I grew up in a large home, in a neighborhood of other large homes. I'm one of six kids and all my neighbors also had large families. There was always someone to play with. We cut through each others yards with abandon on the way to "the ave". Kick the can, bloody murder, sardines were all games of my youth. I died a little bit when my neighbors sold their enormous house to a Wall Street broker with one kid. My childhood home was sold by my parents to someone also with one kid. My friend had a construction company in town and sent me photos of their "renovations". It literally now looks straight out of MTV cribs. I wish I hadn't opened the link.

Lars, I always had a fear of getting my foot stuck in between the rails. We often walked the tracks as a shortcut to get to the nearby mall but we pretty much knew the train schedules of the passenger train but didn't always know the freight train schedules. We liked the freight train engineers. If we were at a nearby park near the tracks the engineer would throw candy to the kids in the park. Some of my friends would dodge the trains but I was too afraid. When I was 16 my friend's boyfriend was killed by the train. We never knew if he committed suicide or if it was an accident. If I am in a car and the wigwams flash but don't come down I won't let them go through. I have a healthy fear of getting stuck on the tracks.

Oakley - worse. I'd sneak out with a girlfriend and we wouldn't run around. We DROVE. My mom's bedroom was on the other side of the house and I could start her car in the driveway, get it out and put back exactly as it had been left the evening before. We'd have to take the dog or he'd whine, essentially 'telling on us'. We were never caught, never caused or got into any trouble and my mother still doesn't know.

I did grow up in a neighborhood. We often walked or rode our bikes to school. It was rural/residential, outside city limits and had its own grade school. Once in junior high and high school and before having a driving license, we had to count on being driven to games and events, shopping. School was the bus, or I could walk down to a friends house and ride in with her and her father. He taught shop, and drivers Ed, would take the high school's drivers Ed car home at night and that was morning transportation many days.

I grew up in a small neighborhood - in the county. I've never lived in a city other than about 2 1/2 years when we first married. There were 9 houses in our small neighborhood. Large yards. My parents, grandparents and aunt and uncle lived at the end (dead end) of the road with divided acerage. Woods behind us. Railroad nearby. Dad recently sold his house and I still have my grandparents house - we rent it. Growing up there were only two houses in the neighborhood with kids. First we had kids over across the field that had two girls. Oh what fun we had, my sister and I and these two girls (my brother came along later). Their dad built a pirate ship back in the woods behind their house. We road bikes, played barbies outside, made mud pies and grass "vegetables". Always had a dog to play with us. We could walk to our elementary school. The middle school and high school were quite a distance away. The church multiple generations of my mom's family went to was just out on the highway. My friend lived near the church and we rode horses up behind her house. Later the girls near us moved away and a family with a boy and girl moved in. We are still friends with the daughter and her husband. Ran into her father just the other day. Hours upon hours were spent outside. The other family with kids had a boy my sister's age. He had siblings several years older than us. We always had friends to play with though, someone was spending the night with us or we spent the night with someone. There was a community "club" and pool not too far away and we always had a membership so summers were spent there. Once married, we first bought a house not too awfully far from mom and dad but later on wanted out further away, more rural. We've lived here 20+ years and things have built up a bit, we now have TWO grocery stores, more restaurants, even a Starbucks in our area. Our little "city" is unincorporated, so no city limits, it's made up of two counties. I would rather live further out and drive to some things and have our space and privacy. I am definitely not a city person. I love the quietness at night, you can sit out and it's so peaceful. Even in the daytime. Several farms in the area. Our kind of place!

I grew up right in the middle of a town of 15,000. I was a block from Main Street where the theater and the YMCA were located plus the 5 and 10 cent stores which I loved and always spent my allowance there. But on my bike, my friends and I could be in the country with creeks and woods 1/2 mile from town.

I grew up in a variety of smaller villages, towns and suburbs. All would qualify as neighbourhoods with walkable schools and such. I had an unhappy childhood, socially, so I wasn’t out playing kick the can all that much.

my husband and I would probably live in the country if it weren’t for Emmett. We don’t want him to have that trapped in the country, nothing to do, relying on us for drives type of feeling that can come on as kids get a little older. Right now we live in a medium dense urban neighbourhood (Mix single/multi family with about 3000-4000 sf lots) and if we move will keep a similar neighbourhood feel.

I will read comments later. I just feel like reminiscing first.

I grew up in Astoria in NYC. We lived on a block with a lot of kids. There we’re only two girls besides me. Susie and Dolly. Dolly didn’t last long. Her father was a Chinese diplomat. They were only there for a few years. There were a lot of languages spoken on that block.

We played Stickball, football, Kick the Can. We road our bikes all day during the vacations. We walked to the movies together. When we played on the block we’d “time out” when a car was coming. We had snowball fights in the winter and somebody’s father would hook up a sprinkler on the hot days.

If anybody did something wrong their parents would hear about. Usually from Susie’s grandfather who was always watching.

Then when I was about 8 or 9 my parents were able to go back to visit our relatives in the countryside in France every summer. Beautiful farmland. I loved it there. The total opposite! I remember finally getting there in the middle of the night after the endless drive from the airport in Paris. I couldn’t believe my eyes when I looked up at the sky. I will never forget the stars! Spending my summers there I milked cows, gathered eggs, helped feed the animals, and clean up after them. I treasure my memories of my time spent there.

I have fond memories of both, but countryside wins.

During elementary school, I lived in a fairly small town near Waterbury CT. The house was new construction in a new subdivision with almost all young families, so there were lots of kids to play with, which was great for me as I was an only child. We’d be out all day in “the woods“ which was really just an area of trees between two residential streets. We also had a “mountain” which was just a big mound of dirt on a house site that hadn't been built yet. We built forts all the time. The best was when a hurricane blew my parents’ metal shed away, leaving just the wood platform under it. We built a fort there soon after. Lots of bike riding and when I got older I was allowed to ride to the convenience store to buy candy, which was like The Ultimate Freedom then. I am still friendly with the girl who was my best friend back then.

