Would you buy a house near childrens play area?

Davesnave

This thread is the most entertaining I've seen in a long time!

We lived 21 yrs, 250m from the largest play area in our city. It was so good, people from the next door city used to come there to make a day of it in the holidays.

Naturally, being in a park, 'things' happened: cars were stolen & broken into, people were robbed at knifepoint, or raped, and a few even committed suicide. I don't remember any murders. As there was a huge skateboard centre, there were quite a few teenagers, well into the evening.

Sounds like hell, doesn't it? Well, it wasn't. It was so quiet, my kids used to complain of being woken by tractors when they stayed in the country with the grandparents. As it was quiet & leafy, house prices in the area were on the high side too - a semi there would now set you back around £320k. (It was not in London or the South East.)

In our 21 years, we had one inept attempt at a break-in and our neighbour had their car stolen.

OP has not given enough info, but then it would be almost impossible to do that without identifying the place.

So, no one can really answer this question, which applies equally to all sorts of things, from refuse transfer stations to take aways and late night routes home for drunks. In the end OP, you have to do your own research and come to a decision. A few pointers here, nothing more.

NEH

It would be a deterrent to me personally, i live in a supposedly good village with house prices over the amount of what one other poster claimed is the dividing line between good and bad and it is a nightmare with drunks...It is a lovely village by day but at some nights it takes on a whole new meaning and whilst i understand people saying it's just a play area, just children there etc... children grow up and in the places i have lived in they tend to as they grwo older hang about in groups or gangs and noise, alcohol or whatever seems to follow them. It's not being stereo typical it's just what I have personally found and i think a lot of others on this thread have also found this which is why they are not being typically stereo typical either...

You will have to investigate the area at night, sit out in your car for a couple of hours late one Friday/Saturday and see....

Bear this in mind though there have been a few people here that have said no on this thread and anyone of us could be a potential buyer in future...

Cissi

calebdylan wrote: »

I would love if the following things are there

-Comfortable seating for parents (several comfy couches, scattered about)
-Mandatory that children wear socks (they even sell them at the front desk, in case you forget)
-Extremely clean!
-COMPLIMENTARY COFFEE for parents!
-They have a small kitchen area, with little picnic tables for kids, and you are allowed to bring your own snacks, or purchase some healthy snacks that they sell at the desk
-They have a dedicated section for children 3 and under with age-appropriate activities (soft blocks, soft-sided climbing structure, texture walls, etc.)
-Adults are not permitted without a child

Ummm, I doubt you're likely to find many of these in an outdoor play area :rotfl:

To answer the original question, absolutely no problem if it's 200 yards away, although like others have said I would check that it isn't a teenage hang-out at night. It would be different if the house was right next to it or overlooking it, but if it's around the corner I really don't see an issue with it. I can think of a lot of worse things to have in your neighbourhood!

monkeymoo1010

Cissi wrote: »

Ummm, I doubt you're likely to find many of these in an outdoor play area :rotfl:

To answer the original question, absolutely no problem if it's 200 yards away, although like others have said I would check that it isn't a teenage hang-out at night. It would be different if the house was right next to it or overlooking it, but if it's around the corner I really don't see an issue with it. I can think of a lot of worse things to have in your neighbourhood!

Like a car park!!!!
CISSI I think you will find they where joking.

tired_mum

AVOID AVOID AVOID we live with a small service road then a large park behind us was lovely when the children were young play bus local families but now things are not good am dreading the summer loads of teens in the evening and drinking till 2 in the morning some weekends there are families but as there is no parking we often cant get out of our garage as they park on the service road and with only 2 litter bins you can imagine the mess dirty nappies and beer cans when they cant reach the bins
Never would i live near a park again sorry just my point of view after 20 years
but on the plus side neighbours are lovely either side and cant really afford to move

pingu2209

not_loaded wrote: »

Too right!

If you’re that worried, just knock on a few adjacent doors and ask.

These ‘situations’ wax and wane, and often diminish to nothing. If you’re looking for ‘perfection’ then go and pay for a gated complex. Kids and teenagers are part of life. Maybe you were one once.

Resenting them and compartmentalising them usually makes matters worse.

I’m puzzled by the anti-trampoline brigade. Someone on here (a different post a while ago) said they study google maps and won’t buy if they see a trampoline in a nearby garden.

1. The maps are often well out-of-date.
2. Kids grow up and trampolines are disposed of.
3. Kids arrive and trampolines can be purchased.

This is a fantastic way to look at life. These young teenagers will very soon be older teenagers and into their 20s. How about treating them with respect and not automatically thinking they are scum because they hang out in the local park at 8 or 9 in the evening.

I really feel for young teenagers. They are too old for staying in with mum and dad but too young for pubs. There is no where for them to go. Youth centres are few and far between.

Perhaps by just speaking to the children and asking them to keep it down and smiling through it, we will find they are polite and understanding.

loracan1

I've lived about 200yards from a play area for the last 18 years - the teens that used to hang around it at night are now the Mums & Dads taking their kids during the day!

I love it personally, have always had somewhere for my kids to play and wear themselves out. I quite like hearing children having fun and enjoying themselves, and when mine are old enough to hang about after dark on the swings I'll be able to call them in when it's bedtime.

Richard_Webster

I live directly opposite a little play park in our estate. Its great as I can take the little uns over there really easily.

In the evenings in the summer we do get the tennagers who live locally congregating but thats mostly because a neighbour has 3 teenage daughters who attract teenage boys like flies around a dog trd. When they leave and go to uni I expect it to get a bit quieter.

This is a good example of the transient nature of some of these problems.

You should go round the area at different times of the day and week and have a look but there are no guarantees that the situation won't change. In this case there probably wouldn't have been an issue when this family's daughters were younger!

Similarly you can have a 14 year old lad who is looked up to by his mates and they follow him around so they will be hanging around near where he is - in 2 or 3 years when he is old enough to con his way into clubs etc or has a girlfriend the problem will disappear.

Fire_Fox

monkeymoo1010 wrote: »

Like a car park!!!!
CISSI I think you will find they where joking.

If you download Firefox web browser it includes a spellchecker.

monkeymoo1010

ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh fire fox, I am so glad you have found the time to tell me that I must be very important :rotfl::rotfl: