IS SUBURBIA KIDDIELAND? Laura at 11-D sees opportunities for spontaneity.

Instant access to fresh air and buddies without dog poop on the sidewalk.

Lynne at Knowledge Problem concurs with a Marginal Revolution observation that "sprawl is a tax on spontaneity," although adult-supervised and coached play enters the equation.

I'm somewhat older than these observers and an emigre from early tract housing (in those days "upscale" was a three-bedroom ranch with a basement under everything and two sinks in the one bathroom.) In those days parents were somewhat more willing to let kids be kids, and it was standard procedure to find a few buddies and throw around a football or something rather than be ferried from practice to practice (what passed as "rich" differed in those days as well; if Dad's income made a new station wagon possible every three years one was doing well. Two incomes and two car garages, let alone those snout houses over a three car garage were a future not imagined in The Jetsons.)

Also unimagined in those days were "rails to trails" bike path conversion. But the grades of the interurban, gone under 15 years, and the North Shore Line, gone less than ten, were still in a rideable condition. In those days the outlying segments of the system, which are now configured as trails, were a bit outside my riding range. On the other hand, my less durable body and less rugged commuter bike will probably appreciate the improvements to those trails.