We moved to another town when I was in 7th grade. Midway thru the school year — what a nightmare. I knew no one. Our house was smaller and older, but in a nicer neighborhood. It was a bigger town, and we lived walking distance from a shopping plaza, our church, etc. I eventually became best friends with a girl who lived across the street but otherwise there weren’t lots of kids in the neighborhood. My parents had great friends next store and across the street though, and we even sometimes spent holidays with them because our extended family lived so far away. My mother died in 1994 and my dad continued to live in that house until about 6 months ago. He loved that house.

I swore I would never make my kids move to another town after a certain age, because I was so traumatized from moving in 7th grade. We moved once, when my oldest was 4 and second was 8 months, and otherwise my kids lived in the same town for their whole childhood. We did move two years ago, but only about 1/2 mile away and by then two kids had moved out on their own. Our town is a small suburb of Boston and my kids were able to walk to school from K thru high school, walk to the town center, to parks, etc. It’s a pretty sleepy town but we can be in downtown Boston in about 20 minutes and in high school, my kids could take a public bus to Harvard Square for excitement.

I grew up in a series of bland, suburban settings near either a university or an Air Force base. They were all very similar in that they were safe for kids to wander and ride bikes, but not close enough to anything commercial for us to actually go anywhere for fun other than someone’s house or the occasional wooded or undeveloped area. There was a lot of spending the night/slumber parties on weekends, and a lot of bike riding, and a lot of hanging out at each other’s houses after school until it was time to go home for dinner. I have fond memories of my neighborhood from age 5-8. We would all gather to watch reruns of Lost in Space after school and then act out the episodes in the cul-de-sac.

I was a military kid, an only child for 12+ years, and never lived anywhere near other family. Grandparents and cousins were people you saw at Christmas and maybe in the summer. My parents alternated through phases of alcoholism and/or emotional instability. I was quite self-sufficient from a young age and quite stoic. I never really learned how to make and keep friends as a kid, because when you move around a lot, the mantra is typically “don’t worry. You’ll make new friends.” And I always did. But that gets harder as you get older, and I’ve made a conscious effort to maintain my adult friendships.

I grew up in a village and lived dead opposite the primary school, so no problem with getting to school for me.

As both Mum and Dad worked, I walked to my Aunts for lunch, and after school seemed to spend most of the time playing round a couple of friends houses, or down the Rec (recreation park) or riding round the village on my bike. I had a sister a couple of years older than me, so she kind of looked out for me as well I guess.

I was lucky in that I had a big extended family also living in the village, so I often house hopped to play with their children, and as everyone seemed to know everyone it seemed impossible to go anywhere without someone saying Hello or knowing you.

I was never bored other than sometimes on Sundays when the shops were closed, or we had to visit relatives who lived outside the village. This involved a lot of sitting down, both in the car, and then again once we arrived.

Other than that there was the beach, and Joyce’s old building yard where we’d sneak in and make dens out of the debris. Happy days.

Then along came High school. This meant a 3 mile bus ride, a uniform with a tie (which I refused to wear) and adolescence:(

Hi-lights included a friend waving a glockenspiel stick around and the end flying off to hit the music teacher on the back of the head, getting dough balls to stick on the ceiling in Cookery classes, locking our creepy History teacher in the book cupboard, and playing truant whenever possible. The huge saving grace was that my Dad ran a Youth Club, and there were a lot of local discos.

Once I’d left school it was get a job and start to dream about moving away. I hung out with a big group of friends and we had tons of fun but the confines of village life were really starting to get under my skin.

Various circumstances led to me leaving home just before I was 18, and a couple more moves not too long after that, led me to living where I am now, loving it, and staying.

So, great childhood, miserable adolescence at school but socially OK, and city life ended up being the one for me, although I do live on the outskirts of it now.

Mine was just like LGMD's. Only it was a copper mining town. Just like Mayberry. Lovely memories of it.

No, I did not. I would not have liked living that way. I lived in the country right along the river. I played in it, fished, rode my pony all over the place and had my dogs. Nearest neighbor was probably a half mile away. There were no other children to play with for many years. Just my sister and me. In my teen years there were two different girls that moved in a mile and a half away and I would ride my pony there and one of them had a horse and we had a lot of fun riding together and we played paper dolls. I am still very good friends with the other girl, with out the horse and we text everyday. Growing up there were usually cousins that would come over and spend the day at least once a week. Of course it was not all play. We had our chores to do too.

Sue

I grew up in a close knit, middle class neighborhood where a large group of the homeowners were all best friends. Lots of block parites and family gatherings. We walked to school, played baseball in the street and took care of each other when help was needed. We are still friends with the family who lived next door to us. The Mom is in her mid 80’s now and she’s the last of our parents still with us. We’ve also lost 2 of the kids (one from each family), but the rest of us are still in contact and manage to meet up every couple of years. Lots of good memories for sure.

I think unless you grew up on a farm or acreage everyone grew up in a neighbourhood. I actually live walking distance from the first home my parents owned. We could walk (and I still can) to the grocery store, corner store many gas stations, schools, churches, etc.. The only time I didn't live in a 'neighbourhood' was when we moved to Prince George BC and we lived on 2 acres in the middle of the bush. There was nothing out there except 2 to 10 acre lots with homes on them and we were surrounded by the Nechako River on 3 sides and Connaught Hill on the other. No stores. No gas stations. No churches or fire halls. It was heaven. Just wild life and nature at it's best. I would love to live that life again.

I grew up as a military dependent and lived both on base and off base, but never for very long at at a time.

