Trick or Treating question

[Bambam]

Our neighborhood is a popular spot for trick or treating. We are not close to any neighborhoods (3 miles out of town), and folks drive here to bring their kids to trick or treat.  In fact, our neighborhood has been shared at a premium place to trick or treat on various FB groups in our local area. For the past several years, the few streets we have are bumper to bumper traffic with so many folks.  We've even had folks driving pick up trucks pulling trailers with hay bales bringing even more trick or treaters. 

When I was growing up and when my kids were little, people trick or treated in their own neighbors - or maybe grandma's. Is this typical now that folks go all about to find the best haul? 

[mommyoffive]

A lot of people drive to our neighborhood to TOT.  I can't stand it.  Even last year the sidewalks were packed.   I am sure they will again this year.    I think some people go neighborhood to neighborhood to get as much free candy as possible and do it for hours.  That is what some people have told me they do.  It is usually so cold here that a street or two is all we do.  At one point my older kids might have done a bunch of streets even in the cold, but now they are over TOT.   But some parents drive the kids house to house so maybe that is more enjoyable. 

[DawnM]

We moved into our current house 2 years ago.   We are a great neighborhood for trick or treating.   However, our last house was not.   We used to find nearby neighborhoods to trick or treat.   

[Carrie12345]

Our own neighborhood, though there have been years (over the past 24, lol) when we’ve done neighborhoods of relatives instead.

The kids are trying to get me to go to ds’s neighborhood this year, because the younger ones have never ToT’ed at night. There’s a scheduled day and time here.

I feel horrible for people in largely invaded towns. You get to either spend 2-3x as much, or be the party pooper. It isn’t fair. 

[Kassia]

We had hundreds of trick or treaters in our first home and people would drive their kids to our neighborhood.  It was overwhelming and not really fun to pass out that much candy because we couldn't enjoy the trick or treaters and it was expensive.

When we moved, we moved to an area with much bigger lots and very few kids so our kids couldn't trick-or-treat here and no one ever came by either.  We took the kids to a neighborhood close by where many other families in the same situation as us went to.  We were very grateful to the families in that neighborhood for being so generous and providing treats for our kids who weren't from that neighborhood.  

Halloween is strange now.  My kids are grown and we don't have trick-or-treats so it's not much of a holiday.  

[saraha]

We live in a farm so we drive tot he nearest town to trick or treat. We don’t have anyone there. It’s just closest to us. Same town dh’s parents took them when they were small since we live on the same road he did growing up

[HeartString]

We’ve never lived in neighborhoods where the neighbors handed out candy so we always go to a nearby neighborhood. I’m sure that bothers some people but the alternative is my kids miss trick or treating because of where we live.  When I say no one hands out candy I mean quiet literally not one single house, not just “a bad haul”.  The “haul” has never been the point, participant in a cultural activity is.  The attitude that kids should just miss out if the live somewhere with neighbors who don’t participate is kind of gross.  

Edited October 27, 2021 by HeartString

[Spryte]

We ToT in our neighborhood, with gobs and gobs of kids. It’s incredibly crowded. Love it.

[WildflowerMom]

Our neighborhood is that same way.   Lots of trucks pulling wagon loads.   Our street is on the edge of the neighborhood, so we don't get quite as many as the other streets do, but yeah, it's a popular place for ToTing.   When ds was growing up, we went to a popular neighborhood, because we lived out in the country.    We even did the truck pulling a trailer thing with bales of hay, but the only trick or treaters was ds, lol.  The rest were adult friends and family along for the fun.    Once he got a little older, we went with friends.  

[JustEm]

We trick or treat in our neighborhood. But I don't mind at all if people come to our neighborhood because their neighborhood is bad for trick or treating. We used to go to mil's neighborhood because we didn't have anyone participating in ours. I also know of neighborhoods in the city that get filled with kids from just a few blocks over because gang violence makes it to dangerous to be out at night in their own neighborhood.

[HeartString]

To answer the question of where exactly we go…when we lived in my home town we went to a close neighborhood that was easy to access and always had a lot of families participating.  
 

Since we’re in a brand new town this year I asked on Facebook because I don’t want to drive around all night randomly and don’t want to end up with sad, disappointed children if I can’t find anywhere to go.    
 

