Should Parents Take Kids To Other Neighborhoods To Trick Or Treat?

Halloween is only two weeks away and families are starting to organize their trick-or-treating plan for the spooky night. There are several businesses that will be hosting trick-or-treating events, community parks holding celebrations, and the tradition of heading out in your neighborhood to go door-to-door asking for candy. If you are lucky enough to live in a neighborhood that is well-lit, with lots of houses giving out candy and plenty of families in the area you tend to stay in your neighborhood. But for some families, there may not be many homes giving out candy, streets are poorly lit, houses could be few and far between, their kids' friends live on a different side of town, or they just moved here and don't know where they should go.

In an El Paso discussion group online, we asked the question:

Halloween is coming up and I want to know....where do you think is the best neighborhood to go trick or treating in? And what neighborhood do you think gives out the best candy?

Some responders gave out their genuine opinion, offering up neighborhoods they have trick-or-treated in the past and enjoyed going to. Some of the places mentioned include Mesquite Hills in the Northeast, the Rim Road area, the far east by Saul Kleinfield and Edgemere, Redstone area in far Northeast, and many neighborhoods on the far eastside. While some wanted to help and gave out advice, others were quick to shame and say that people should stick to their own neighborhoods when trick-or-treating. Reasons given were that it is a good time to meet your neighbors, it's safer, and there are plenty of treats for kids there.

So the question is- should parents be taking their children to other neighborhoods to trick-or-treat on Halloween?

When I was in elementary school, there were only about 6 houses on my entire street that gave out candy. Six out of almost 40 houses on my block. To get candy from 40 houses, I would have to walk a couple of miles down poorly lit streets in a community filled with mostly retired couples with no kids. Instead, there was a community called Sagewood, where almost every single house gave out candy, and the streets were filled with kids. Several of the homes turned their garages into haunted houses, there was a big party at the community pool and the parents would all congregate at one house and spend time getting to know their kid's friend's parents. The entire community got into the Halloween spirit, and it was a fun time for the neighborhood, parents, and children. So even though I lived about 15-20 minutes away from Sagewood, my parents and I were still welcomed with open arms into the neighborhood. This is what the holidays and Halloween is about. Bringing together families and friends from whatever part of the city they are from to enjoy the evening in a fun and safe way.

Out of all the commenters on the post, we have to say the neighborhood we are most excited about finding is wherever our buddy Preston lives:

"Yo idc if you come from Juarez, New Mexico, or Wakanda; I’m passing out dat bomb candy until we run out & everyone is welcomed lol Halloween is for the children. I got some Heinekens for the adults."

Halloween night we will be looking for your house, Preston.