On base, we had recreation centers, shopping, tennis courts, libraries and swimming pools. We roamed freely and it was safe.

I also lived in rural settings where we played outside all day, weather permitting. And we rode our bicycles into places that I would never have let my own kids do.

Back then we had no devices to keep us entertained. All we had was TV and that was limited to just a couple of channels and it went off at midnight.

Saturday morning cartoons were a real thing.

Kids played outside more in the past. I have now been in the same suburban neighborhood for 35 years and have seen the number of children playing outside to dwindle. Now, it has been some time since there have been any kids out in the col de sac. There are still some young children living on the street, but you never see them out, at all.

Husband grew up in one of these post war suburbs in New Jersey. He had the idyllic Norman Rockwell life. His family were living the new American dream, being second generation Italians who moved from the city out to the new suburbs. They had lots of freedom and played with a close neighborhood full of kids.

Back in those days kids were not told to not go outside because it is too cold or too hot. We were told to go outside because it was too hot in the house! That was back before so many houses had air conditioning. I also lived in Alaska and we stayed more indoors. But, still our main activity was each other.

Also, I don't see girls playing with dolls so much anymore. As sexist as it may be seen to be in our modern times, it was what girls did back then. We set up shop outside under the trees. We played with baby dolls and welcomed the fashion doll when she came onto the scene.

We lived on base in both base housing and base trailer parks as well as off base in a rural southern area.

Bicycles were our mode of transportation.

In rural South Carolina we had a place called a "trading post" where they sold Cokes and such. It was a treat to get a quarter and ride down there to get a Coke and a candy bar. Of course, you had to drink the Coke right there to leave the bottle. Back in those days we had no junk food or sodas or anything like that at home. Getting a soda was a real treat! We called all sodas "Coke".

With no junk food to gobble down, no electronic devices to enthrall us and not that many toys to play with, we played with each other in games and riding our bikes, with no hands and no helmets. Not that I am opposed to wearing bike helmets. We were just lucky, those who did not get injured.

On bad weather days we played board games, read books and I sat in front on my moms sewing machine and taught myself to sew when I was very young. My brothers built model airplanes.

When we lived on base, we had libraries. That is where I spent a lot of my time.

We had no organized activities or summer camps back in those days. At least, not anywhere I lived we didn't .

Life was so different.

Shee, your childhood sounds so very similar to mine! The icing on the cake was having my grandparents just up the hill. I can so relate to the chocolate covered eggs! LOL We were always doing something outside, maybe why I love it so much still. As for now, we are near two (actually 3 but one is a tourist area we avoid!) cities and within 30 minutes can drive to all types entertainment, etc. Not so much our cup of tea as we would rather spend time at local lakes and the mountain area. We would rather live a distance out from entertainment, etc. and drive if we want to go, than have it right near us. And I hear you about neighbors! We have good ones, but while we are friendly with them (feed cats for one LOL), etc. we don't really socialize with them. I love the privacy. I can walk out in my back yard in my nightie and never be seen. HA!

I'm pre-war (WWII) by a few months. I grew up in a white, upper middle class suburb northwest of Chicago -- pop. about 6000 then. Most men commuted to the city, often by rail. One-car garages were the norm; quarter-acre lots; newly-built 3/4 BR houses. SAH moms were the norm. Few families had more than three kids. At least six religious denominations in town. Paved streets, trees, lawns, municipal parks and pools, library, movie theater, shops, chain groceries, Scouts, Camp Fire Girls, Fourth of July parades, mens commerce clubs, a country club, good public schools. The City a few miles away.

IMO, it is *because* of the SAH moms that my friends and I were safe roaming outdoors, walking or riding bikes a mile to school, playing a few blocks away from our homes. Neighborhoods were the 'villages' that helped raise the whole. Within that safety, we also raised one another, largely absent 'rules' imposed by adults. No nannies. No daycare.

We were fortunate to be able to raise our DS in a similar era and area, a former subdivision in a north suburb -- with three cul de sacs and no through traffic, where he was one of seven kids within a year of his age who all attended the same well-supported schools K - 12. Kids were in and out of one another's homes just as I was. It was just on the cusp of both paretns working outside the home in such great numbers. (Some things gainded. Some things lost.)

Wanted to show it’s still possible!

Emmett had a great morning including getting dirty with penny at a seaside park and then glomming on to a bunch of older kids (doing something elaborate with sticks?) at another park.

No pixie haircut.....I had long braids, which I wore until I was 14. My brother, in the army, promised me a horse if I would let my hair grow. My mother hated it, because she had to braid it, so she told me she would get me a horse if I would cut it. I got the horse when I was 11, but didn't cut my hair for 3 more years. I also wouldn't wear dresses, so I wore jeans every day until 9th grade, when we had to start wearing dresses. One other girl in town had a horse but her mother wouldn't let her ride with me because she said, "I cussed like a sailor.". My parents didn't know this....I would have been in BIG trouble. I never heard my dad say a cuss words....my mother might say $#it from time to time. I did have my friend from Houston but didn't meet her until I was 15. I had calmed down by then.

Once I got a horse, I rode every day. If the weather was too bad, I sat on his back in the barn. When I was in high school, the little town started booming, as NASA was coming in about 15 miles away and it became a bedroom community for people who worked there. When they were putting in the subdivisions in the surrounding woods, the trails cut for roads became a favorite place to ride.

I went to a school with about 125 students, 1 thru 12. No kindergarten then. There were 22 students I graduated with. Largest class up to that time. I knew everyone in school from from grade one thru twelve.

