Originally Posted by Gresp15C

Oddly enough it was like that by social convention in the neighborhood where I grew up. It was a suburb of Detroit, and there was car traffic in the streets, but kids played in the streets too. We played street hockey and all sorts of games. When a car was coming, someone yelled "car" and we cleared out of the street. We all rode bikes, probably not very well behaved. But the drivers were careful.

Today, same neighborhood, there are a lot more cars, and more traffic. So the streets are parked up with cars, and they're big cars -- SUV's and pickup trucks. And no kids playing in the streets. A difference between then and now is simply a lot more traffic. Not just cars, but more delivery and service vehicles as well.

In the town where I live, there's a street along my commute where the residents appear to have reclaimed their street. A sequence of maybe 4 or 5 houses all have kids, they put up some signs asking cars to slow down, and the kids are out playing. Usually, among those houses, there are one or two adults out, or at least keeping an eye on things. And it seems to be respected by the drivers and cyclists like myself.