I guess this thread has me rethinking that.  Maybe we’ll just do something at home.  I’d hate to be an “invader” that the homeowners will complain about.  My kids will be disappointed but 🤷‍♀️.  I can’t actually force my own neighbors to participate.  

Edited October 27, 2021 by HeartString

[WildflowerMom]

I like people trick or treating here, even if some years I don't participate.   It's fun and the kids are cute and having a good time.  I don't care if they live in this neighborhood or not.   

[HS Mom in NC]

Poll: Our local neighborhood (42 houses) and a grocery store trunk or treat (for the first time this year as it's my daughter's employer and she's helping.)

When we lived in PHX we were in one of those suburban sprawl neighborhoods with hundreds of houses that went so far out it bordered tribal land.  As in, I could leave my house walking at a leisurely pace and be standing on tribal land in 5 minutes. Of the 14 years we lived there, there were 3 random Halloweens where kids from the tribe showed up trick or treating. (They don't wear costumes.) They don't have streetlights in their own neighborhoods, so I don't blame them for coming to ours. I was cleaned out of candy in less than an hour the first time, so I turned off my light and put an "Out of candy" sign on the door like I usually do when I'm out. I did buy somewhat larger amounts after that as we also had kids coming in from other neighborhoods too, but I don't plan to give candy to every TOTer who enters the neighborhood-that's not reasonable or affordable for anyone in that kind of situation.

I'm giving out free candy.  I don't care who gets my free candy or where they're from. I buy however much I plan to buy and I give it to who shows up. When I'm out, I'm out and don't feel bad about it. We always get more candy than we can eat, so I'm not bothered by the idea that more kids would be getting the same amount of candy in the neighborhood.  So if people run out faster and TOT ends earlier, the kids will have not as much candy.  Shrug. No one should feel pressure to buy extra candy to accommodate them.  Some parents and kids are greedy (let's face it, our culture in general is greedy and glutenous) but no one has to cater to that. People should buy what they're going to buy, hand it out until it's gone, then turn their lights off.

I do have concerns about too much traffic in a neighborhood.  That means emergency vehicles couldn't get in easily.  Are there sidewalks in your neighborhood?  If so, pedestrians are supposed to stay on the sidewalks and vehicles on the road for just that situation.  If not, it's probably much more risky and I wonder if an off duty police officer might be willing to be on hand to address traffic like they do for mega church traffic. 

[JustEm]

4 minutes ago, HeartString said:

To answer the question of where exactly we go…when we lived in my home town we went to a close neighborhood that was easy to access and always had a lot of families participating.  
 

Since we’re in a brand new town this year I asked on Facebook because I don’t want to drive around all night randomly and don’t want to end up with sad, disappointed children if I can’t find anywhere to go.    
 

I guess this thread has me rethinking that.  Maybe we’ll just do something at home.  I’d hate to be an “invader” that the homeowners will complain about.  My kids will be disappointed but 🤷‍♀️.  I can’t actually force my own neighbors to participate.  

Don't rethink it. Take your kids trick or treating wherever you want. Don't let a few sour grapes ruin Halloween for your kids.

[vonfirmath]

5 minutes ago, Homeschool Mom in AZ said:

Poll: Our local neighborhood (42 houses) and a grocery store trunk or treat (for the first time this year as it's my daughter's employer and she's helping.)

When we lived in PHX we were in one of those suburban sprawl neighborhoods with hundreds of houses that went so far out it bordered tribal land.  As in, I could leave my house walking at a leisurely pace and be standing on tribal land in 5 minutes. Of the 14 years we lived there, there were 3 random Halloweens where kids from the tribe showed up trick or treating. (They don't wear costumes.) They don't have streetlights in their own neighborhoods, so I don't blame them for coming to ours. I was cleaned out of candy in less than an hour the first time, so I turned off my light and put an "Out of candy" sign on the door like I usually do when I'm out. I did buy somewhat larger amounts after that as we also had kids coming in from other neighborhoods too, but I don't plan to give candy to every TOTer who enters the neighborhood-that's not reasonable or affordable for anyone in that kind of situation.

