Do you have TOT in your neighborhood?

[hermione]

The subdivision next to us gets a ton of kids. Probably at least 1,000. We are not in the sub but the next street over. We get 0. But we are on a dead end with no streetlights and no sidewalk.

We go out with friends in a neighborhood near my daughter's school and it was was crawling with families last night.

I am also in MI though much closer to Detroit than Ann Arbor.

[eb777888]

Yes, we do. I had no idea neighborhoods stopped TOT until I read about it in a local Facebook city group a few days ago. It makes me sad that it seems to be fading out. We only had about 40-ish TOT'ers last night. Mostly older kids and all were in larger groups.

[sarahsays]

We had zero trick or treaters. We do live in a really nice neighborhood but there aren't a ton of kids and there are no sidewalks or streetlights which I'm sure contributed.

[plutosmoon]

My street only gets 2-3 trick or treaters, but my larger neighborhood easily gets 1000 or more. My particular street is at the edge of the neighborhood, no sidewalks on our half, we are an area that is flat with close together houses, people come from all over our rural surrounding area. A lot of areas around here really suck for trick or treating due to the ruralness of our area. Kids flock to a couple of areas, one is my neighborhood, they park at the school and fan out from there, usually in the direction of the sidewalks (opposite direction of my house), the busiest area is right by the school. Before moving into this house, we would trick or treat in the neighborhood by my work (college town), that area was also packed with kids. Twice we trick or treated up by the lake (our old house), that area was also busy. I think now kids tend to congregate in certain neighborhoods, whereas back when I was a kid we went mostly where we lived.

[leahcar]

We had 60ish TOTs last night; it was much less than previous years. Other parts of my neighborhood apparently had lots though.

We live in a 70s/80s built suburb that's slowly converting from original owner/empty nesters back over into more families. Everyone on my street sits out and chats while the kids do their thing. It was too hot for a firepit and cider this year so we offered parents beers instead. I legitimately have fun as an adult; it's a blast for my 9 yo.

[pandora89]

Yes, definitely. We get hundreds of kids every year, our street is more of a "destination" type street since a lot of the houses go really big with their decorations and we have a street party.

[brooke77]

Yes! There are a ton of kids in my neighborhood. They started at 6 and I still saw kids out at 8:30 when we ran out of candy.

[sonrisa]

Yes. We only got about 50-75 kids this year because DH forgot to turn on the porch light for a while. lol. I was out with the kids. Usually it's more like 150.

(Trunk or treats aren't really a thing around here. Most families aren't looking for extra candy opportunities. We went to one once. ever. Community Halloween events tend to focus on things like pumpkin decorating, games, etc. not just candy)

[pandorica]

I don't think trunk or treat has had a big impact on TOT here. It's been pretty similar since we moved in 6-7 years ago I think? Hard to really tell since we now put a bucket out and take our kids ToT. We live in a fairly small neighborhood - about 40 houses that give out candy I would guess. Lots of people get into it, setting up small displays and/or sitting outside handing out candy when it's decent out. There's a wide range of childless young couples to elderly folks, and I think people who don't live in neighborhoods come here too.

[devonpow]

I’ve only ever seen trunk or treat online, never in person. I’m outside of Boston and trick or treating is a big deal on my town. They close the busiest streets off to traffic. The street a block from us is really popular - my friend gave out 1200 pieces of candy last night. We had about 35? Which was. Good year for us (my street is dark and the houses set back so it’s not popular. But I go crazy decorating to entice kids lol)

[mcppalmbeach]

I love traditional trick or treat! I even slightly miss the doorbell ringing of my youth… now everyone sets up in the driveway. My neighborhood has about 100 houses and it’s pretty good, although my mom and I noticed that we had less houses decorated than years past (some of that may be that Milton interrupted our October). But my good friend and my son’s good friend live in a smaller lot neighborhood with way more houses that’s insane and we’ve gone there the past few years, which is fine because it’s also where we drop ds1. I miss my neighborhood and how easy it was when the kids were little to not have to get in the car.

[joy]

Hell yes.

Trick or treating is an EVENT in my neighborhood.

EDIT - I live in a Philly neighborhood close to Center City. Trunk or treat makes no sense here so I’ve never really been to one. City row houses were the original trunk or treat? Everyone so close together? 🤣

[shinyhappy]

OMG yes. It’s an extravaganza

[underwaterrhymes]

We get 100-200 kids and we go the Sunday before Halloween from 2-5. It’s pretty busy and festive.