<Also, I don't see girls playing with dolls so much anymore. As sexist
as it may be seen to be in our modern times, it was what girls did back
then. We set up shop outside under the trees. We played with baby dolls
and welcomed the fashion doll when she came onto the scene.>

I also played with dolls when I was a child, but I was not allowed to have any of my own. Fortunately, I had an older sister who received dolls for Christmas and birthdays, whether she wanted them or not, and so I got to play with those. I also started making clothes for them when I was five, but of course I had to hand sew all of them. I was very much discouraged from making doll clothes, even though it gave me joy (one of the few things that did).

There was a primeval forest across the road from our house that went down to the large creek at the edge of our property on the west border, and my father used to hunt raccoons there with his friends. One night he killed a mother raccoon but rescued two of her babies from the nest and brought them back to the house. I then adopted the baby raccoons and fed them with a small bottle that came with a baby doll that would wet its diapers. I think I had a stronger "mother" instinct than my sister did, and one of the raccoons grew up thinking I was its mother - at least until it became an adult.

To help ease the boredom, one summer when I was eleven and my brother Mike was six, I devised a scheme in which we would go up the road from our house a bit and tie a string across the road so that we could watch the few cars that drove on our road run through the string and break it. We used fence posts beyond the ditches on either side of the road to attach the string.

The first car that came through broke the string without even slowing down or noticing it, and so I decided that we should tie a large piece of Johnson grass to stand tall in the middle of the road so that it would definitely be seen.

Mike and I then hid in the grass in the ditches to wait for the next car, and when it came, the driver, Wanda (who was my mother's maid at the time) stopped the car before running into the string and got out to examine the grass with her son, who was Mike's age and one of his playmates. Mike and I were terrified that Wanda would discover us, but eventually she decided that it was okay to drive through the string and Johnson grass.

After that encounter, we did not tie any more string across the road, as we were afraid of consequences. Mike told our father what we had done, but instead of him being mad, he thought it was hysterically funny, especially because of Wanda.

Lars, you reminded me of my brothers high jinks, he used to tie a string to a woman‘s handbag and sit it in the road. When people would stop to reach for it he would pull the string.

Loving every one of these stories. When I was a kid my mother wanted my sister and me to have curls. She would set our hair, which was as a straight as a pin, in rags. When she took the rags out I looked like I had stuck my finger in an electric socket. At one point my other gave us perms ( remember Tonettes?) . Horrible I wanted to wear a pony tail in the worst way and my mother wouldn’t let me. I’d sneak rubber bands and make a pony tail then take it out before I got home.

I always wanted a horse in the worst way but never got one. I am jealous of those of you who had one!

Dedtired and Funky, my story is much like yours. I grew up in a small Alabama town on a lake and river. Many of the residents, including my parents, eventually had cabins on the lake (which these days are full-time residences for the most part). We grew up in a neighborhood with lots of kids our own ages with plenty to do with woods behind our house (our property). We biked or walked through the shortcut path we wore through the woods to each other's houses. If it was too hot or cold to play outside, we read comic books, even the ones our brothers had. My girlfriend and I would dance to Broadway theater records her mother had. She was a dancer, I was not, but we had fun anyway making up stuff. Most of us had big backyards so we had badminton or some game going on most of the time somewhere. We could walk to a couple of schools and would use the ball field there, and for real excitement there was a small cave nearby that begged for people to go in. I did one time but not far. I only had a weak flashlight and I'm sorry now I didn't go back.

Some of my relatives lived about 30 minutes away in the country. I got to go spend a week or so with them many summers. It was one of the highlights of my summer, as I could spend time with my older cousin, got to help with the animals and just spend time with my aunts. All of them were teachers and were so loving and giving. One is still living and is now nearly 94 and still lives in her home. Her daughter now lives with her and they are completely independent. Until C19 came along, she still participated in a quilting group at her church.

Later we would go to the lake to someone's cabin and swim, go boating and later learned to water ski. I remember spending a lot of one summer playing Canasta with a couple of friends on a quilt by the water in the shade, going in the water now and then to cool off. We must have solved the world's problems that year but had a lot of fun.

Dedtired, I was just going to mention Tony perms when I read about the Pixie haircut. I had long hair and my sister who was 10 years older than me walked me to the hair dressers and told me they were going to trim my hair. I came out of there with a Pixie cut. I cried all the way home I hated it so much. I had fine hair so my sisters decided another time that I needed some curls so they told me to get into the bathtub and they gave me a Tony perm.

I learned the hard way to never let my sisters near my head. This picture shows my sister cutting my long hair again. She got this new hair cutting device. I think it was called a Flicker. Well she got me again haha you can see the look on my brother's face as she was cutting my hair away. My sister had a thick full head of hair that was so curly she liked to keep it short. On a humid day when her hair was long it would triple in size. I remember her ironing her hair to straighten it.

When I turned 16 my sisters got me again. I was invited to my brother's house for dinner with my 2 older sisters. After dinner they said they wanted to put some "frost" in my hair as it was called then. I remember bending over the kitchen sink and watched the colour leave my hair as they washed it. I ended up with bleach blond hair that night. I looked Swedish. My Mom always wanted me to be as blond as I was when I was a child but when she came home from being away for a few days and saw me she freaked out. A month or two later she took my to see her friend who put an ash blond dye in my hair so I ended up with green hair which I had for months every time I had to get my roots touched up. It wasn't until Grade 12 that I let that hair grow out and I ended up with short hair again for my Graduation picture. No way were those girls going to touch my hair again haha. Remember spoolies, those little rubber curlers?

Lol Cherryfizz, your stories are so funny!

My first horse was named Prince. He was an old cow horse. He would ground tie....if you dropped his reins, he would stand there, like he was tied. My friend had a really nice quarter horse and her cousin had a thoroughbred. When we were out riding, if there wasn't a good place to tie the horses, I would drop Prince's reins and we would tie their horses to his saddle.

