From Strong Towns: #TrickOrTreat as a barometer for walkability; community:
“It may seem that on the surface we are merely trading one place to hand candy to kids for another place. But it goes beyond that. The change is about our collective choices prioritizing cars without considering the consequences that impact a broader range of American life.”
— It’s also about the importance of kids having some autonomous activity time:
“It may seem that on the surface we are merely trading one place to hand candy to kids for another place. But it goes beyond that. The change is about our collective choices prioritizing cars without considering the consequences that impact a broader range of American life.”
— And it’s very much about our dysfunctional car-centric street design:
“We shouldn’t be changing our holiday tradition because of our dangerous streets; we should be changing our street design. This Strong Towns Approach goes beyond just Halloween. Traffic circles, street trees, curb extensions, and other traffic-calming measures can be installed to make our places safer all year round.”
Read the full article here: https://www.strongtowns.org/journal/2023/10/30/trick-or-treat-is-worth-saving
And, another StrongTowns article, this one from 2018: https://www.strongtowns.org/journal/2018/11/1/whos-afraid-of-trunk-or-treat
“The decline in trick-or-treating in recent years certainly isn’t because kids have gotten any less interested in free candy. But it may have something to do with a loss of social cohesion in our neighborhoods and cities—and that has plenty to do with the ways we’ve designed our built environment.”
This article touches on another major public-health issue as well:
“… a study that analyzed social connectedness and risk of heart attack. The study was published in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health and found that participants who lived in the areas identified as having the most social cohesion had a 67% less chance of having a heart attack than those who lived in areas with low social cohesion.”
Happy Halloween, Samhain blessings, felicitous Fall Festival, or whatever you celebrate!
We have had no trick-or-treaters in my neighborhood in some years. Tonight I’ll be headed to the citywide trunk or treat event with my little handcart bearing sweet snacks. We have to work with what’s available as far as creating community. And I appreciate that the city is doing this.
Update: It was a sweet, fun, beautiful event. The kind of thing that really makes me love my city. I bet there were a couple thousand people there. And some very creatively decorated cars along with all the great costumes.