[breakbread]

I grew up in Madison/Ridgeland, Ms, where I did experience this. To some extent, at least. I had neighborhood friends. We rode bikes, crossed the tracks to go to the comic book store, etc.

Still, I’ve always romanticized the big city. Never lived it, though, so maybe it’s a grass-is-greener thing, but maybe I’ll be able to give it a whirl someday.

[seanmcdirmid]

Grass is greener for me, but you have to choose the right big city, and those cities are expensive because lots of people make the same conclusions.

As a curiosity, I checked out the neighborhood I used to live in on google maps to see if they had put any parks or sidewalks since. Nope, exactly the same.

[ethbr1]

Parks are sanitized vacant lots.

The important thing is just having some sort of space, as the article puts it.

>> As described by Ray Oldenburg, “third places” are locations where locals can meet, interact, and relax in a place that isn’t their home or place of work. In these locations, kids get the chance to socialize and develop intellectually. American suburbs don’t have these places.

There's rightfully no stipulation whether that's a corner store, mall, park, empty lot, or wild area.

The important thing is that it's accessible to kids and parents aren't around.