I'd love to see -- gasp! -- anthropologists devising a study that observed children in various types of play spaces ... probably this has been done. How are these spaces perceived by kids of different ages? It's been commented by these supposedly horrible urban-design critics that suburbs of the post-war type are good places for little children, but -- depending on how they're built -- stifling for older ones.

While a suburban outdoor slide-and-climb compound is probably great for preschoolers thru 1st grade, a lot of those pods seem too small in scale for school-aged kids.

And while a yard and the immediate few houses form a good boundary for 10-and-unders, teenagers need to roam in *relative* safety throughout the neighborhood and to businesses ... Because they either aren't old enough to drive or, if 16-18, are risky and inexperienced drivers, cities can serve teens a lot better than cul-de-sac type areas.

A big problem for kids is lack of physical activity. A walkable, bike-able neighborhood could provide this more naturally than a Wii or even being driven to many sports practices.

((Of course, I do hear what Maureen is saying ... part of making cities livable is strong school systems. That is a chicken-and-egg thing ... as long as only poor families with no other options are there, it will be impossible for administrators to make them places that many middle-class people will realistically consider. And with middle-class tax base flowing out of the big city schools, that becomes even harder.))

Back to playing ... as a kid, we gravitated to the most dangerous things to climb on, and the most wild, wooded places. I remember when the plastic, shorter slides came into being, I was probably about 9. We HATED them, and stuck with the tall swingsets and the tornado slide, which hadn't yet been ripped out. The kiddie me hated it when adults micromanaged for safety.

If I were a parent, of course I would take all due responsibility, but I would also feel terrible about the current cultural expectation that parents deprive children -- especially older ones -- of independent play and exploration in exchange for meticulously calibrated safety.

For me, this discussion, ironically and sadly, has confirmed my inclination NOT to have children.