You're supposed to wait in the queue before your child gets out? This seems really inefficient. It appears like something that sounded better on paper than in actuality. Having no system in place seems like it would be actually better.
It's like at the airport picking people up, but there's no cell phone waiting area. Plus all the kids are crossing the street and blocking vehicles for turns and going through a stop sign/yield when an opportunity arises. Then sometimes there's bus lanes too. People get annoyed and impatient easily, but these set ups are all often #### shows to begin with.
It's designed to help to avoid the risk of kids getting hit, but it probably contributes as much to the problem than it solves.
Especially if you pick up your kid from school first and are in a rush to grab a kid from daycare before the $5-10 a minute penalty starts to kick in. Other times, it's rushing to grab everyone before grabbing food before the next extracurricular activity.
I used to wonder why parents would be so impatient in getting out of a school area. After knowing what it's like and knowing the other activities and places parents need to rush to, I get it.
Disagree. Backing onto an unpaved backlane is awful. Would much rather put my bins out onto a paved front road once a week than having my home back onto what is essentially a muddy trench.
Agree 100%. I only put my bins out every 2nd week, I'd take that over people ripping through alleys kicking up dust. Muddy as hell on wet days, thieves prowling and scoping out places to break in or see what they can steal. Extra noise.
I prefer my backgate as it is, opening onto a green space but I know not everyone can be so lucky.
Paved allies are the best of all worlds. It's awesome for screwing around in, there's no dust, good overflow for garage parties, front of houses actually look nice instead of driveway after driveway, etc.
I did back onto a greenspace growing up in Dalhousie and that was pretty fun, too, tbh.
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Is this really a thing? What schools are doing this? Can I get fries with my kid drop off?
I drive an extra block and go around to the back of the school where there's ParkPlus spots (pay only 11-6) that almost no one else uses and stay out of the stupid struggler chaos that is the Hug & Go zone. I'm not doing three left turns, through busy crosswalks with continuous straight through traffic you can't turn against to drop my kid the same distance from the school as the other side.
Then I sit a few minutes to wait for all the traffic to clear out of my route home, entertained watching the morons at the other end of the block swing u-turns onto the sidewalk of the school bus only zone to let little Tommy hop out of their lifted Ram, and mommy in her SUV throw on her flashers in the driving lane while little Sally runs across the road in front of the busses.
If you have to go into the school drop-off line, at least do it in style with a (barely) street legal Nova. (Starts at 1:00)
Last edited by Ironhorse; 12-20-2023 at 12:09 PM.
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It's like at the airport picking people up, but there's no cell phone waiting area. Plus all the kids are crossing the street and blocking vehicles for turns and going through a stop sign/yield when an opportunity arises. Then sometimes there's bus lanes too. People get annoyed and impatient easily, but these set ups are all often #### shows to begin with.
It's designed to help to avoid the risk of kids getting hit, but it probably contributes as much to the problem than it solves.
Especially if you pick up your kid from school first and are in a rush to grab a kid from daycare before the $5-10 a minute penalty starts to kick in. Other times, it's rushing to grab everyone before grabbing food before the next extracurricular activity.
I used to wonder why parents would be so impatient in getting out of a school area. After knowing what it's like and knowing the other activities and places parents need to rush to, I get it.
The crossing the street thing shouldn't be happening. If parents are dropping kids off on the opposite side of the street from the school, that's asking for problems if they aren't using a crosswalk. That's bad parenting.
For picking up kids on time, that's the number 1 reason we picked daycares close to work and not close to home. Finding a good daycare downtown/close to work isn't easy, but it is so worth it.
The crossing the street thing shouldn't be happening. If parents are dropping kids off on the opposite side of the street from the school, that's asking for problems if they aren't using a crosswalk. That's bad parenting.
For picking up kids on time, that's the number 1 reason we picked daycares close to work and not close to home. Finding a good daycare downtown/close to work isn't easy, but it is so worth it.
Why shouldn't kids cross the street? Kids are using the crosswalks to reach their homes or parents on the other side of the road. Pedestrians in crosswalks in massive volumes means vehicles are not able to drive for extended periods of time. That's why vehicles are backed up for blocks around the school.
That's also why some kids will run to a vehicle that's on the road waiting and hop in the car. The vehicles are waiting that long on occasion due to the volume of pedestrians simultaneously going where they need to go. I agree that kids shouldn't necessarily be doing this, but it is what happens regularly at many schools.
My son goes to a school where there are literally 3 schools in a row within 500m of each other. That one really turns into a #### show and if we didn't have the ability to forgo that busy period via before and after school care, yeesh. ####ty scenario twice a day every school day.
Then god forbid you drive to the c-train station and there was a delay which is why there's panic to get around quickly because it was already a #### show, then a #### show in and a #### show out.
A lot of this bull#### could have been avoided if many daycares/day homes also didn't decide to kill off their pick up and drop off services because of the pandemic/the fact it wasn't cost effective.
I'm in Timun's scenario. The kids will walk to school one day. That day is just not here yet because of the before and after school offerings. Not all schools have it.
Always happy we moved in somewhere that's a 5 minute walk from both the elementary and middle schools just before our boys started.
Yep, being right in the middle of the elementary and middle schools was a big reason we bought our house, and now it's also an easy bike ride to the new North Trail high school. That's basically as car free as you can get in Calgary with kids
Trying to find some stocking stuffers for the wife so I google for some ideas. I really question if people know what a stocking is or what kind of things go in them. Some of the ideas I have seen.
