Not disagreeing with you, but I wonder a lot now about my childhood vs my kids. I grew up basically in small towns, but in the newer, more suburban areas. I rode a bike everywhere. We lived twice in what we’d call busy collector streets. It didn’t stop me or my parents from allowing tons of freedom.
Now I find myself terrified of cars and traffic for my kids. I really want to give them maximum freedom to walk and bike, but something seems different. Is it real or in my head? I can’t imagine giving my 7 year old the kind of freedom I had. It’d scare the crap out of me.
With you! I still often ride my bike alongside my two daughters (13 and 14) to their schools. Crazy? Maybe. But I like the additional exercise (about 12 km round trip for me) and I really like being with them to help them navigate complicated intersections where bike lanes run out or are non-existent. We live in a fairly bike-friendly city in Canada, but unfortunately the emphasis here is shifting to additional lanes on smaller residential streets while the main arteries remain scary as anything. I biked in Toronto for many years, so I can handle just about anything, but these are my kids and biking does not favour a "learn through failure" approach. Fortunately, we live in an old neighbourhood with sidewalks everywhere, very walkable, and we walk a lot and spend a lot of time on wooded trails with our dogs. No anxiety here.
Not disagreeing with you, but I wonder a lot now about my childhood vs my kids. I grew up basically in small towns, but in the newer, more suburban areas. I rode a bike everywhere. We lived twice in what we’d call busy collector streets. It didn’t stop me or my parents from allowing tons of freedom.
Now I find myself terrified of cars and traffic for my kids. I really want to give them maximum freedom to walk and bike, but something seems different. Is it real or in my head? I can’t imagine giving my 7 year old the kind of freedom I had. It’d scare the crap out of me.
With you! I still often ride my bike alongside my two daughters (13 and 14) to their schools. Crazy? Maybe. But I like the additional exercise (about 12 km round trip for me) and I really like being with them to help them navigate complicated intersections where bike lanes run out or are non-existent. We live in a fairly bike-friendly city in Canada, but unfortunately the emphasis here is shifting to additional lanes on smaller residential streets while the main arteries remain scary as anything. I biked in Toronto for many years, so I can handle just about anything, but these are my kids and biking does not favour a "learn through failure" approach. Fortunately, we live in an old neighbourhood with sidewalks everywhere, very walkable, and we walk a lot and spend a lot of time on wooded trails with our dogs. No anxiety here.
It's complicated!