Whatever happened to chainlink fences?
Last week I was driving down a major thoroughfare in Baton Rouge behind what appeared to be a fairly nice upper-middle class neighborhood. Something caught my eye that made me profoundly sad as I considered the implications behind it. Three backyards in a row contained very nice red cedar playground sets. Three families living next door to one another had spent thousands of dollars buying the very best professional level equipment for their children’s backyard adventures.
Now, I don’t have any problem with families spending money on nice swingsets. What struck me was the thought that I never would have seen this when I was growing up – three houses right next to one another, all with virtually identical major-league playground gear. I’m not reaching back to some long ago era, either. I’m talking about growing up in the 70’s and 80’s, when yards were separated by chainlink, if there was a fence at all.
The good ole chainlink fence served to keep the dogs in the right yards, and let you know where to stop cutting the grass, but they didn’t keep neighbors away from each other. (more…)