2000 piece puzzle
Diamond ring
Kitchenaid stand mixer
6 pack of their favourite beer\seltzers
Why not a 17”x12”x1.5” carving board?
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Is this really a thing? What schools are doing this? Can I get fries with my kid drop off?
I drive an extra block and go around to the back of the school where there's ParkPlus spots (pay only 11-6) that almost no one else uses and stay out of the stupid struggler chaos that is the Hug & Go zone. I'm not doing three left turns, through busy crosswalks with continuous straight through traffic you can't turn against to drop my kid the same distance from the school as the other side.
Then I sit a few minutes to wait for all the traffic to clear out of my route home, entertained watching the morons at the other end of the block swing u-turns onto the sidewalk of the school bus only zone to let little Tommy hop out of their lifted Ram, and mommy in her SUV throw on her flashers in the driving lane while little Sally runs across the road in front of the busses.
This is what I do, I drop off my daughter a block or two from the school, she can walk it alone or on cold days, I can walk it with her. I practiced this walk with her in August when there were no time constraints and it's in a residential area and playground zone. She's 7. Most days she will bump into a friend, usually with an adult, and walk that block with them. I've never gone into the drop zone.
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Paved allies are the best of all worlds. It's awesome for screwing around in, there's no dust, good overflow for garage parties, front of houses actually look nice instead of driveway after driveway, etc.
I did back onto a greenspace growing up in Dalhousie and that was pretty fun, too, tbh.
An alley definitely has some advantages, but if the only advantage it's providing is a place to park your bins once a week, it's kinda meh... At least there's more of a buffer between your house and a back neighbour.
That said, green space >>>>> paved alley >>> gravel alley
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Cancer taking good people away just before Christmas..
It took my Mom, 25 years ago on the 23rd December.
I dreaded Christmas for a while after that. It was only when my son was born in 2005 and I could see Christmas through his eyes as he grew older, that I was able to enjoy it again.
It’s probably the greatest gift my son has given me.
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Yep, being right in the middle of the elementary and middle schools was a big reason we bought our house, and now it's also an easy bike ride to the new North Trail high school. That's basically as car free as you can get in Calgary with kids
We might be neighbors! I have a 15 year old (North Trail HS), 12 year old (Nose Creek), 7 year old (Coventry Hills school) and 4 year old (will go to CHS next year). There's a sign that says the street west of the school is an idle free zone. But during winter (and sometimes spring and fall), the majority of cars are idling.
When it's nice out, I ride my bike with my 7 year old to CHS. My two older boys walk to school. 12 year old goes home for lunch. I work from home so it's perfect. When I drive, I park far and we walk. I can't stand the chaos.
Why shouldn't kids cross the street? Kids are using the crosswalks to reach their homes or parents on the other side of the road. Pedestrians in crosswalks in massive volumes means vehicles are not able to drive for extended periods of time. That's why vehicles are backed up for blocks around the school.
That's also why some kids will run to a vehicle that's on the road waiting and hop in the car. The vehicles are waiting that long on occasion due to the volume of pedestrians simultaneously going where they need to go. I agree that kids shouldn't necessarily be doing this, but it is what happens regularly at many schools.
My son goes to a school where there are literally 3 schools in a row within 500m of each other. That one really turns into a #### show and if we didn't have the ability to forgo that busy period via before and after school care, yeesh. ####ty scenario twice a day every school day.
Then god forbid you drive to the c-train station and there was a delay which is why there's panic to get around quickly because it was already a #### show, then a #### show in and a #### show out.
A lot of this bull#### could have been avoided if many daycares/day homes also didn't decide to kill off their pick up and drop off services because of the pandemic/the fact it wasn't cost effective.
I'm in Timun's scenario. The kids will walk to school one day. That day is just not here yet because of the before and after school offerings. Not all schools have it.
I think you misunderstood. I said they shouldn’t be crossing the street away from the crosswalk, i.e. not being put in the position to jaywalk because their parents parked directly across the street from the school.
There actually should be no reason why you couldn’t safely do a u-turn after dropping off your kid (from the front of the school), if that wasn’t happening. Unless your car has the turning radius of a city bus.
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We might be neighbors! I have a 15 year old (North Trail HS), 12 year old (Nose Creek), 7 year old (Coventry Hills school) and 4 year old (will go to CHS next year). There's a sign that says the street west of the school is an idle free zone. But during winter (and sometimes spring and fall), the majority of cars are idling.
When it's nice out, I ride my bike with my 7 year old to CHS. My two older boys walk to school. 12 year old goes home for lunch. I work from home so it's perfect. When I drive, I park far and we walk. I can't stand the chaos.
I admire your ability to remember all those kids and where they go to school.
I always go to the far left as well. But I'm not doing so in a way to cut anyone off. If anything I do so so that I can weave around the strugglers in the two right lanes and blast past them going fricken speed limit and not get stuck doing 10 below.
This is exactly it. Why should I sit there behind people who are going to exit and slow down to like 45km/hr to start that? Think of it this way...I'm just moving to the left out of your way.
I don't think I've ever heard of someone chastising a driver for literally using the roads as they're designed.
Is this really a thing? What schools are doing this? Can I get fries with my kid drop off?