I could ride him with no saddle, bridle, halter or anything. There was a lumberyard next to the post office, and they had some cement steps sitting to the side of it. I would ride him to the steps, get off, go in the post office to get the mail, come out and he would be standing right where I left him. I think he was so good because I literally rode him every day. A man told my father once, he wished his daughters loved horses as much as I did...meaning he would rather them do that than some of the things they were interested in.

I wanted to raise a foal, so I saved up my money and bought a mare. Her named was Little Maude. She was supposed to be in foal. Looking back, I know that was just what the old horse trader told me. She was ancient. Jug headed, broken wind...really ugly. But my friend, the rancher, had a thoroughbred stallion that he got in a claiming race in Florida, and he kept Maude all summer one year to try and get her to settle. (Get preg). She didn't. Years later when I had a stallion, I bred every mare that belonged to a kid for free.

When I was a senior in high school, I saved up and bought a horse named Dan. I didn't know the term "warmblood" then, but that is what he was. He was a huge horse....his back was inches higher than my head. He was half thoroughbred and half some other, heavier type horse. I trained him and he was a wonderful horse too.

Then the Christmas before I married Jody in January, he bought me a half Arabian named Trouble. That is the reason I married Jody, plus he bought me a $300 watch. That was an expensive watch in 1966. Plus, my mother and father wanted me to marry him...and like the obedient daughter I was, I did.

No, on a farm and I wasn’t lonely but in our area driving kids around was the norm and friends hung out

I still live in my hometown and have no plans to leave ( we also have a second home 4 hours away in the suburbs of a city). I live in a more spread out neighborhood than the one I grew up in. We lived right next door to my grandparents who treated me royally. We lived about two blocks from a beautiful river, and a very small business district. I walked to the small grocery store, the library, the post office, drug store, Five and Dime, and the ice cream/ candy shop many times every week. There was a group of kids always available for playtime. The big boys asked us to play baseball , only because they needed outfielders!

As many of you mentioned, we played outside till dark, went all over town, and enjoyed our freedom. There was a roller skating rink about 4 blocks away, and they held concerts there sometimes. I walked there with some older kids to see people such as, Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons, The Chiffons, etc. Each summer the Circus Train came through town and the townspeople hurried to see the cars roll slowly by...especially the animal cars!

We were happy because we did not know any other life. No one had any money, and families’ had one car which the fathers generally had at work. So, we stayed close by. It was a good life. I have been very fortunate in that we have been able to travel to many places in the world, so I do know what is out there.

It surprises me how many of you live or grew up in a small town or rural location. It's seems to be a much greater percentage on this forum than among the US population in general.

I grew up in a neighborhood in Queens, NY. My two best friends lived in our apartment building, and we had other friends within a two-block radius. The movie theater was one block away--we didn't even have to cross a street. I had a great time, and my teenage years were the best.

Still, by the time my first child was born I knew I wanted to raise my kids in the country. Yes, they were isolated in a way, and dependent on me to drive them everywhere. But these things were never issues. We don't miss what we never had. And everything is a trade-off, after all.

As adults today, they'll tell you they loved living close to nature, and still do. My son and daughter-in-law are raising their three kids in the same rural setting in which he grew up.

Cherry, I do remember spoolies . Mostly I remember getting them tangled in my hair and having to slowly work them out . I can’t believe what you suffered at the hands of your sisters! I tried bleaching a stripe in my hair but my mother had a fit. I cringe looking back at old pictures.

I took my hairstyling urges out on our poor dog. He was a fox terrier who had to be groomed every once in awhile. That poor dog had some pretty funky haircuts at my hands.

Oh you lucky horse owners!

Oh yes! I had the pixie cut, the Tony perm and I remember rolling my hair on those little rubber curlers, foam curlers and those with the bristles that you would secure by skewering them with spikes. Then, to top it off we would wear a curler bonnet to "hide' the curlers. WTF!!!!!!

We had a home hair dryer that you set on a table and you sat in the chair. next to it with a plastic bonnet on your head.

To me, 'suburbia' was the worst of both worlds: not rural enough for horses, not citi-fied enough for museums, concert venues, interesting/ethnic restaurants, etc. I had a friend whose name was "Pixie". She was fun but not a good influence, so probably my parents were happy to move on from there.

We did not live in town but too far out. We had neighbors. Kinda like a subdivision but larger lots. I walked to elementary school and bused to middle school. There were several kids in the area and we had a great time. We would ride our bikes to Meijer and then to get fries and a coke at a local diner. It was about 1.5 miles away. Roads were only 2 lanes back then, now they are 3-5 lanes. I had a wonderful childhood and I have lived in the same area my whole life. Played outside almost everyday doing all kinds of things. Games, catching tadpoles in the creek, parade's, picnic's, and lots more. My mom and dad were very generous and supply us with popsicles, snacks, sprinklers and rides if we wanted to go somewhere. My parents welcomed everyone into their home. I cannot tell you how many times our friends stayed for dinner. Seemed we always had enough food for all. Mom was a housewife and did not work outside the home. Awe the good ole days for sure.

I grew up in suburbia suburbia, to paraphrase Mel Brooks. We had a 60s split level on 1/4 acre. In my mind, it was up on a hill next to a river. When I drive by it today, it sits on a slight rise and has a rivulet next to it. And the "big sledding hill" at the top of our street? Well, it's not a black diamond after all.

We were very close to our neighbors next door and across the street, who both had what seemed like a lot of kids to me (4), and we only had 3. We used to go to firehouse dinners together, and once or twice we went camping as a group. I was the youngest of all, always "too young" to do whatever anyone was doing, and pressed into service to run errands for everyone. Well, well, where are they now, she asks!

