The past couple of years, the amount of kids out on Halloween has dwindled down in my neighborhood. This year, my wife and I were at her cousin’s house and we saw maybe a couple of kids walking around. My wife blames people going to Trunk or Treat things. We both work in retail, so we see more of the public, and nobody was in costume. What was everybody’s experience with Halloween this year?
We had much nicer weather this year. I had maybe a third of the trick or treaters as I did last year.
It was much less than I expected, and I have a ton of candy left over. Like 90 full size candy bars left. Last year I went through 120 to 150. This year, we handed out about 70, and as it got later into the night I was handing out multiple to kids.
I’m in a middle class Chicago suburb. We’ve had ICE in our city and neighboring suburban cities. While I haven’t seen them on our street, we do think the general political climate kept a lot of families home.
Maybe it is the fear of being shot for stepping on someone else’s property. Many people with kids also can’t afford to live in a house, and apartment complexes don’t do door to door trick or treating.
Neighbourhood is dying, new or expecting parents do not move here any more. And old folks get really aggressive when you dare go around as a young teen, for some reason.
I meant to set stuff up this year but didn’t make time for it. it was windy and the second day of constant rain in a row, which might have had an effect, but my street was dead.
we put out candy and decorations for a couple years until two thefts the same night, then my ex got so annoyed by that that she didn’t want to do it the next year. the first theft was just the usual kid taking the whole bowl, whatever. but the second was a woman driving kids house to house and sending them to steal all of the candy. fuck that bitch. it was a pretty nice car, too.
my neighbourhood is very walkable for this kind of activity, so it is a bit surprising, but I blame this year on the weather, it truly was miserable. hopefully I find time over the winter to make decorations for next year
also, candy prices are insane
Trick or treating is alive and well in places where you can walk safely, and houses aren’t too far apart from each other. The problem is too many places in the US don’t fit that description.
Dunno if I agree. That’s my neighborhood and, while not completely dead, it’s just nowhere near when I was of age. It was a clear Friday night and we got maybe 30 total unique kids. I emptied the bowl on a repeat group at ~830. That was not how I remember it as a kid. I think someone else suggesting the decline in birth rate might be on to something.
My neighborhood fits that description and we have tons of kids going through. About 50% of the houses were participating. Adults had parties at driveways too. Oh and it was raining. Apparently doesn’t stop anybody in Oregon.
Hmm maybe then, some friends in a suburb were saying their neighborhood had aged out of it. The place I went last night was hopping and had a lot of traffic. Maybe the internet has made people optimize their targets?
I went walking yesterday during trick or treating to a party at a bar 2 miles away. I saw a few groups of kids, I walked through a business street area and all the restaurants and bars and stores were giving out candy to kids with their parents. Every group had a parent but they were mostly 8-14. Definitely wasn’t as busy as it was when I went as a kid 15 years ago, even though I lived in a small town. Also not a lot of houses were participating in giving out candy but I moved to a city so maybe that’s it
apartment
Maybe it’s because no one can afford to have kids or buy candy.
Our street only has 2 houses that do it, so everyone drives right on by our block. Some of them go to parties instead, some of them are just lazy and disinterested.
I’ve kind of shamed people into decorating for Christmas, I made my house elegantly lit with a warm white glow and theirs were dark and depressing. But Halloween, just the 2 of us for years.
We’re in a high crime city so a lot of folks do trunk-or-treats and I get that, but, those kids are gonna be adults that have to learn to live here too. There’s something humanizing about going up to strangers doors, finding out your neighbors aren’t actually monsters or assholes, but kind people.
I rent, so you don’t get a chance to pass out candy anymore, but it was a bright spot in my childhood. I’m sad that we’ve abandoned that.
Plus, you got to peak into all your neighbors doors and see a bit of their life and it was a positive experience for all involved.
I rent, and I have the most decorated house in 2 miles.
I’m not in single family detached home.
I’m not either, but I live in a town home style place with a yard, but I’ve decorated everything from an apartment door to a house. You can still celebrate in many ways.
We’re in a downtown-adjacent neighborhood of our decently-sized city and we saw plenty of kids this year (6-8 in small groups and a herd of 15 or so). Other years when we lived a bit further out, we didn’t get as many but still a few (usually 5-10).
I stopped bothering like two or three years ago. Number of years in a row before that I had zero trick-or-treaters so just kind of felt like why bother anymore?
Neighbourhoods have less kids because they grew up and then didn’t have kids at the same rate, it’s prob more active near new suburbs built by schools or other areas they are renting at.
alot of out of state transplants to, who dont have a sense of community here,
*a lot.
I mean compared to when I was young its come down massively. It got sorta wierd when you had parents driving down the street one house at a time and the kids get out and back in and then you had people coming from far places if your place was known for handing out good stuff. Im in a condo now so it just does not really happen as its just not as accessible as single family homes. My place is also on this busy triangle that is surrounded by busy streets with no side streets.
Trick or Treating has definitely gone down in my neighborhood.
The neighborhood is 21 years old and I posit that is the reason. A lot of new families, like us, moved in 20 years ago and now the kids are all grown up. My kids are 18 and 16 respectively and have not gone out on Halloween for a few years. The family right next door to us have sons that are a bit older than ours.
Thats so sad my sister at 18 went with me when we were younger, even dressed up. I went to a bar this Friday and it was packed with people in costumes and dancing, at least my generation still indulges in it. The music didn’t start until 8:30 so it was well after the trick or treaters. Idk maybe kids are afraid of their neighbors, that wasn’t the case in my neighborhood. Hope you have many festive years to come! My friend’s mom use to put tombstones out with her children’s names on them.
Definitely on a down swing. Not a lot of houses do it. Lack of kids and candy prices. Kids get transported to more expensive neighborhoods or the trunk or treat events. I haven’t done it the last few years cause of the decrease in traffic, raising cost of candy, and the increasing number of rude ass kids (teenagers) that grab everything they can without saying a word.
