I spent time in various places but I mostly grew up in the suburbs, not just of the geography but of the mind. I think things were changing even then, but at the time kids still roamed around the neighborhood unsupervised. We put hockey goals in the street and pulled them aside when cars game. Bike riding wasn't a huge thing in my neigborhood, but people did it. I don't remember what school district policies were, but I think 3rd grade and up at least kids walked to school unsupervised, though I think soon after they got rid of the crossing guards and tightened the rules about that. Now parents even walk their kids to the bus stop.
Anyway, supposedly that's why people moved to the suburbs. One reason anyway. Your kids were "safe." Whatever the reality of safety concerns, all the stories of school lockdown drills and parents unwilling to leave their kids unsupervised even for a moment... take away the supposed freedom of safety, and it's all very isolating.
