Hellobee Boards

Uhhhhhh. We used to live in a lower income area (surrounding area around our neighborhood). The kids in areas around us live in the trailer park or in homes that aren't in neighborhoods. What do you want them to do? Miss out on trick-or-treating because they aren't "allowed" to go to neighborhoods where they can hit 50 homes in 2 hours? Nope.

We will trick-or-treat in our neighborhood. I think if we didn't have a lot of houses around, we would go to another neighborhood, too!

We do trick or treat in our neighborhood. It's not the best because it is a bit spread out but we'll use the wagon. I think it's nice to see our neighbors for things like this so I wouldn't want to go to a different neighborhood.

There's a wealthier neighborhood across the street where the houses are actually closer together so maybe the kids will want to go there someday but I'd encourage them to stay here for the neighborly feel.

I suspect that the real issue isn't about trick or treating in that article. It's about people that don't belong there and the unfounded fears that go along with it.

We have tons of people that come to our neighborhood and I am all for it. When we're done handing out candy, we just turn off our lights.

@looch: I agree.

We live in a neighborhood that lots of people come to. I think its because the neighborhood has a lot of children that live here, and because there isn't a through street to another road, so it is relatively safe for pedestrians.

When I come home from work, I expect that there will be cars parked in every available street parking spot between homes. I don't have a problem with it, but it can get a bit overwhelming with 85-100+ kids. (I counted the last year and the year before). When I run out of candy, I will turn off the porch light but people will ring the door bell because they can see our inside lights are on. We also get kids knocking on our door until quite late -- 9 or 9:30 last year. I don't mind giving out lots and lots of candy, but it is kind of exhausting trying to manage my own kids and handing out candy to so many kids.

We don't but only because nobody gives out candy! There is an apt. complex next to us and none of the kids come over, plus there are few kids living in our neighborhood. So we go to my husband's boss' house for a party and trick or treating.

We stay in our neighborhood because it's a great neighborhood for trick or treating. Sidewalks and lots of houses close together. If we lived somewhere where the houses were far apart, or on a busy street, I would definitely go to a more walkable neighborhood.

We live in an apartment building, and our son is too young for TOTing. But we're going to our friends' house for the third year in a row to hang out and give out candy. They live in a nice neighborhood that goes all out for Halloween, and last year we counted over 700 kids. Yes, a lot of them are not from the neighborhood and drive in from lower income areas or (I'm guessing) apartment buildings. Some don't speak English. No one is bothered, though. Personally, I'd rather hand out free candy to kids who don't get a lot of treats and gifts all the time than ones who do anyway...

We live in a very kid heavy development. We'll just take her out in our neighborhood. I think going to a neighborhood you don't live in (and have no connection to) is kind of weird. As a parent, the fun part of it is seeing the neighbors.

We live in an apartment complex so no one hands out candy where we live. Luckily the local university has a super cute event where all the students in one of the dorms hand out candy (all of their rooms open onto a grassy area). It's perfect because my 3 yo will be able to hit a ton of "houses" in a short span of time, there will be no cars, and it's super safe.

In our old city, there is a street where the residents specifically set up for lots of non- local kids. Everyone goes insane with decorations and buys thousands of pieces of candy. It was a good option since our street didn't have street lights or sidewalks.

We live in an apartment building, so no TOTing here. There also aren't too many kids that live in the complex, so I'm sure they go to the surrounding neighborhoods. DS is almost 2, so we took him to a church doing a trunk or treat thing last night instead.

I think it's important to TOT in our neighborhood. It's a nice way to meet the neighbors.
I lived on the busy TOTing street in grad school kids would come in from the country to TOT on my street. It was awesome but so expensive!

We live in a nice, middle class neighborhood (not wealthy by any means, but suburbia with lots of young families). We ToT in our neighborhood and tonight I told my DH that I bet a lot of the kids we saw don't live here. Doesn't bother me at all! There are a few similar neighborhoods around here, but also low-income areas. Also, there are lots of country roads with not many houses. I'm sure our neighborhood is more fun with the tons of kids around and cool decorations where you can hit many more houses in the less time.

We stick to our neighborhood. We live in a fair neighborhood with a good mix of pleasant neighbors. Not every house participates, but those that do seem to genuinely enjoy seeing the littles dressed up.

I get a little irked that our treat bucket on our porch empties quickly. But I try to remember that I spend less than $50 on it all (candy and non-candy goodies) and if taking a handful is what is going to make the kids happy then so be it. I don't necessarily want extras but when it empties in 20 minutes and the streets are quieting down...

Our street is really dark and the houses are far apart. We go visit a family friend (they have older kids who are always out ToTing, but the dad stays home and loves seeing our kiddos) and ToT in that area. The houses are also way closer together for little legs, and there are more houses that participate, and also more people around for safety.

ETA: We also don't have a sidewalk, which makes a big difference as well.