But my employee gets over 1,500 TOTers annually and that blows my mind. I would need to take out a loan to fund that endeavor lol.

[sandandsea]

Ours does but it was sooooo quiet this year. I think the Diwali timing conflict had a huge impact here as many had family obligations.

[beerlover]

Yes, all the houses are pretty close together in my town and the streets are busy. It’s a fun atmosphere! There are plenty of trunk or treats leading up to Halloween but those are in addition to, not taking the place of trick or treat.

[jlt19]

Our TOT is the absolute best thing ever. I was at a friends house because mine is too far back to get many, and they went through 400 pieces (one each) in 2 hours. They’re on a side street halfway back. Front of the neighborhood clocked around 1500 kids at a few houses.

The Hwy was backed up at our exit and there were lines at houses. It is the most magical experience especially because everyone knows that 75% of the kids don’t live here but they are SO welcoming to everyone.

[meanie]

Yes, people drop off their kids here because there are lots of houses, no hills, and the streets are in a grid.

We actually TOT in a friend's neighborhood so all the kids can go together, the houses in their neighborhood go all out and it is a lot of fun - but it's super hilly and my legs are hurting today!

[macmars45]

Trunk or Treats are everywhere in my city in central WA state. It's crazy. Some are before Halloween but a fair amount are on actual Halloween. It's seen as a 'safer option' by some. I grew up here and Trunk or Treats weren't a thing in the 90s.

My neighborhood is perfect: 35 houses in a big square with only one road in & out with streetlights and sidewalks on both sides of the roads.

[fancynewbeesly]

Our house got an average amount-about 60. But we are the last house on the dead end. Our neighborhood was packed. They go all out on the main streets in our neighborhood. One house had foam bubbles to play with. They gave out Dixie cups of baked beans. A couple other houses had hot dogs.

[penguingrrl]

It’s still huge in my town. Trunk or treat is not big around here, but I think some churches may do them on weekends leading up to Halloween? I’ve never been to one.

But TOT on Halloween is huge. I live down the street from a really popular neighborhood for it. In that neighborhood our police close the streets to traffic and the residents go through 5+ Costco bags apiece while giving one piece per kid. People set up huge displays on their driveways and some give out wine, beer and Jell-O shots in andd to candy for kids and it’s a party atmosphere. Folks even drive in from surrounding towns for it.

My kids quickly learned that other neighborhoods in town are still fun but they get more candy because fewer people go, so they and their friends go to the other neighborhoods instead and have a blast.

[DarcyLongfellow]

Trick or treating is still huge where I live. Tons of kids out last night. In my area certain neighborhoods are known for being the good ones for trick or treating, so they'll have tons while neighborhoods with houses further apart will have fewer.

Trunk or treat is also big in my area, but I've never seen one on Halloween night -- they're always the week or weekend before.

Nov 1, 2024 12:44:33 GMT -5 tiki said:

I have no idea what Trunk or Treat is. Kids still walk around here.

OK, so I could have guessed that it was trick or treating from trunks of cars, but where are the cars parked? I see lots of online mentions of it happening at churches, so people go park in a church parking lot and basically tailgate Halloween? Our area generally lacks parking lots, so that would explain why it's not a thing here. 

They aren't spontaneous-- they're set up by an organization (in my experience mostly churches, but sometimes neighborhoods in conjunction with a Halloween parade), then sometimes advertised to the general public. I've seen them in parking lots or (more rarely) parking garages. It is kind of like tailgating Halloween. There is often food for sale or food trucks also.

[lilac05]

We get fewer every year, and the kids get older. The Littles seem to hit the trunk or treats before Halloween and the bigs go with their friends on the 31st.Our weather is unpredictable so I think it works out really well that way.

We used to live in a destination neighborhood and I loved it so much. I loved knowing that people knew they’d be safe and welcomed in our neighborhood. Now on our street, the neighbors 4 houses on either side of me had their lights off, so fewer kids made the trek. Many of them were rewarded with two full size bars!

Our Trunk or Treat was moved indoors this year because of weather, and it was even better than trunks, IMO. The church turned down the lights, added music, fog, and decorations, so it felt really festive. Not scary Halloween, but not super cheerful Fall Fest, either.

[redheadbaker]

We have TOT in our community. Nothing is allowed to change here, LOL. Residents nearly revolted when the school canceled the elementary school's Halloween parade due to COVID.