[KevinFromTexas]

Originally Posted by Tech House

Yes! What a welcome change, and a sign of a maturing downtown, to have children living there. I've had the privilege of knowing two families whose children grew up in a mix of skyscrapers and car-dependent gated communities (eg., Rob Roy on The Lake.) In one case, the kids had spent a few years in Manhattan (not the one in KS) and they absolutely LOVED it. In the other case, the kids lived in... oh, yeah, Manhattan (the one sometimes simply referred to as NYC, same as above), and they LOVED it.

Kids dig cities. Freaked out parents think that kids want lawns in sterile suburbs far away from the action, but kids dig action. The only thing kids like more, from my own personal experience, is a rural place where they can spend hours playing in creeks and woods and meadows.

Downtown and the country have this in common, they are both rich complex environments that hold a child's interest. They're full of wonder and surprise. Suburbs are stale, predictable, simple, controlled, controlling environments that make kids want to spend all day staring at screens, where they can get a virtual taste of the unpredictability and chaos that make life beautiful. Death to suburbia!

You wanna know something crazy? I grew up in the same neighborhood my parents did and even went to the same high school my parents did and most of my aunts and uncles. They grew up next door to each other and bought the house my dad's family lived in after my grandfather passed away in '83. When they grew up in this neighborhood in the 60s, it was out in the country. It was the last (first) subdivision this far south. There was nothing around for miles and they played in the fields and woods around the neighborhood. Now of course it's all built up and is in the middle of South Austin. The field where they played and ran from bulls is now a psychiatric hospital. That place opened up there in the late 70s and was bought out a few years ago. They tore it down and rebuilt it and also sold off part of it. That subdivided part is now being developed with townhomes, and it's such a crazy thing seeing lights on back there in windows and streetlights. Anyway, I ride my bike down the same streets my parents did as kids. They had their fun, and we had our's as kids. I also loved going downtown and treating the Capitol grounds as our playground. There was always a lot to see, and it no doubt encouraged my interest in everything urban.