{"id":4720,"date":"2014-05-13T21:55:57","date_gmt":"2014-05-14T04:55:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stapletonion.com\/?p=4720"},"modified":"2014-05-13T21:55:57","modified_gmt":"2014-05-14T04:55:57","slug":"street-smarts-should-stapleton-kids-be-playing-in-our-streets","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stapletonion.com\/?p=4720","title":{"rendered":"Street Smarts: Should Stapleton Kids Be Playing in Our Streets?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\"playing-in-street\"<\/a>A recent hot topic on Next Door Stapleton<\/a> was the issue of kids playing in Stapleton streets. \u201cIt starts to really slow down traffic,\u201d says resident Josh Meyers. \u201cI mean, you have to drive about 10 miles per hour in fear a kid is going to dart out in front of you. It can sometimes add anywhere from 30 to 90 seconds to a trip.\u201d Other parents are less worried about the drive time, but worried about the inherent danger of kids playing in the busy Stapleton streets<\/a>. \u201cWe\u2019re not living in a suburb, after all,\u201d says Stapleton parent Allie Morgan. \u201cWe live in Denver, in what is considered an urban community. Urban communities have lots of traffic, among other dangerous things. People need to get their kids out of the streets. If anything, have them play in the alleys<\/a>.\u201d\n\nNot all Stapleton parents agree that street play is a safety hazard. \u201cCan\u2019t we just let the kids play for goodness sakes?\u201d said resident Ken Lima. \u201cDo Stapleton people have to complain about every little inconvenience or small disobedience to the law? It is ridiculous.\u201d Stacy Lehman agrees. \u201cIt\u2019s one thing if it was four and five year olds running rampant in the streets,\u201d said Lehman. \u201cBut these are typically 8 year olds at minimum who know to look out for cars and move when they see one coming. I have seen this several times, and the kids are very respectful and good at getting out of the way. I\u2019m actually glad the kids are outside playing games.\u201d\nSUN President Mike Victoria says that technically kids should not be out in the streets playing. \u201cThe streets are for cars,\u201d said Victoria. \u201cHowever, we ask parents to use discretion. We want parents to think, \u2018is this street heavily trafficked, or are there a lot of blind spots?\u2019 If the answer is no to these questions, maybe it isn\u2019t a big deal for kids to play some safe street games such as street hockey, basketball, or four square. Just make sure the kids are aware that they need to move for cars, and if you can have a parent outside supervising, that is great as well.\u201d\nTo the parents against street-play, the SUN response is not appropriate. \u201cSaying it is okay for kids to play in the streets in any context is an irresponsible thing to say for a community organization,\u201d says Morgan. \u201cAre we waiting for a kid to get hurt?\u201d Residents who are okay with kids playing games in the street say that Stapleton streets are already pretty safe-guarded<\/a>. \u201cThere are stop signs<\/a> all over Stapleton,\u201d says Lima. \u201cPlus, whether kids are in the streets or not, you should be driving slowly through the neighborhood<\/a>.\u201d\n]]>\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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