I remember summer nights running across the damp grass with friends when the water ice truck came. The water ice man was also our school bus driver, and there was something somehow scandalous about seeing him outside of that highly authoritarian role. We also used to hold a lot of seances in tents outside in the summer. And a lot of time melting candles over wine bottles (why, again, did we do that?) We too, had a mud pile we played in. (can you imagine anyone in your neighborhood leaving a pile of dirt there for years today?)

Small though our creek was, it provided endless hours of entertainment, following it through the neighborhood, running paper boats on it, "fishing." I love the "chocolate covered agg" story above, and I too recall a lot of outdoor cooking. Vegetable soup mostly. I also recall being particularly interested in making birds nests with mud.

We could walk to the drugstore to buy candy and comic books and awfully ugly gifts for our Moms. Does anyone remember the glass display cabinets with shelves that rotated like a ferris wheel? Ahh, the horrific brooches and such I got from there for my poor Mom.

We could ride our bikes to a shopping center with a 5&10 and buy penny candy from fishbowls. Remember wax cigarettes? OMG what were they thinking. We could also ride bikes to a farm by Dad's company owned and hang out at the pond there, swim, catch frogs. I vividly recall catching 3 frogs as pets. I don't know how we got them home on our bikes, but when we did I gave them a bath in the laundry sink, and learned the term "rigor mortis."

The first 10 years of our marriage we lived in a small town just outside NYC. Leafy and pretty with lots of parks, but walking distance to Whole Foods, an art museum, restaurants, theaters etc. Lots of block parties, progressive dinner parties, etc. On a total whim we moved to where we are now when the kids were in 4th,2nd and 1st grades. Living here is like having our own park, but OTOH you cannot walk to anything. My kids spent a lot of time outside when they were younger especially. And when we had a lakehouse, they spent all day in the sand and mud playing with salamanders, using a paddleboat, etc

I live in Phila and NYC before marriage and I'd love to go back to a city, and keep one of our homes for weekends.

My father was career Army, so we were relocated every two years until he retired. Then he started college all over again (he'd been through two years before he went into the Army), which involved another move. Moved again after he'd graduated and went to work for Autonetics (later, North American Aviation). We sometimes lived in Officers' housing on base, and other times in civilian housing, but always in a neighborhood. And, after moving out on my own, and marriage, I've always lived in a neighborhood.

Nice memories, Mtn. I drive past my old neighborhood once in awhile. The next door neighbors had a huge hill alongside their driveway that I sometimes scaled as a kid. Now when I look at it I realize it’s about five feet high. I could look over it now. Another spot that was fun to explore was where the backyards met up. It was kind of no mans land, behind garages and along hedges. We spent a lot of time back there.

Lindsey, in high school,I had a boyfriend whose father had been military, but was retired. Sometimes the bf would take me to parties at the Navy Yard. Those parties were out of control and so much fun. However, it must have been hard to constantly move around. I had to change schools once after a move and it was awful although I adjusted pretty quickly.

Dedtired, the upside to all that moving is that you learn (quickly) how to be sociable and make new friends. I went to three different schools in the 3rd grade. The last of those three was also where I went to 4th and 5th grades. A new state and school for 6th grade, then 7th grade (beginning of junior high) at a different school in that same city. Then to a new state for 8th grade. Same city for the first half of 9th grade, then we moved to a new city in a different county so it was a different high school for the second semester of 9th grade through high school graduation.

I grew up in the Bronx in an apartment building in a co-op so there were maaaaany apartment buildings in our neighborhood. They ranged from 6 storey to 13 storey building with some brownstones along the fringes. We had 4 parks all within a 2-3 block walking distance and I was outside all...of...the...time. Biking, running, playing on the swings, slides, jungle gym (good old-fashioned metal and HIGH UP!) We had hard metal seat swigs that you could stand on and your friend could sit under you as you pumped the swing higher and higher.... It was the best park.

I'm glad I live in a cul-de-sac; my son grew up playing outside every single day, no matter the weather. We'd go sled-riding down a neighbor's hill, have annual Easter Egg hunts for the kids, he can bike around town now that he's a teen. He's fortunate to have grown up in a neighborhood and I think he realizes this now with the pandemic causing so much stress for those who have to stay in yet have no access to a backyard.

Did anyone have jobs when a teen? I worked at a place called the Malt Shop. It was a burger place, but also they had a plate lunch every day but Sunday, closed. It was owned by 2 sisters. One baked all the pies and cakes, and the other did all the cooking for the lunches and the grill. Hamburgers were 35 cents. Everything was "from scratch". They were terrific cooks and taught me a lot, because even tho my mother was a good cook, they did things a little different. (They were from Nebraska). I started out washing dishes for 75 cents an hour, but soon moved up to 1.25 and did prep and cooked on the grill and ran the cash register. That's how I made money for my horses and I bought my school clothes on lay away at Lerner's.

Another way we made money when younger is selling soda pop bottles, for 2 cents each. Later it went up to 3 cents. I don't know where I got enough bottles to sell, because soda pop was a rare treat. I do remember loading up my goat's wagon and taking them to the nearby country store to sell. I remember buying him a bing cherry soda for his efforts.

Marilyn, I started babysitting even before the age I was in the picture I posted. Back then it was 50 cents an hour and for a kid I made a lot of money. I was a sought after babysitter. I was recently going through some of my sister's correspondence and found a letter from my next oldest brother. He was saying how bad he felt because I had money to buy gifts for everyone and he couldn't and he was 6 years older than I was. When I was 16 I had a job with the city selling dog tags door to door. Did that for 2 years and it was a horrible job. During elections when I was a teenager I worked for the Retuning Officer typing voters lists from the enumeration books. During high school I was still babysitting and would do inventory work a few times each year at the local Woolco or Kmart. I bought my own clothes and always had money for roller skating which was most important back then. We sold pop bottles too haha. My friend often didn't have money to go roller skating so we would collect pop bottles and turn them in so she could go with us skating.