I'm giving out free candy.  I don't care who gets my free candy or where they're from. I buy however much I plan to buy and I give it to who shows up. When I'm out, I'm out and don't feel bad about it. We always get more candy than we can eat, so I'm not bothered by the idea that more kids would be getting the same amount of candy in the neighborhood.  So if people run out faster and TOT ends earlier, the kids will have not as much candy.  Shrug. No one should feel pressure to buy extra candy to accommodate them.  Some parents and kids are greedy (let's face it, our culture in general is greedy and glutenous) but no one has to cater to that. People should buy what they're going to buy, hand it out until it's gone, then turn their lights off.

I do have concerns about too much traffic in a neighborhood.  That means emergency vehicles couldn't get in easily.  Are there sidewalks in your neighborhood?  If so, pedestrians are supposed to stay on the sidewalks and vehicles on the road for just that situation.  If not, it's probably much more risky and I wonder if an off duty police officer might be willing to be on hand to address traffic like they do for mega church traffic. 

This. Though I've never been in a neighborhood that got so much traffic for Halloween that it was burdensome. I just figure I'd buy the amount of candy I wanted to give away and then turn off the light. When its gone, its gone.

 

I expect, when a neighborhood gets that much traffic, there must be people there that really enjoy handing out candy and seeing the kids because they have the goods to attract the kids.  I know when I was growing up in Houston there was a neighborhood like that for Christmas lights. I used to feel sorry for people who lived there because there was so much traffic it would have made it take longer to get out/back home after dark.

[theelfqueen]

When my kids were younger they mostly tot'ed in our own neighborhood... and a couple of times in my parents neighborhood or maybe a friends. So I voted for those options.

I don't mind when people travel to trick or treat and I don't mind when teens trick or treat. I don't care if you don't have a costume. It6s harmless, comminity-building fun. I buy the amount of candy I am comfortable buying then I turn off the light when I run out. There are no schedules around here and no "alternate days." If it's 5 degrees, you brave it. If it's Tuesday night, so what. That's part of the fun. 

Edited October 27, 2021 by theelfqueen

[Carrie12345]

Conflating a family of a couple of kids with the concept of posting “must hit” neighborhoods online is a bit dramatic. 

[Kalmia]

With the kids we always lived rurally in a small town so we would take the kids to town to trick or treat, perhaps stopping by some friends' houses on the way to trick or treat (unless they'd already left for town). I always thought the village homeowners generosity of hosting the whole town was truly community-building. Now these weren't suburban developments hosting all the other suburban development kids in a twenty mile radius. These were the kids that all went to the same schools and the homeowners were their  shopkeepers and bus drivers and librarians and teachers.

In one town, when a group started hosting a stupid trunk or treat in a parking lot and half the usual trick or treaters disappeared, many of the village homeowners were so sad! They loved seeing all the townspeople and their children and commenting on the creativity of the costumes.

In another small town I lived in, real estate agents would warn potential buyers on the main residential streets in the village that there was a "Halloween Tax" and that it was customary for the children of the whole town to go trick or treating on these streets and to expect to spend at least $500 on Halloween candy. I don't think that ever dissuaded a buyer.

But I do think that small towns are very different than developments (where I have also lived) where developers design them to be exclusive and insular and the residents really want to be isolated from "outsiders" and left alone.

[HS Mom in NC]

I should've specified that the grocery store trunk or treat is on the 29th, so it doesn't conflict with Halloween night.

[gardenmom5]

Our neighborhood/street is NOT friendly for trick or treating.  I've probably had ToT come to my house - three times - in 35 years. (there are children on our street.)

when my mom was in a house, I took them to her neighborhood (the one where I grew up.). I've taken them to friends neighborhoods.  Then church started doing trunk-or-treat. 

I've taken dudeling to 2dd's neighborhood when she was in grad school, or with friends.  Then 1dd was excited to take him trick-or-treating at her work (where they give out full sized candy bars.).  and since PDA-aspie  . . . . . trick or treating was probably more about me than him, I gave up.  He'd just do the trunk or treat.

[Elizabeth86]

1 hour ago, Bambam said:

Our neighborhood is a popular spot for trick or treating. We are not close to any neighborhoods (3 miles out of town), and folks drive here to bring their kids to trick or treat.  In fact, our neighborhood has been shared at a premium place to trick or treat on various FB groups in our local area. For the past several years, the few streets we have are bumper to bumper traffic with so many folks.  We've even had folks driving pick up trucks pulling trailers with hay bales bringing even more trick or treaters. 

When I was growing up and when my kids were little, people trick or treated in their own neighbors - or maybe grandma's. Is this typical now that folks go all about to find the best haul? 

My area is pretty rural, so we have to go to my parents subdivision as does most of the area. lol

[ScoutTN]

My kids are too old for ToT, but we always just went in our neighborhood.

People do drive in to our neighborhood to ToT. Uncool. Most of them come late, though, while our actual neighbors come early. They also tend to be tweens or teens with pillowcases full of candy.
 

We get a moderate amount of candy and it is often gone before the late crew gets here. We close the door, turn off the lights, and watch a HP movie. 

[Tree Frog]

We have ToTers from other neighborhoods and traffic gets crazy. We have parents who follow their kids in a car, so the drivers are focusing on watching their kids move from house to house rather than watching for other drivers or ToTers. I would prefer they park in a community area and walk the route as a family. It's not a large community and for the most part, residents don't mind the extra kids. We just want everyone to be safe.

I've never seen any trailers come in, but the road to our neighborhood is a state highway and has had fatalities on it. It wouldn't be safe for kids to arrive on a haybale trailer.

[wendyroo]

1 hour ago, HeartString said:

To answer the question of where exactly we go…when we lived in my home town we went to a close neighborhood that was easy to access and always had a lot of families participating.  
 

Since we’re in a brand new town this year I asked on Facebook because I don’t want to drive around all night randomly and don’t want to end up with sad, disappointed children if I can’t find anywhere to go.    
 

I guess this thread has me rethinking that.  Maybe we’ll just do something at home.  I’d hate to be an “invader” that the homeowners will complain about.  My kids will be disappointed but 🤷‍♀️.  I can’t actually force my own neighbors to participate.  

I live in a big ToT neighborhood. We give out at least 300 pieces of candy a year, and many more in the weather is nice.

A lot of that goes to families that don't actually live in our subdivision, but drive in for the occasion. I have no problem with that, as long as they park and walk door to door. What I can't stand is parents driving slowly along the road keeping pace with a child walking house to house. Or kids jumping out of cars, running up to houses to ToT, and then jumping back into the cars to get driven to the next promising group of houses with porch lights on. I mean, jeeze, we are a tightly packed suburban subdivision - just walk the 50 feet to the next driveway! I don't mind adding people (strollers/wagons) to the sidewalks, but I hate adding cars to the streets when scads of hyper kids are out and about in the dark.

So I would say find a good ToT neighborhood for your kids, but be considerate. Find out what their trick or treat hours are - this year ours are from 6 to 8 on Saturday. And don't unnecessarily drive through the whole neighborhood - just get to the edge of the good ToTing area, park and walk from there. 

[rebcoola]

Our kids always T or T in our neighborhood.  Participations is not super high.  It's a neighborhood that should be great for it but people seem to prefer Trunck or treats and festivals.  

[MooCow]

The people in our subdivision come early. A handful live on a dangerous, curvy road that is right outside our subdivision. About half a dozen of the homes have been converted to duplexes. We consider them a part of the neighborhood. Well, some of us. We get some that have trailers and follow their kids in their cars/vans. That annoys me, it makes it dangerous for the kids walking. 

I don't mind other kids coming in, I'm happy to have them be in a safer environment. I just wish the parents wouldn't follow in cars. Our streets are very narrow and cars aren't supposed to be parked on the street. I know some people give out different candy depending on if the kids "belong" here, but I've been dirt poor, if you knock on my door you're getting the good candy, cause I'm not eating crap candy when I pass out treats lol. And we'll happily give out to teens. Again, it's safer for everyone. 

[HeartString]

21 minutes ago, wendyroo said:

I live in a big ToT neighborhood. We give out at least 300 pieces of candy a year, and many more in the weather is nice.

A lot of that goes to families that don't actually live in our subdivision, but drive in for the occasion. I have no problem with that, as long as they park and walk door to door. What I can't stand is parents driving slowly along the road keeping pace with a child walking house to house. Or kids jumping out of cars, running up to houses to ToT, and then jumping back into the cars to get driven to the next promising group of houses with porch lights on. I mean, jeeze, we are a tightly packed suburban subdivision - just walk the 50 feet to the next driveway! I don't mind adding people (strollers/wagons) to the sidewalks, but I hate adding cars to the streets when scads of hyper kids are out and about in the dark.

