Municipal Commissioner | Author of Your City is Sick I Speaker I Consultant I Founder, Revitalize, or Die. I Place Industry Advocate | Prefer to GSD
Blaming kids for not playing outside today is not just intellectually lazy, it’s counterproductive and allows us to ignore the retched environments we have constructed for them to inhabit. Kids haven’t changed, there are just so many fewer places for them to enjoy the freedom of actually being a kid today. This episode of A Matter of Place is a short one, you can check it out here- https://lnkd.in/eG2mDhsM
A big part of the problem is that we have lost the street on which kids live as a place to play. (For centuries, there were no 'playgrounds'... the street was the only playground.) I explain the vicious cycle of how we lost our streets as play space here... and how we can reclaim them for play... https://www.creativecommunities.com/reduce-traffic-speed
I understand what you’re getting at here but I have a different perspective. Kids have changed. There is ample time, space and opportunity for kids to play. The kids of today choose differently. In many cases they prefer technology, gaming or other indoor activities over active outdoor recreation. When I was growing up we didn’t have to travel far or search too hard for places to play. We created spaces and opportunities. We played in the front or back yard, the vacant lot next door, school yards, church grounds and in the public parks in my small town. These same spaces and opportunities exist for most children today.
The world the Baby Boomers Built is not a world anyone enjoys existing in…
Maybe there is a little more to it than the physical component of suburbs. I grew up in a suburban exurban environment where it wasn't exactly Hometown, USA, but where we could find playmates, friends and things to do. Why? Not because of high density, but because there were undeveloped, informal spaces - mostly rural - and formal and informal activities. Most importantly, there was the psychic community which allowed access to association with many others.
They say these are car centric environments. I don’t want to take my car there. ??
So true
Counting Crows " They Paved Paradise and Put Up a Parking Lot" ????
Excellent point! ??
Sad, at best.
Solving place problems with tech one town at a time
8 个月That we have so many manufactured spaces specifically for kids play (parks and playgrounds) that require a car to get there is all you need to note about how kids are prioritized in the built environment.