[InitialLastName]

Does "kid friendly" for you include a means for your child to operate independently of you in the time between "go play outside" age and driving age? I ask because I grew up in a suburb where I had the equivalent of a small urban park's playground in my back yard, but the time between that playground being useful and when I could drive were terrible for me and for my parents (who had to drive me to almost anything I wanted to do) and would have been worse if I weren't able and interested in walking/biking 3 miles to the library or train station.

I was so very jealous of my friends who lived in more urban areas who could walk home from school and do things independently of their parents at 12 rather than 16+.

[jedberg]

This is something a lot of parents don't think of! As I keep my eye out for new houses, one thing I noticed is that no one emphasizes walkability in the suburbs anymore. It exists if you know where to look. Where I live now we can walk to some stuff. When my kids are older they will be able to walk or bike to the park, to school, to the shopping center to hang out, and I want to make sure it stays that way.

I certainly don't want to be on the hook to drive them everywhere like my parents were!

[throw_away_45]

For us it meant having enough established services such as good schooling, daycare, recreational activities within a reasonable distance.

One of the big stressors in hyper-growth cities has been that the infrastructure doesn't scale quickly enough and the waitlists for somethings can run months, if not years

E.g. daycare signups in parts of Austin