So I would say find a good ToT neighborhood for your kids, but be considerate. Find out what their trick or treat hours are - this year ours are from 6 to 8 on Saturday. And don't unnecessarily drive through the whole neighborhood - just get to the edge of the good ToTing area, park and walk from there. 

We always park and walk.  Cars driving around during TOT is dangerous.   Besides being dangerous it’s no fun.  Walking from house to house is most of the fun!  

[SKL]

I don't think this is new really.  I remember when I was a kid, discussing better neighborhoods and sometimes walking to them.

We live suburban, so there is no need to drive for TorT.  I think it's fine if kids take the initiative to walk to another neighborhood for more candy.  I personally would not drive them, unless we were extremely rural.

My neighborhood sucks for TorT.  Usually only 2-5 families hit our house!  There are hardly any kids around, and it seems our neighbors have slowly given up on passing out candy, because it's just not fun to sit there waiting for 2 hours to give out 5 candy bars.  (And it's usually freezing and raining here.)  So last year, when my kids told me they walked a few blocks and had better luck, I was glad to hear it.

[Loowit]

My kids always trick or treated in our neighborhood.  The boys only went once since we moved a few years ago to a new neighborhood.

I think one thing that really irritates me, and maybe it shouldn't, is that our neighborhood is given out of social media as the best place to go so each year we get more and more kids.  Where we live now is considered the place to trick or treat in the area.  I don't so much mind the people coming from out of the area as much as the traffic hazard it creates.  It really bothers me when people drive around house to house because it makes it unsafe for the people walking.  And our neighborhood isn't set up to have that much traffic or parking.  If it weren't for the cars, it wouldn't be a big deal.

We live off the beaten path so we don't get near as many as the main streets, but it is still a lot of kids.  I put together small bags with treats and when they are gone we are done.  This year I put together around 100 regular and 6 allergen friendly which we will send down a zipline.  I really do enjoy handing out treats to the kids, because I know how much they enjoy it.

As a kid I grew up rural and we only had a few neighbors we could walk to easily.  My mom would drive us to a couple of relatives house, all rural, to get treats.  It is a fond memory.  We usually ended up with mostly homemade treats like donuts (from a friend of my mom's who made huge donuts each year), cookies and rice crispy treats from grandma, caramel apples from my aunts, etc.  I never did a walk through the neighborhood experience until I had kids of my own.

[skimomma]

We live in a ToT destination neighborhood and always ToTed from home.  We live in an old city neighborhood that on paper would appear to be the worst place to ToT (no sidewalks, lots of student rentals, low income) but because the area is older housing, the houses are very close together and lots of people decorate their house, have scary music, offer "treats" to the parents, etc......  People come from all over and no one that I know of minds it at all. In fact, before we were empty nesters, we hosted a big annual ToT party so all of our friends out in the country had somewhere to launch from.  I have had to run to the store to restock candy a few years, which I do prefer to having a bunch leftover.  Like others, I don't mind the extra people but the cars drive me nuts.  Many parents will follow their kids with their car or have the kids actually get IN the car between houses.  Our lots are 50 feet wide.  This makes to sense!  I have asked these people over the years and they say they do it because there are no sidewalks.  So, they are making it MORE dangerous for everyone else.  About 50% of the time, it snows on Halloween, making the roads and visibility even worse.  As far as I know, no one has been hit by a car.  But I know the city has been trying to discourage traditional ToTing for years and the police have stopped patrolling that night like they used to.  Instead they hold a Treat Street thing downtown on some weekend day around Halloween.  I think it is lame, honestly.  Half the fun is being in the dark and seeing your neighbors and house decorations, etc.....  Most kids do BOTH anyway so I don't see the point.  I always hated explaining to dd that she could do one or the other but she was not going to end up with TWO giant bags of candy.  

