https://boards.hellobee.com/ Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting blog, by Hellobee en Thu, 28 May 2026 05:17:00 +0000 https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/one-and-done-moms-and-moms-of-school-aged-kids-what-type-of-neighborhood#post-2535297 Wed, 27 Apr 2016 17:06:09 +0000 Chuckles 2535297@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@yoursilverlining: That sounds so perfect!<br /> @hilsy85: Me too! When we look at houses in the suburbs, I immediately also search for places in our current neighborhood. Maybe I'm just not ready to move, but we really need more space and can't afford anything bigger where we are.<br /> Sorry to not respond to everyone individually, but everyone has great thoughts on this topic. I'm glad to know it's not just me who worries about this, and that I'm not crazy for not buying a great house, but in a not-so-friendly neighborhood. It is true that you can't predict who will move in/out, and neighborhoods do change. Also, if we did have a second, they would be 4 years apart, so not the same sort of playmate that siblings would have who are closer in age. So it would still be an important consideration. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/one-and-done-moms-and-moms-of-school-aged-kids-what-type-of-neighborhood#post-2535274 Wed, 27 Apr 2016 16:30:50 +0000 honeybear 2535274@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I would go hang out at the local parks in the afternoons/on weekends and drive by the neighborhood you're interested in after school is out on weekdays. That should give you some sense of what to expect. I did that and it worked well. We found a place where there are lots of children and my LO doesn't even have to leave the block to find friends to play with. </p> <p>Also, if you find a place where there are kids, but everyone is inside/off doing activities/in their backyards, you can always start to change the culture. We do our own gardening, and that forces us to be outside in our front yard a lot, so we naturally meet pretty much everyone. There are a lot of people who go for walks around the neighborhood even if they don't have kids. (One caveat on the gardening: Being on a ride-on mower or pushing a motorized lawnmower is not conducive to "Operation: Meeting Neighbors and Making Friends." The noise kind of kills conversation, you know? Go for something that is more pleasant to care for like a big flower bed instead. And get a reel mower for the grass. :) ) </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/one-and-done-moms-and-moms-of-school-aged-kids-what-type-of-neighborhood#post-2535234 Wed, 27 Apr 2016 15:35:45 +0000 DillonLion 2535234@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Our entire town is packed with young families, and there are children LOs age next door and across the street. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/one-and-done-moms-and-moms-of-school-aged-kids-what-type-of-neighborhood#post-2535209 Wed, 27 Apr 2016 15:10:57 +0000 Truth Bombs 2535209@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@hilsy85: I think it depends on the size of the suburb you choose. I live in a pretty small "neighborhood" of a larger metro city. I can barely go to the grocery store without running in to friends. And we constantly pass each other on the street (we're driving so we just wave) but usually it's followed up with a text check in that will often result in "ok, meet you at the playground in 5". </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/one-and-done-moms-and-moms-of-school-aged-kids-what-type-of-neighborhood#post-2535203 Wed, 27 Apr 2016 15:02:00 +0000 hilsy85 2535203@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>This is what scares me about living in the suburbs! We were thinking about moving to a suburb and I used Google Earth to look at pics--there was NO ONE on the street. Granted that's probably not the best way to judge, but still. One of things I love about living in a city is that we run into friends outside all the time. I feel like that's much harder when everyone just plays in their yard or drives everywhere. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/one-and-done-moms-and-moms-of-school-aged-kids-what-type-of-neighborhood#post-2535199 Wed, 27 Apr 2016 14:54:06 +0000 Truth Bombs 2535199@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I think part of this depends on the cost of your home as well. We live in a neighborhood with relatively expensive homes so a lot of the owners are older and therefore not as many young kids. Lots of retirees, and families with high school age kids. But we got super lucky that a family with a daughter 6 months younger than ours bought the house next door 1 month after we did. We sit in our front yards/driveways and play in the evening at least 3 times a week. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/one-and-done-moms-and-moms-of-school-aged-kids-what-type-of-neighborhood#post-2535179 Wed, 27 Apr 2016 14:15:31 +0000 looch 2535179@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Chuckles: interesting, I didn't have that, we lived in a neighborhood with older people with grown children. There was one family that lived next door to us with a kid my age, and we were friends from the time we were 3 when i went over to see if she wanted to play with me, lol. But that was it in our 'hood. I wanted something different for my son, but it hans't really worked out that way. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/one-and-done-moms-and-moms-of-school-aged-kids-what-type-of-neighborhood#post-2535170 Wed, 27 Apr 2016 14:01:42 +0000 yoursilverlining 2535170@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We live in a very family-kid-friendly neighborhood, and it was one of the selling points of our house. Of course things can change, but most of the families intend to stay here and raise kids here and want a family-friendly neighborhood. We live on a cul-de-sac with about 10 homes and the overwhelming majority of homes have children. There are 14 kids between the ages of 16 months to about 10/12. LO will go to school with at least 1 of the other girls and has a gang of girlfriends within 1 year of her age. </p> <p>Most of the kids are out playing every evening night (that’s decent weather) and they all play back and forth all weekend. There are enough of each age range that you’ll see the little packs of older kids playing hoops, the younger ones together playing, etc. Last weekend, one girl 1 year older than my LO just showed up at our house around 11am to see if LO could play :silly: , so we invited her in and they played for several hours together. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/one-and-done-moms-and-moms-of-school-aged-kids-what-type-of-neighborhood#post-2535169 Wed, 27 Apr 2016 13:58:40 +0000 Mamaof2 2535169@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Chuckles: I grew up in a neighborhood like that too and would love for my kids to experience it! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/one-and-done-moms-and-moms-of-school-aged-kids-what-type-of-neighborhood#post-2535166 Wed, 27 Apr 2016 13:56:58 +0000 T-Mom 2535166@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Our neighborhood is filled with kids, and our zoned public elementary school where my DD goes is literally inside the neighborhood. However, the kids' ages varies completely from street to street. Our street has mainly high school students. There are a few families with elementary age students on our street but the kids don't play together much because we are on different evening and weekend schedules. However, a friend of mine lives a few streets over and her street always has kids in the street playing. Sometimes it's kind of hard to control or predict this kind of thing. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/one-and-done-moms-and-moms-of-school-aged-kids-what-type-of-neighborhood#post-2535164 Wed, 27 Apr 2016 13:55:35 +0000 catlady 2535164@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I think about this a lot. I think sometimes it just depends on luck if you end up in a neighborhood with families or not. I grew up playing with neighborhood kids all the time, and I'd love for LO to have that too, but we probably wouldn't make a decision to buy or not around that. That said, we currently live in a neighborhood with very few kids and we are definitely going to move before LO starts K. Our plan right now is to move to a strong school district and presumably there will be lots of families living there for the same reason. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/one-and-done-moms-and-moms-of-school-aged-kids-what-type-of-neighborhood#post-2535161 Wed, 27 Apr 2016 13:50:32 +0000 LindsayLou 2535161@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>My neighborhood is absolutely filled with 7-12 year old boys. We moved on a year ago and My 10 year old step son is in heaven. It's a safe area, and a quiet street. They all play together--nerf gun battles mostly--right in the street. All of these houses have backyards, and there's an awesome park a block away, but they play in front of the houses. </p> <p>I don't think it's common, but it's absolutely possible. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/one-and-done-moms-and-moms-of-school-aged-kids-what-type-of-neighborhood#post-2535158 Wed, 27 Apr 2016 13:46:42 +0000 Chuckles 2535158@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@looch: I just remember playing outside with other neighborhood kids on the weekends and in the summer, where parents didn't have to organize a playdate, you just went outside to see who was out. I think it helps with the sense of community in the neighborhood. I know a family with a 9 and 12 year old and they are always talking about how their kids just run around between the houses, with a couple of parents around for supervision. I'd love a neighborhood like that. I know that might not be realistic though. We'll definitely have him in some organized activities, I'd just love to make sure he gets lots of unstructured play time with friends. And, as much as we can say we'll organize playdates, everyone is so busy and it's hard to set those up. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/one-and-done-moms-and-moms-of-school-aged-kids-what-type-of-neighborhood#post-2535156 Wed, 27 Apr 2016 13:45:27 +0000 T.H.O.U. 2535156@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Our neighborhood is "turning over" too. </p> <p>My SIL has had neighborhoods that have more kids, but most parents work full time and kids have activities so there just isn't as much time anymore. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/one-and-done-moms-and-moms-of-school-aged-kids-what-type-of-neighborhood#post-2535155 Wed, 27 Apr 2016 13:44:32 +0000 Mrs. High Heels 2535155@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Our neighborhood is super kid-friendly and full of young families. We live in an HOA community, so there is a well-maintained park specifically for our neighborhood. We often run into families there and talk to other parents while the kids play. DD made a friend recently with another girl in our neighborhood.. and that family will stroll by sometimes after dinner just to hangout for a bit.</p> <p>We live in a good school district, but when discussing if it was worth it to lottery into better schools, one thing that came up as a value for us was the importance of befriending some of the neighborhood kids and families. The chances of that happening are higher if she is going to the same zoned school, so zoned school it is. You're not alone in wanting that sense of community - we want it too and strive for it, and we live in the suburbs! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/one-and-done-moms-and-moms-of-school-aged-kids-what-type-of-neighborhood#post-2535152 Wed, 27 Apr 2016 13:39:23 +0000 looch 2535152@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Chuckles: haha, i can totally understand the nutty parents!<br /> I am sure people think i am a nut too, but man!</p> <p>What are your expectations? My son is an only child and I have to make the effort for him to have stuff to do on the weekends, because there just aren't kids around. And he's also not going to the neighborhood school come September, so i am thinking maybe involving him in the town's tee ball or cub scouting options. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/one-and-done-moms-and-moms-of-school-aged-kids-what-type-of-neighborhood#post-2535151 Wed, 27 Apr 2016 13:36:34 +0000 Chuckles 2535151@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@looch: right now we're on a dead end across from a school, so there's tons of kids around all the time. I think that's skewing my expectation a bit. That's true about the parents. There's a little boy in our building and, although he's a little too young to play with S, even if he were older, we'd never want to hang out with them because his parents are nuts. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/one-and-done-moms-and-moms-of-school-aged-kids-what-type-of-neighborhood#post-2535149 Wed, 27 Apr 2016 13:34:28 +0000 looch 2535149@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Our neighborhood is "turning over," in that a lot of families are now moving in as the old timers sell their homes.</p> <p>We have a school at the end of our street (dead end) so it's a popular street to ride bikes, so we see kids regularly. There's a family next door that has kids my son's age, but we don't see them that much, to be honest, mostly during the summer months.</p> <p>As for who he plays with, I've learned it is more important that I am comfortable with the parents, because if i don't want to spend time with them, I am surely not doing playdates, does that make sense? </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/one-and-done-moms-and-moms-of-school-aged-kids-what-type-of-neighborhood#post-2535148 Wed, 27 Apr 2016 13:33:25 +0000 Chuckles 2535148@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@mamaof2: Thanks. That makes me feel a little better. I don't know how common it is anymore. My friend lives on a street fairly close to the house we're looking at, and there are tons of kids out playing. But a big stretch of the street is townhouses without backyards, so I think that forces kids to play outside together. It was just so jarring to see all that community, and then drive a couple miles away to a super quiet block.<br /> And re your comment about the bus... my hope is that once he's in school with the neighborhood kids, it will happen more naturally, but I don't really know. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/one-and-done-moms-and-moms-of-school-aged-kids-what-type-of-neighborhood#post-2535146 Wed, 27 Apr 2016 13:31:22 +0000 Mamaof2 2535146@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We have a fairly large neighborhood (200 homes) and my 1st grader asked me the other day if any other kids lived there :bummed: </p> <p>I see older kids out all the time - probably 14 or so but never younger ones!</p> <p>Also, I work FT OTH, so maybe they are outside while we are gone??</p> <p>eta: Next year I want him to take the bus to school - mainly to meet other kids! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/one-and-done-moms-and-moms-of-school-aged-kids-what-type-of-neighborhood#post-2535142 Wed, 27 Apr 2016 13:23:39 +0000 Chuckles 2535142@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>How kid friendly is your neighborhood? Does your LO play with other kids nearby? I think, even nowadays, lots of kids play with the other kids on their block, especially as they get into elementary school, and I'm thinking this could be even more important if we end up being one and done, which seems likely. But I'm honestly not sure how much this happens anymore.</p> <p>Right now we live in a super kid friendly area of a big city, but we're looking to move to a nearby suburb. A couple places we've seen have kids playing outside on the block, and that seems like it would be so nice for our LO. But the house that we love, with a great yard, is on a seemingly very quiet block. It's perfectly fine, but we've driven around on two very nice weekend days and almost no one was out. I don't want our LO to feel isolated or miss out on that sense of community. Or maybe it's just me and I'll need to get used to suburban living. Thoughts? Thanks! </p>