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Moms know it’s all about the kids. And now in many cities across the country it’s all about the family. We’ve seen a rebirth of this family-centric view a lot in recent years, from reports of young parents giving up high-powered careers to focus on their home lives to an assortment of new family activities that allow parents to bring kids to bars, clubs, and restaurants that would previously have been off-limits. The newest trend, however, is making cities themselves family-friendly.
There was a time not too long ago when cities focused on attracting young professionals, offering cool apartments, the hottest nightclubs, and a number of concerts and shows. Now, however, the focus has turned to making cities kid-friendly in order to keep families from moving to the suburbs.
In fact, an entire network was created to deal with issues facing cities. CEOs for Cities, a nationwide collection of high-powered executives, political figures, and university presidents, began a study to find out what they should be doing to keep young people in cities once they started having children. And a number of solutions have since been implemented.
These include increases in public parks and playgrounds, meant to take the place of suburban backyards, better extra-curricular programs in schools, designated family time at a number of public places, kid-focused events at museums and other cultural hotspots, reserved areas for children on public transportation, and large numbers of kid-friendly restaurants, many of them “gourmet.” While staying in the city can still pose a problem for many parents, most often due to finances, so far these programs seem to be working, with a number of families taking advantage of these new offerings. Of course, if nothing else, a greater focus on family is never a bad thing, and that’s something we’ve been seeing a lot of lately.