Suburbs with heavily utilized playgrounds

[memph]

Just wondering how common this is in American suburbs?

In Toronto suburbs, the new neighbourhoods pretty much all have heavily utilized parks/playgrounds even though there's a lot of them (at least one, if not several within a short walk). I suppose due to high residential densities, lots of families and the fact that the homes have at best a glorified patio for a backyard.

Although in Old Toronto, the commercial streets typically form the heart of the community, I'd say that in these new suburban neighbourhoods it's definitely the parks/playgrounds.

I posted a bunch of pictures from North Oakville in the photo section, including pictures of all the playgrounds (and commercial streets).
https://skyscraperpage.com/forum/showpost.php?p=9225785

The small parks are basically just playgrounds with a gazebo, and might have about a dozen users during afternoons/evenings with non-shitty weather. These pictures were taken around 5-6pm with 55F weather.


Larger parks, often attached to schools, would typically include spaces for a lot more sports/activities and have 50+ if not 100+ users.

[memph]

10 minute walk radius around the large multi-purpose parks (doesn't include stormwater retention pond parks, woodlots and ravines, only the ones with playgrounds and sports fields/courts).


5 minute walk radius around playgrounds.

[craigs]

Wow.

[Crawford]

I mean, what? Pretty much all sprawl containing lots of little kids will have heavily utilized playgrounds. You obviously need soccer fields, baseball diamonds, etc. and age-appropriate play structures.

Though I don't think there's much walking going on, in Canada or U.S., if you're hauling little ones with sports equipment.

[Steely Dan]

I grew up in pre-war railroad suburbia and had two neighborhood parks/playgrounds within a 5 minute walk of my house. Because lot sizes were somewhat small (at least compared to contemporary american sprawlburbia), they were always heavily used by neighborhood children.

I'm now in the city and my kids are a bit spoiled for playgrounds. 1 is a block south at their school, 5 more within a 5-10 minute walk, and 6 more beyond that in the 15 minute walking range. It's hard to get bored with playgrounds when you have a dozen different ones to choose from in your neighborhood.

[Handro]

Yes, Americans use neighborhood playgrounds.

[jd3189]

There are a few close to where I live in SoCal. Back in Florida, they also existed as part of a bigger recreational center.

[edale]

Are you really asking if American kids play on playgrounds like Canadian kids do....?

[memph]

Originally Posted by Crawford

I mean, what? Pretty much all sprawl containing lots of little kids will have heavily utilized playgrounds. You obviously need soccer fields, baseball diamonds, etc. and age-appropriate play structures.

Though I don't think there's much walking going on, in Canada or U.S., if you're hauling little ones with sports equipment.

Here's Carmel, IN for example. Indianapolis has suburbia that's fairly typical of the United States, and Carmel is more on the affluent side (as with Oakville), with some efforts towards New Urbanism.

Only about 30% of homes are within a 5 minute walk of a playground, compared to 90%+ for North Oakville.


Also, assuming the area within a 5 minute walk of the playground is fully developed, there would be about 250 homes within that range in this part of Carmel compared to 750 homes within 5 minutes in North Oakville.

The playgrounds do seem less utilized based off streetview, despite the fact that the Carmel streetviews were taken in June-July mostly when the weather was presumably nicer than the 55F sweater weather North Oakville experienced yesterday when I took my pictures. But maybe the Carmel streetviews were taken at 1:30pm when kids were in class.

I'm not sure what sports equipment has to do with this discussion. The pictures I showed weren't of kids playing high school football, it was just spontaneous gatherings of kids/families at playgrounds. Some might've brought balls, frisbees, scooters or tennis rackets, but I see no reason why you couldn't carry those 2 blocks by foot (or ride it in the case of the scooter). There were definitely kids walking to and from these parks when I was there.

[JManc]

Originally Posted by Crawford

I mean, what? Pretty much all sprawl containing lots of little kids will have heavily utilized playgrounds. You obviously need soccer fields, baseball diamonds, etc. and age-appropriate play structures.

Though I don't think there's much walking going on, in Canada or U.S., if you're hauling little ones with sports equipment.

To a playground? I can see soccer/baseball games but I live in the suburban of the suburban of areas and most kids/ parents who live fairly close walk to the school near my house.

[memph]

Originally Posted by Handro

Yes, Americans use neighborhood playgrounds.

Originally Posted by edale

Are you really asking if American kids play on playgrounds like Canadian kids do....?

I said heavily utilized playgrounds. Like if you show up there you'll almost certainly run into kids from several other families that you could befriend.

And in the case of the larger parks with sports fields/courts that are more appealing to the 10-15 years old that would have somewhat outgrown playgrounds, those typically had 50+ if not 100+ people when I was biking through them. These weren't the "go to park" in the whole suburb, just the average elementary school adjacent park (that every home in the neighbourhood had within a 10 minute walk).

And I mean like consistently heavily utilized, not just during perfect 75F weather and house league organized sports games. When the pictures were taken, it was more like 55F, so not freezing or raining but much more in the vein of "okay weather" than "perfect weather".

