Every year on Halloween, the population of Stapleton doubles from about 10,000 residents to well over 25,000 during the trick or treating times, and usually at least an hour or two after trick or treating is officially over. Residents from all over the metro area, but mostly Aurora, come to Stapleton to trick or treat for many reasons.
One of the main reasons candy lovers enjoy treating in Stapleton is that the houses are only about 10 yards apart. This makes it easy to get lots of candy in a short period of time. Stapleton residents are also typically festive and more likely to give out candy than some other neighboring areas. The quality of candy given out is even extremely high, with lots of miniature candy bars as well. And finally, other than on Halloween, Stapleton is a very safe neighborhood, and most certainly more safe than some of the surrounding communities (we’re looking at you Park Hill).
So how do local residents feel about this? We polled several residents, and over 80% of residents (84%) do not like having non-Stapleton kids trick-or-treating at their homes. “We spend a lot of money on candy,” says resident Krista Hendricks. “The worst thing is, we increase the amount every year, and we are still out by 6:30PM.”
Other residents don’t like missing out on giving other friends’ kids candy. “Most years we are out of candy by the time families I actually know show up,” says Lisa Vardaman. “It is extremely frustrating.”
Resident Mitchell McAllister simply does not like the laziness of it. “When I was a kid, you had to trick or treat where you lived. None of this ‘hey, let’s go to the easiest neighborhood and get our candy there.’ You had to work your butt off to fill that pillow case. Just another example of how kids are becoming lazy, and we are enabling them.”
Other residents question the intentions of the holiday-goers. “How do I know these outsiders aren’t simply scoping out my home, only to rob me later,” questioned Erik Hall. “We had a couple of treaters last year that had to be 17 years old. Ridiculous.”
Residents are being asked to be polite to the outsiders, and give them candy even if they do not have a resident card. However, normal rules apply in that if someone seems too old to be trick or treating, do not give them candy, and if their costume shows no effort, do not give them candy, and finally: No trick… no treat.]]>