I worked at the local Jewish Community Center as a camp counselor during the summer. A city kid learned to build fires and cook hot dogs for other city kids. I then worked in their after-school program. I also babysat.

Since my Dad had left us and my mother now was working in a design studio, I felt I could not ask her for any money; he never gave us a penny so she had to see 2 kids through college and pay the rent on a Bronx apartment by herself, I knew she was seriously stressed. (Can you tell I'm still bitter?)

I really wanted a job to be able to buy the few things I wanted--I bought my own stereo, an Aiwa. It was a VERY big deal since my only radio was a shower radio up until then.

I grew up in a very isolated location and in extreme poverty, but fortunately through the very little reading material I could find, I got a picture of the "outside world." Even the Dick and Jane books of very early grades were truly fictional because they showed views of life that were so different from ours. It was likely when I was about 12 years old that I would start the fire in the stove each day to heat our one-room schoolhouse and do other caretaking duties. It provided one of the rare sources of regular income for our family. I became an adult at 16 when I left home for the city and got a factory job to support myself. All these experiences were valuable lessons because it taught me how financial well-being was so important to quality of life and something worth sacrificing and striving for.

We moved to southern CA when I was six to a typical tract house in a middle class neighborhood a few miles from the beach. A pretty idyllic childhood—-plenty of kids to play with, we walked or rode bikes to school, the mall, plenty of freedom, summers at the beach. Even in winter we’d head to the beach for campfires. Went to Disneyland and Knotts Berry Farm several times a year, Knotts a lot more often to the “free” area with shops and restaurants and the country western show in the outdoor theater on Sunday nights.

I hadn’t been back to my old stomping grounds in a long time and went four years ago. Everything was kept up and much the same as it was 50-60 years ago. Great memories.

I grew up in an apartment house within walking distance of the Bronx Zoo, and I thought that every kid had a zoo in the neighborhood, because that's what I was familiar with. From the 7th grade on, I went to school in Manhattan, and no one else from my neighborhood did, except for one girl who was older than I, so not a contemporary. All my friends were from all over the city, so my hangouts were the Wollman skating rink (pointy figure skates are useful for keeping subway molesters at a distance), Bloomingdale's, MoMA (I had a free pass), and the U.N. Not a typical childhood.

suero, I used to work on Mosholu Pkwy after school and catch the #4 there to go to school in Manhattan..

Suero, not typical for many, except NYC kids. I

I grew up in NYC and lived in 2 different outer boroughs. I was the only American born student in my Junior or Senior HS classes. My view of the world was broader than my cousins who lived in a Long Island suburb. They were so afraid of the "dangerous" people, subways, etc., when they visited. I would take them everywhere, from Times Square (when TS was still seedy) to the Met. They learned to love NYC, but more than 45 years later they still need me to accompany them when they visit. LOL

Thanks for posting this - great topic and such enjoyable replies.

I've probably elevated my childhood to idyllic status but I had a wonderful neighborhood - full of kids which meant fun, adventure, sleepovers, bike excursions and all the typical games: red rover, kick the can, hide and seek, hop scotch, hula hoops, board games, sled riding on the huge hill across from our house, playing Peter Pan in the woods (and coming home with poison ivy), watching home town parades, ice skating on the tennis courts in the winter, packing lunches for bike rides and not coming home until dinner.

The family next door had 9 kids, the family on the other side had 7, the house behind us had another 9. By comparison my family was small - only 3 but there was always some activity happening and we'd play outside all summer and after school with little supervision. We could walk to the movie theater or pool as long as an older sibling came with us and summers seemed to last forever. We lived in a suburb of Pittsburgh and could catch the trolley into town for shopping or to watch my Father's beloved Steelers and Pirates.

Every August we visited my Mother's family in New Mexico and I have fond memories spending time with my cousins - wading in the irrigation ditches, swimming in the Pecos River and Alamogordo Lake, catching horned toads, feeding peanut butter to my aunt's crows, visiting Carlsbad Caverns, Taos, Sante Fe. We'd use my grandfather's old 22 and shoot tin cans off a log, ride horses and the occasional donkey through the open fields and sleep outside under a dark sky that seemed saturated with stars.

My uncle owned the only grocery store in Fort Summer and he'd close at 2 for the main meal. He'd take us for rides across the open countryside to Stinking Springs where Pat Garrett captured Billy the Kid, and to Pete Maxwell's ranch where he was later killed by Garrett after escaping from jail.

I only hope that my own children look back on their own childhood with as much fondness as I do.

Wow, what a wonderful thread. I've enjoyed reading all the posts. Brings back a lot of memories.

Until I was 10yo, we lived on a city block with mostly elderly next door neighbors on our block. Two years before I was born, my parents bought a condemned house and remodeled. It became known as the white house with double (navy) blue front doors. Mrs Perry lived in the big house on the corner with tall ceilings and neat staircase. I never got to go upstairs. I would love to go back inside the house today for a look around. She had Mrs Smith take care of her and I would often go visit with her. Mrs Perry was a frail lady in her 90s. Mrs Smith would brush her waist long grey hair and put in a bun. Mrs Perry had a small house in her backyard where her housekeeper/cook lived. I remember going to see her when she was dying. I wouldn't see her much when I was inside the house, but her little house was next to our alley driveway and backyard, so I would talk to her over the fence when she was hanging out laundry. One day the house on the far corner had a fire and we walked down to see the firemen. When my dad got home from work, I ran down the alley to see him, fell and got rocks/gravel in my knee. Still have the scars to prove it. LOL

On the other side of us was Mr and Mrs Brooks. They didn't have any children and were heavily involved with their church's orphanage (wasn't in our town). Every Christmas and Easter they would buy book or inexpensive dolls for the children. They would hide plastic Easter eggs in our shrubs with nickels and dimes inside, and/or give us book with coins taped to pages. I would go visit them too. Mrs Brooks had glass shelves filled with vases and glass pieces in front of a pair of windows. She would get down the vase that was filled with small green glass marbles (really filler) and I would play with them. I still have one of the green marbles. Their living room was filled with pretty, but uncomfortable, Victorian furniture. They had a lovely backyard, and Mom often took our photos there. I remember when Mr Brooks was dying we went to say goodbye. We had moved by then. When Mrs Brooks died, their house was given to their church for the minister to live in. When I was in HS, I got to go to a sleepover at the house.