[Annie G]

For 25 years we lived on The Street to trick or treat- usually about a thousand kids. It got so crowded the police barricaded the road so cars couldn’t drive down, and they walked the street (about 1/2 mile, I guess).  I loved having lots of kids come by, and didn’t care if teens or kids had no costumes. However, it  could still be pretty scary. We had a large group of teens push my teen daughter out of the doorway to bust into the house to grab the bushel basket that held the candy. We had adults show up with no kids, no costumes, and demand candy for their kids ‘sick at home’. They were so rude and aggressive, saying they needed a lot because they had a lot of kids, and complained about the quality and quantity of our candy.  Our pumpkins were smashed right in front of us, many times. the police presence was because kids were being knocked down and candy stolen.  When we ran out of candy and turned lights off, kids continued to bang on the door and look in the windows, yelling that they know we’re home. 
So while in theory I really didn’t mind people coming to our neighborhood to TOT, it all depends on how they behave. The vast majority were fine, but just a few bad eggs really ruin it. 
Having said that, I hope nobody here decides not to visit a safe neighborhood to TOT. I’m sure none of your kids would act like those I mentioned above. 

[MercyA]

3 hours ago, HeartString said:

I guess this thread has me rethinking that.  Maybe we’ll just do something at home.  I’d hate to be an “invader” that the homeowners will complain about.  My kids will be disappointed but 🤷‍♀️.  I can’t actually force my own neighbors to participate.  

No! Take your kids to a good trick or treating neighborhood and don't feel guilty about it! No one forces anyone to turn on their porch light and hand out candy. They do it because they want to.

We live on the outskirts of town and if we didn't drive to trick or treat, DD wouldn't have been able to do it. 

Agreeing with the others that the only thing that bugs me is parents driving their kids from house to house. Park and walk! 🙂 

[MercyA]

38 minutes ago, Loowit said:

We live off the beaten path so we don't get near as many as the main streets, but it is still a lot of kids.  I put together small bags with treats and when they are gone we are done.  This year I put together around 100 regular and 6 allergen friendly which we will send down a zipline.  I really do enjoy handing out treats to the kids, because I know how much they enjoy it.

Thank you SO MUCH for having allergen friendly treats available! It always meant so much to my daughter to get a few little stickers or trinkets or allergen free candies in her pumpkin full of things she couldn't eat!

[Dmmetler]

We trick or treated in our neighborhood. My house is on a reasonable route between a couple of church fall festivals/trunk or treats, and right near a elementary school and is the middle school bus stop so I get a pretty good number of kids each year (I think kids notice which houses and neighborhoods have a lot of decorations and prioritize them!) . Personally, I love it. I also put my house on the list for Teal Pumpkin and Adult special needs trick or treating, and always have a range of treats available so kids can just pick something right for them. 

 

So, from someone in a "good" neighborhood, PLEASE come!!!

 

 

Edited October 27, 2021 by Dmmetler

[CTVKath]

Our neighborhood stinks for trick-or-treating so here's what we do. First we like to treat the kids in our neighborhood so we have lots of candy to hand out and we decorate with tons of lights and either a fog, bubble or snow machine. It helps that my husband is in the AV industry and can get demo gear to borrow every year. We usually get carloads of kids either early as they leave the neighborhood to go somewhere else or late on their way back home. Second we like for our kids (now 9 and 12) to get to do something but that varies every year. Sometimes I will take them ahead of time to a county park trick-or-treat or a community garden trick-or-treat. This year my husband and I will split up for a little while on Halloween night - one to stay at the house and hand out candy and one to take the kids to a nearby posh neighborhood that has lots of houses close to the street. They are meeting up with another family doing the same thing. And almost nobody stops at our house between 6:30 - 8:00. Most of our visitors either come by 5:00-6:30 or 8:00-9:00. We shut it down at 9:00. It is LOADS of fun every year. Halloween is not my favorite holiday but I love doing this every year. Last year we made a huge Covid candy chute out of decorated PVC pipe so nobody had to come closer than 6 feet. It was an absolute blast.

[bolt.]

We've always stayed close to home / grandparents. If we were to travel it would be more about finding those special streets that go "all out" in terms of decorations and a street festival atmosphere... the kind that seek publicity themselves and intend to be a destination. I would never choose a destination just based on a "haul". (If I lived somewhere where ToT wasn't happening, I might do some research before driving somewhere -- but just to make sure it was viable overall... not with an excessive focus on the "haul" itself.)

[DeainUSA]

That sounds SO fun and SO expensive!

It is fairly typical here.  We are rural and have to travel to a neighborhood to trick or treat, as do many others.  When the kids were young, we went to my parents, which I think we would have done regardless.  

