generations.
Yeah I know, we walked to school up hill both ways and with no shoes.
Kids today would rather play video games or be texting to someone than to actually be playing outside whether it's the summer or winter.
When was the last time you saw a family of 4 or more at a restaurant actually talking to each other? Even the parents are on their cell phones or iPads.
The family unit is gone. Hence the reason kids are obese and getting fatter and lazier.
in my neighborhood the kids are like roaming buffalo across all our yards and in the woods (most of us don't have fences).
i see families interacting all the time - watch out camaro, you're showing your age
Like anything else, there is some truth to this, and some of it is just hype. We were out to dinner last Saturday at a bar and grill type place and there were more than a few families interacting as normal. The parents set the tone-if they can't put down their devices then of course their kids won't. I wouldn't think of picking up my Blackberry at the dinner table and neither would my wife. We also see lots of folks out at the parks/in the woods with their kids. We take our 17 month old hiking in a Kelty Carrier so that she can go everywhere we can go, and when she's old enough she'll be on the trail right beside us. All of that said I do think that some parents are a little too fearful and don't let their kids play outside the way they did as children. That's sad.
and the funny thing is it's safer than it was 20-30 years ago. it's the barrage of information via 24 hour news that instills fear, IMHO.
We have outgrown our 2 bedroom beach-front condo in Brooklyn and are looking to (maybe) buy a house in the suburbs.
We have been around Ridgewood/Glen Rock area of NJ and noticed that there no kids or adults outside anywhere. We drove to a community park, and noticed very few people there also. This is on a sunny winter weekend.
In the city, the kids just come out and play with other kids. There is always somebody outside.
My initial impression of the suburbs is that everybody is pretty much under house arrest.
Is this really the case ?
We are afraid of making a mistake on this one.
If moved into suburbs recently or if you reside in the suburbs, please voice your take on this.
Any input appreciated.
Not just in NJ but all over. Parents are more into "organized play" and it usually entails paying for something. I often take the kids to the park to ride bikes or throw a ball around and am often the only parent around. In some cases I think the parents are too into "their thing" to give the kids that much attention.
Dear HalfFull, amazingly enough we have been looking BOTH around Bergen Co, NJ and Nassau Co, Long Island because both sides of the river are within commute range to Manhattan. One weekend we go exploring Bergen Co, another Nassau Co, for real.
I opened this thread on NJ forum because I am hoping to get advice from someone who knows NJ well.
Maybe to a native New Jerseian it seems natural to stay indoors year round and my interest in getting fresh air is exaggerated, but if this is the case, I do need to know.
If you guys honestly think that the only people who venture outdoors are the ones from the dangerous predator list, slowly driving tinted vans, then NJ might not be for me.
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