[tremon]

Cities dwellers lose out on such things

Depends on the environment. I grew up in a city, but your first paragraph matches my childhood pretty well.

Our neighborhood was a cluster of short, twisty streets, with narrow roads and broad sidewalks. Our street had about 40 houses/apartments (mixed zone), and at least 10 of those had school-going children. In my street, I was one of the oldest so I mostly played with a few other kids from "'round the block", but I never needed to go beyond a 100meter-radius from my home.

Our moms took turns doing the school runs, supervising the little ones when they were outside, even cleaning or babysitting if needed. But right now, I don't see much of this happening where I live: a faceless street with a broad road and narrow sidewalk, more than 100 apartments but hardly anyone knows each other. Maybe it's just because I don't have children so I don't look for it, but I hardly ever see children playing outside on the streets here.

[prawn]

One thing that doesn't help at all: cars. I grew up riding bikes and skating on our street. The street was almost entirely free of parked cars. That same street now would have a dozen parked cars most days. Some houses will have a car or two in their driveway and another couple on the street. All of those cars reduce visibility to the point that I wouldn't let my kids play unsupervised on that street - risk of a car reversing out, of the kids riding out of a driveway into a passing car, of a skateboard hitting a parked car, etc.

Despite our best efforts, our kids are largely oblivious to the danger of cars. I don't know what's changed on that front.

[wussboy]

I live in the suburbs, and that lifestyle is more or less impossible for my children. Everything is a car-drive away, which means that everyone drives which means that cars are everywhere. It's the opposite of a virtuous circle.