[Clarita]

Typically my kids just go to Halloween events instead of trick or treating, because our neighborhood has no trick or treating. We live on a steep hilly area so people don't really come outside of the neighborhood to trick or treat, our neighborhood has very few young families, and so people have stopped doing trick or treat things which leads to the kids in the neighborhood also not trick or treat in the neighborhood. 

Going to other neighborhoods to trick or treat is very common in my area. It's something that is sometimes mentioned on house buying documentation that the neighborhood you are buying into is a popular trick or treat/Chirstmas spot. It has to do with the fact that we live near a higher crime city (Oakland) and poor families want their kids to have fun too. Not all families are fortunate enough to live in good trick o treating areas. 

I grew up in a high traffic trick or treat area. So I acknowledge the traffic sucks. After I became a teen my family would turn off all our lights and we would escape somewhere until 10pm or 11pm before coming home. Or know we would be stuck at home from 4pm onwards.

[Clarita]

Also when I did go trick or treating my parents had me empty my loot into their trick or treat handout pile. So they didn't have to buy the pallet of candy needed to have enough for trick or treaters in my neighborhood. 

[Arcadia]

When my kids were much younger we would go to one of their favorite malls for trick or treat. They stopped when they feel they are too tall even though the suggested age limit was 12. My kids are scared of cold (wind chill) so indoor malls are their favorites.

[Bambam]

Our neighborhood is gated, but the HOA has the gates standing open from 5-9 pm this year. 

When I say packed, I mean packed, roads are jammed full of cars. These lots are at least 1 acre in size, so most folks set up tables at the end of their driveways and pass out candy there.  Most drive from driveway to driveway - kids jump out/off, grab candy, get back in, drive on to next house. There are a few walking but not many. I've assumed those are residents, because it would be hard to find a safe parking place not in someone's driveway! When I had to go out one time on Halloween, it took me 30 minutes to travel my street to the stop sign - which in normal times would take way less than 1 minute. Concerns about any emergency situation? Absolutely! 

Add in our roads are sized for two vehicles to pass side-by-side with just a little extra. At least one family is planning to have a party - which means cars parked alongside the road - which will create a road hazard. 

Our neighborhood also does not have streetlights (our choice, visited regularly, and voted down each time). There will be neighborhood kids out on 4 wheelers and golf carts in this mix of cars, trucks, and SUVs, and trucks pulling trailers. Last year there was even a tractor pulling a wagon too (still not sure how they got here!)

Numerous church buildings here have trunk or treat events in their parking lots - Friday, Saturday, or Sunday night. Same with the mall and several other businesses (in their parking lots). There are plenty of IMHO safer activities. 

I'm not against people taking their kids to other neighbors. I'm not against folks trick or treating. I am still concerned about the massive influx of traffic and folks into our neighborhood which is not really structured for this.  I hope nothing will happen that means I have to leave Sunday night! 

We are in TX, so the weather should be lovely for walking around neighborhoods. 

 

 

Edited October 27, 2021 by Bambam

[Spryte]

I answered earlier that we ToT in our neighborhood with huge crowds, and love it. I like that we are a destination neighborhood! 

I love Halloween. Our neighborhood is a big Halloween neighborhood, and we have a lot of traffic. A lot! We decorate, and drag a portable firepit to the driveway, and use color changing powder on the flames. We have a few tables with crockpots bubbling with chili for hungry neighbors, butter beer, and some adult drinks for adult visitors. We pass out gobs and gobs of candy, and we have a cauldron filled with hundreds of little goodie bags that DD and I stuff—those have gadgets and toys, for anyone who doesn’t want candy or have allergies. We have teal pumpkins, teal jackolanterns and a teal pumpkin project flag to make it really obvious. One year we had a large cauldron full of nothing but multi color finger lights, all turned on, and it was a huge hit—the glowing cauldron! Kids all left with an extra safety supply. Win-win. We give candy or treats to anyone, and I especially love teen ToTers who make an effort with their costumes. We give them extra. 
 

Sadly, this year, with high risk kid not vaxxed, we are not doing all that. Blerg. But! We have our lights and decorations up, and have all month. We will turn them off on the actual night, ugh. We have extra large goodie bags packed and ready to deliver to all the neighborhood little kids and tween/teen friends, which we will do during the day. Then the fun part for us starts! We did this last year: I decorate the basement and we have a family party. We have a goblin egg hunt in the dark with only the glow of the Halloween lights, special foods, games with nerdy prizes. The switch witch delivers allergy friendly treats, we play a board game (this year it will be Horrified), and we have an Alexa assisted Escape Room lined up. All that and then a Halloween movie. We do all this in the basement, with all house lights off so no one knocks. It’s weird, but fun.

