While not defending all the points of the original article, the suburban defense hardly deals with some of the valid points raised. Replacing public playgrounds with "safer" private play sets contained within your properties picket fence boundaries, is a poor replacement on many levels.

One of the major tradeoffs made between urban and suburban living is the use of public space. Urban living often requires the shared use of public areas to augment the limited personal space available. Suburban living continues to try to wastefully recreate these once public spaces as self contained additions to the private home. In this article it takes the form of once public playgrounds.

Socially they are inadequate, limiting interaction to much smaller groups. Also, by combining these areas with the home it prevents exploration of other places. While this may be more popular out of the rising fear of the unknown, studies continue to show it can harm children’s development.

Environmentally this continues the wasteful trends of the suburbs. Instead of a single playground providing enjoyment to numerous neighborhood children for those brief years when they will seek it out, we replace them with multiple, wasteful copies. As the families age, they sit neglected and unused, like skeletal relics of childhood.

The reply from Mrs. Larimore completely ignores the actual issues. Instead defending those choices by saying her children enjoy these toys. They may enjoy them now, but what about in 5 years? Then these objects will join the rest of the wasteful suburban existence. They could just as easily have enjoyed shared spaces as well.

This may be true of older neighborhoods, but many newer neighborhoods, especially in So. Cali where I live are master planned communities with little or no backyards (unless you have a million dollars to spend and few do) and also have community parks. My detached condo neighborhood has its own community park and another Pool area that is shared with three other surrounding neighborhoods.

So, older neighborhoods maybe can be re-done a bit better, but the new ones usually already are at least where I am.

"Instead defending those choices by saying her children enjoy these toys. They may enjoy them now, but what about in 5 years? Then these objects will join the rest of the wasteful suburban existence."

Haven't you city people heard of the Salvation Army or Goodwill? Women's shelters? Out here, they glady accept donations of gently-used play equipment and toys. That's not wasteful, it's called re-use.

Maybe you just turn your noses up at such things?

So it is okay to make a large environmentally unfriendly purchase so long as you give it away? That’s nonsense. This is like saying you can purchase a giant gas-guzzling SUV but offset the environmental costs by giving it away after years of use. By purchasing it in the first place you create demand for the item to exist, and thus support the damage it creates.

Comparing children's playsets to an SUV is obscene.

However, I would ask what percentage of these toys actually get reused? I doubt its a high number. Assuming that "city folk turn your noses up at these things", is pretty obnoxious too. Why would you imagine anyone doesn't like Good Will?

Well I live in the suburbs, in a neighborhood full of townhomes with no backyards, or small communal yards. There ARE public, community playgrounds. The playground equipment is covered in graffiti, there is trash everywhere, and the last time I took my 5 year old and 3 year old there to play there were high school kids hanging out screaming profanities at each other and into their cell phones, and grade school/middle school age kids having a rock throwing fight. I suppose I could have tried to intervene, but I didn't really feel I would be very effective alone against about 10-15 obnoxious kids. Plus, while the playground is down the street, I can't just let my kids go out and play there because they are too little. So I have to go with them, which I don't mind, but I simply don't have the time or ability to do so every day, or for a couple hours at a time. I would LOVE to have a backyard I can fill with toys so my kids can go outside whenever they please and play in peace. I would probably buy them all at Goodwill, too, since the few things we already have in our screened-in porch were acquired that way. I'll take a "wasteful" backyard over a "safe" public playground any day.

Jen13 - those are all very good points. Luckily we don't have that problem (yet) in my town, but there was a pedophile that was hanging about in town taking pictures of the kids and putting them on his website so that other pedophiles could check out the "merchandise" in different areas. Since he wasn't doing anything illegal, there wasn't much to stop him (except my 9mm, of course! Sorry, I just had to throw that in! Moving on . . .)

This is not the "good ole days" when kids could wander freely all over the place and other neighbors would look out for your kids, etc. Heck, my mom and I and my daughters were at the mall Friday afternoon, and a bunch of punks were yelling across the mall to each other using disgusting profanities.

It's nice when people make statements about these things, but they don't understand the personal reasons why people live in the suburbs or don't take their kids to the park.

And, again, the solution as far as the environment goes, is not to "ban" them or ridicule the suburbs, it's just to do a better job in the future at building them and do something now about the commute.

Also, they are not taking into account the weather in different suburbs. In the middle of summer, where I live, the only place to take the kids is to somewhere indoors or stay home. It's 100 degrees or more! Not conducive to most parks even in the shade. Besides, I'm sure if I tried to take them to play like that, someone would call CPS on me for exposing my children to the heat!

Honestly, that's what happens when people make generalizations about things. It's really pointless.