I grew up in a huge neighborhood. There were about 400 houses, and probably at least that many kids. It took two whole school buses to bring all the kids in our neighborhood home from elementary school -- just to our neighborhood.
In the center of our neighborhood was the recreation area. We had a pool and tennis courts, and a big park with play equipment. And running through the center of that park was a creek. There were two bridges that crossed the creek so you could get from one side of the park to the other, and there was also a pipe that crossed it.
One spring day after a lot of heavy rain, that creek flooded.
And that pipe made a magnificent waterfall.
It took probably about 2.4 seconds for all of us kids to get home from school, change into old clothes, and jump into that creek to splash and play and pretend we were riding the rapids of some huge river as opposed to a little old neighborhood creek. Someone rigged a rope to a nearby tree and we took turns swinging out over the water and letting go. There were probably 100 kids in the creek that day, and tons of parents sitting on the sidelines, taking pictures and holding towels and bringing snacks. We were out there for hours.
It was an impromptu block party, where all the kids were laughing and splashing and having fun while their parents caught up with all the neighbors on what was going on in everyone's lives.
What happened to neighborhoods like that?
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