Mrs Sullinger lived next door to the Brooks. She was a nice lady with what I now know to be Parkinson's. Her voice shook and her hand trembled a bit. One day she called for me to come over, she had a surprise for me. She had bought several ducklings and a small kiddie pool. Once they grew, she gave to someone with a pond.

There were children close by, and at one point my younger cousins lived two blocks away, and my paternal grandparents just past them. So three from same side of the family on one street. Our grandparents picked us up each Sunday for Sunday school, then my parents would come to church. We always had Sunday dinner at my grandparents house. I had lots of first cousins, but most lived out of town. They came sporadically during the year, but always for Mother's Day and Thanksgiving. For K-2nd I went to a small private school (Mrs Carol's). It was in a house in a neighborhood, near an elementary school. When I was in 3rd grade, we were driven to school each morning by my father on his way to the family's furniture store downtown. We often walked home from school. One of my sister's classmates was hit and killed by a train when he was crossing in front on his bike. Later on, the BIL of our gym teacher was killed. I was working in the office and she brought her much younger BIL into the office to tell him his brother had been killed. We later dated for 3yrs during HS. During my HS years, two other students were killed crossing the tracks. These accidents still scare me, and I always always stop, look and listen when crossing. Even if no lights blinking.

We moved to a large English Tudor on 3 acres and I went to public school in the 4th grade. I hated that school and cried almost every day. I was extremely shy. Our neighborhood had one way in/out and at Christmas a "tree" was installed on the raft (barrels with wood decking), floated to the center of lake and secured. The strings of lights were beautiful and reflected in the water. I would sit in the front window upstairs and watch cars as they came to see the neighborhood lights. Nights closer to Christmas by the hundreds. A local gardener that developed the Snowflake Hydrangea had greenhouses across the road from our neighborhood. I always wanted to see inside! I could hear, then run upstairs to see the old train blowing smoke when it came to town each year. My maternal grandmother got all her grandchildren tickets one year and I rode most of the trip with my head hanging out of one car. My face and hair were covered in soot. LOL Lots of kids in the neighborhood. We would play tackle football in our "football field" at our house. We had moss battles at the lake. I loved fishing in the lake with my maternal grandfather. They had a house on the river, then at the beach. He was always fishing. I often went roller skating in the driveway or at the rink. Later ice skating each weekend when one was built about 30 minutes away.

My mother's brother was in the Navy, and his wife/four children lived with my grandmother when he was in Vietnam. He was Commander of a ship during that time, and a b/w photo of it and him in his uniform always hung in their back hallway.

From 5th thru 12th, I went to a small private school my parents helped open. It was small and everyone knew everyone. It was great. My parents grew up with horses, and we bought one that first year. Shortly thereafter, we found out she was expecting. Best BOGO ever! We kept her at a local barn, but after she gave birth there was trouble with a few other horses, so we moved her to the pasture of a lady that worked at the furniture store. I was (mostly) glad when the bull went to slaughter. I joined band in 7th grade when they hired the cutest band director. Played flute and piccolo, and twirled rifle. So lots of HS football games in my past. I missed band so much after HS that I joined the Army Reserve unit and was in the Army Band there for 2yrs before transferring to the MAC (same location). My dad was in the MAC for almost 40yrs.

In JH, my girl friends and I would walk or bike miles a day, camped outside without tents, went swimming in the lake or at a club they belonged to. My sister and I wanted a pool, but our dad built an apartment complex near our house and it had a pool, so we went swimming there. I also enjoyed playing tennis at the park and was on the tennis team one year in JH.

I spent many hours at the family furniture store, and later another store my dad opened when I was 16yo. Everyone that worked there was family to us. Miss Mary started working for my grandfather at 16yo, and she worked for my uncle until she retired. DH and I went to her funeral with my parents. It was lovely to see her family members we had not seen in decades. She never married or had children, but she loved her nieces and nephews. My grandfather was already a senior when I was born. He would drive to the store each day, sit at his desk reading his Bible. Then go home for lunch, and take his afternoon nap. He died just shy of 99yo. I have two of his hats, and two of my maternal grandfather's hanging in our house. I was close to all of my grandparents and miss them all.

Gosh, that was long, but I sure enjoyed revisiting my past I am going to copy/paste, add to it, and email to our children.

Thank you for sharing your memories. I truly enjoyed reading them.

These are all such a pleasure to read. I usually skim through threads with many additions but I have read every word of these.

I was fortunate to have lots of relatives in a small town where my parents grew up. We visited often and those are some of my best memories. Every year they had Old Home Week with a parade and a fair on the midway. My cousins would be there and we traipsed up and down that midway every night for a week. I am sure the rides would never pass an inspection now. It was put together by a traveling carnival group. We loved them and rode them all.

There was a dairy farm down the alley from my grandparents home and we spent hours playing in the barn, patting the cows and jumping around the hayloft. Some kids jumped out of the hayloft but I was afraid.

My great aunt had a big house with all kinds of nooks and crannies to explore, including a pool table in the basement. We were not allowed to use the cue sticks because we’d rip the felt top, so we rolled the balls around.

I could go on forever about the good times I had there.