 

[kbutton]

3 hours ago, MercyA said:

Thank you SO MUCH for having allergen friendly treats available! It always meant so much to my daughter to get a few little stickers or trinkets or allergen free candies in her pumpkin full of things she couldn't eat!

I never get takers on my allergen free candies, so I am not doing it this year. I am guessing this will be the first time someone needs them, lol! 

[Clarita]

41 minutes ago, Bambam said:

I'm not against people taking their kids to other neighbors. I'm not against folks trick or treating. I am still concerned about the massive influx of traffic and folks into our neighborhood which is not really structured for this.  I hope nothing will happen that means I have to leave Sunday night! 

I think perhaps this is something to bring up to your HOA. Well probably first your neighbors see how many would back you on this complaint. 

In some of our popular trick or treat destinations the city (like police) get involved. Like they'll patrol the area that night, block streets, direct traffic. Non of these streets are made for the traffic they see on one night but at least some safety precautions are being taken. 

[wendyroo]

3 hours ago, kbutton said:

I never get takers on my allergen free candies, so I am not doing it this year. I am guessing this will be the first time someone needs them, lol! 

I don't offer any specifically allergen-free candy, but I do try to choose our selection mindfully: a couple pure sugar options (no nuts, wheat, dairy), one pure chocolate option (no wheat or dyes), at least one option that is suitable for young toddlers to eat (not a choking hazard), etc.

I also keep a small bowl of those selections apart from the big bowl in case someone needs something that has never even come near peanuts.  

[kbutton]

4 minutes ago, wendyroo said:

I don't offer any specifically allergen-free candy, but I do try to choose our selection mindfully: a couple pure sugar options (no nuts, wheat, dairy), one pure chocolate option (no wheat or dyes), at least one option that is suitable for young toddlers to eat (not a choking hazard), etc.

I also keep a small bowl of those selections apart from the big bowl in case someone needs something that has never even come near peanuts.  

I usually get Tootsie Roll products and keep them separately. They have nut free facilities, IIRC. I always double check on the label to be sure. I think most are GF also. 

[Noreen Claire]

We have a routine of trick-or-treating at my parents' house. They live on a dead-end, so it's a small, quiet area but has lots of families, and their city always holds trick-or-treat on the 4th Saturday of October. My kids then dress up again to hand out candy in our neighborhood on Halloween night.

We live in a neighborhood a short distance from the the border with the poorest city in the state, so we end up with a lot of people who aren't necessarily from our immediate neighborhood. We don't mind! We plan to buy a good amount of candy (no full-size bars here, sorry!) and my kids enjoy interacting with all the trick-or-treaters and seeing all the costumes. When we run out of candy we shut off the lights and go inside.

[Spryte]

A big thanks to all of you who go out of your way to offer something allergy friendly! It’s people like you who make kids like mine incredibly happy. It’s really special.

Can we all be neighbors? 😊

[TechWife]

11 hours ago, HeartString said:

To answer the question of where exactly we go…when we lived in my home town we went to a close neighborhood that was easy to access and always had a lot of families participating.  
 

Since we’re in a brand new town this year I asked on Facebook because I don’t want to drive around all night randomly and don’t want to end up with sad, disappointed children if I can’t find anywhere to go.    
 

I guess this thread has me rethinking that.  Maybe we’ll just do something at home.  I’d hate to be an “invader” that the homeowners will complain about.  My kids will be disappointed but 🤷‍♀️.  I can’t actually force my own neighbors to participate.  

I think you should find a neighborhood to go to and head there! I grew up in a subdivision that was in a rural area. The kids from the randomly placed houses (the houses that were on multiple acres of land, for example) came to our neighborhood to trick or treat. It would have been dangerous for them to walk on the busier roads where their houses were located and they were spaced too far from other houses to make that practical for the kids to walk anyway. It's a great way to meet your neighbors & your kids' classmates if they go to school.

[kbutton]

Seems appropriate for the allergy discussion: