I live in a mid-atlantic state suburb and I have a kid. Yes, I have seen some of what you're saying here, but it's really an overstatement. We have lots of lovely playgrounds and every time I take my child I see other kids playing.

I live in a neighborhood of cul-de-sacs and I always see and hear kids playing out in the streets. It's a little annoying, actually.

There are a lot of playsets in backyards around here and so far we've resisted the urge because I know it would sit abandoned back there. However, I have an only. My neighbor has 2 kids and they are always playing on their set.

I was wondering the same thing. I also live on a cul-de-sac and there are children living in practically every house, including my son. They play outside together almost every day, riding skateboards and bikes, building "forts" with odds and ends from each kids garage, and doing general kid things. When it gets hot out (I live in Florida) I set up the sprinkler and let the kids run around in my backyard. Of course, all this outside play for this group of kids leads to the flip side of the story, neighbors who complain about kids "running wild" through the neighborhood. The people who have the types of beautiful gardens the author described also put up little reflector lights on poles so people won't get too close to their lawns, and hover behind their curtains spying on the kids so they can catch them sneaking an orange from their yard. So you can't win. The kids are either lazy drones hooked up to Wii all day, or wild savages running amok in suburbia.

And regarding playgrounds, we also have some amazing play structures at our public parks. We don't have monkey bars on gravel, but we have rock climbing walls, giant sprial slides, play structures shaped like a pirate ship, spinning rides, tire swings, and all kinds of opportunities for playground accidents the experts say I am so concerned about (even though I have never witnessed any sort of playground tragedy). But there are also some parks, even some in good neighborhoods, where people go to do their naughty business. Even at my playground, in a great suburban area where you might find a dozen young mothers with their babies at the weekly mom's group meeting lounging on the swings, I have found used condoms by the play equipment, found evidence of drug use in the parking lot, and seen some guy who appeared to be meeting up with a prostitute during his lunch break. It is kind of creepy to know that the park where my kids play is the park where John Smith meets his prostitute on his lunch break.

If you're in a neighbourhood where kids still run amok and play together outdoors, then count yourself lucky - that's a sign that the particular suburb is still thriving. As for the people who complain about children running around playing, I have trouble sympathizing with them unless the children were really outrageously rude or destructive. For ten years I lived in a suburb where there were children present, but almost never visible outdoors. I would have sacrificed some suburban silence to see them out and about.

I wouldn't worry about the naughty business either, as long as younger children have parental supervision and older children only play in groups. Pulling kids away from parks for fear of unsavoury characters only isolates the kids who still do play there, and emboldens the creeps. Same logic applies for suburbs being their safest when kids populate the public space and the eyes of the neighbourhood are on the street.

Peripheral Vision, excellent point about the parks. Families need to take the parks back, not shy away from them. The more kids and parents there, the fewer unsavory characters.