[JManc]

Originally Posted by memph

I said heavily utilized playgrounds. Like if you show up there you'll almost certainly run into kids from several other families that you could befriend.

Yes. On a pleasant day, playgrounds are almost always busy with the rugrats.

[TexasPlaya]

It's pretty much the same in suburban US. Pretty much every neighborhood in Austin or Houston (probably TX for the matter) built in the last several decades has had at least a small park.

A buddy lives in a massive master planned community in northwest Houston called Bridgeland and its built around a series of lakes and trails. Much of the new SFH development in Houston is built around detention ponds that also serve as parks and greenbelts.

[Crawford]

Originally Posted by JManc

To a playground? I can see soccer/baseball games but I live in the suburban of the suburban of areas and most kids/ parents who live fairly close walk to the school near my house.

There are really two playground typologies: play structures and sports fields. Yeah, for the former, you can just walk (providing environment is walkable), but organized sports usually require equipment. Not many parents are walking their two kids to hockey practice.

In sprawl, most of the time, the uses are combined in bigger parks. But in urban areas, the small playgrounds are usually scattered about everywhere, and usually separate from the sports fields, which are in bigger parks.

[Crawford]

Originally Posted by memph

I said heavily utilized playgrounds. Like if you show up there you'll almost certainly run into kids from several other families that you could befriend.

It's plausible that a Toronto playground may be more heavily utilized than an Indy playground, but that's a numbers game (higher density of families and less private playground space in back yards). But I don't think there's anything inherently different about how families in the U.S. and Canada utilize playgrounds.

[Steely Dan]

Originally Posted by Crawford

In sprawl, most of the time, the uses are combined in bigger parks. But in urban areas, the small playgrounds are usually scattered about everywhere, and usually separate from the sports fields, which are in bigger parks.

here in chicago, the 4 bigger city parks around us (welles, horner, winnemac, and river parks) that have athletic fields all have extensive (and sometimes multpile) playgrounds attached to them as well.

and of course we have the usual smattering of smaller urban playlots scattered in between.

and we walk/ride bikes to all of them all the time.

[edale]

Originally Posted by memph

I said heavily utilized playgrounds. Like if you show up there you'll almost certainly run into kids from several other families that you could befriend.

And in the case of the larger parks with sports fields/courts that are more appealing to the 10-15 years old that would have somewhat outgrown playgrounds, those typically had 50+ if not 100+ people when I was biking through them. These weren't the "go to park" in the whole suburb, just the average elementary school adjacent park (that every home in the neighbourhood had within a 10 minute walk).

And I mean like consistently heavily utilized, not just during perfect 75F weather and house league organized sports games. When the pictures were taken, it was more like 55F, so not freezing or raining but much more in the vein of "okay weather" than "perfect weather".

What's your point? I truly don't get the question or what you're trying to discuss here.

55F and sunny in March is about as good as it gets in Ontario, and those early spring-ish days always bring out tons of people-- especially when there's nothing else to do thanks to covid.

I get the sense this thread is more self-congratulatory BS about Canadian suburbs being denser than American suburbs, where people are more inclined to ride the bus and play at neighborhood playgrounds. As if the US is totally lacking in these things, and if only we were smart enough to look north for guidance. Frankly, it's trite at this point. Of course American kids go to playgrounds. Denser environments, where private play space is more limited, will have greater usage of parks and playgrounds. Duh. What is there to discuss?

[sloppy toppy]

I don’t see any HEAVILY UTILIZED playgrounds in the OP.

[homebucket]

Yep, many of the suburb areas of SF have lots of heavily utilized playgrounds and fields. You're probably never more than a 5 minute walk from one of them.

https://goo.gl/maps/UXqsoHTtrHuHnZFN9

https://goo.gl/maps/cfArKHZ6FASNqR1c7

https://goo.gl/maps/D8k8XyQZCZckxbfAA

https://goo.gl/maps/aamUjMYvBBpNhg3N6

https://goo.gl/maps/sKneDmjsGqANgxPm9

https://goo.gl/maps/bpVAme9GstbkhwrM8

[memph]

Originally Posted by Crawford

There are really two playground typologies: play structures and sports fields. Yeah, for the former, you can just walk (providing environment is walkable), but organized sports usually require equipment. Not many parents are walking their two kids to hockey practice.

In sprawl, most of the time, the uses are combined in bigger parks. But in urban areas, the small playgrounds are usually scattered about everywhere, and usually separate from the sports fields, which are in bigger parks.

Ontario suburbs definitely have a lot of local playgrounds apart from sports fields. It seems Carmel, IN does too, you just have to walk further to get to them.

Anyways, as far as I know, you don't play ice hockey on a soccer field... We're not talking about hockey arenas here, which even in Canada are much less common than sports field parks, like you might have one arena for every 10 sports field parks.

If you're going to the basketball court, badminton court, tennis court, skatepark, soccer field, or to play frisbee, you don't need to drive.