Wwyd, block pay for swing set?

I would say that its a nice idea, but I dont konw how her neighbors will take it. she certainly can not EXPECT them to pay for it, and if she goes ahead with her idea, she should make that very clear.
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Posted: Mon, Jun 14 2010, 9:09 am Post subject:

Only allow neighborhood kids who are actually playing with your nieces and nephews to play with it when they're playing with your nieces and nephews.

otherwise it's kinda tacky to ask for everyone to chip in.
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Posted: Mon, Jun 14 2010, 9:13 am Post subject:

I agree, tacky.

And if some people pay and some don't? Will your sister be okay with standing at her gate saying, "Sorry, you 3 can play here, but not you"?
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Platinum Member Joined: Nov 01 2009 Posts: 8202

If its truly the neighborhood playground, I don't think its such a bad idea. But then they also lose the right to say "go home now, its my yard" for whatever reason.

So, I would get a new set myself so I have full control.
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BTW, by having everyone chip in, everyone will feel a certain amount of ownership towards it.

is your sister prepared for her backyard to turn into Grand Central Station? For the added wear and tear on her grass and in her yard? The noise whenever someone else's kids are using the swing set? Is she prepared for her kids to possibly get bullied off the swingset since they can't use the excuse 'my swings, I get dibs'?

Diamond Member Joined: Feb 28 2010 Posts: 4866

I would never do that. Very tacky. And like others have said, if she collects money, it in essence becomes everyone's swing set. A piece of public property in her yard.

I know people often have this problem with pools. If you have the only pool in the area, everyone wants to come, and it becomes a public pool. If this doesn't bother you, great. But most people have to draw the line and only allow their kids' friends in, or it becomes a free-for-all.
In any case, you can't exactly charge pool entrance or swing-set use from your neighbours. If you do, it's no longer a private residence but an amusement park.

Posted: Mon, Jun 14 2010, 9:31 am Post subject:

Oh and as soon as someone gets hurt, the swing set goes from being 'everyones' to 'hers'.

Posted: Mon, Jun 14 2010, 9:54 am Post subject:

I was definitely put that in the "not a good idea" category.
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Tacky.
Because it's on YOUR property.
If it was smack in the middle of the block, it's a different story.
It's nice that you allow everyone from the neighborhood to play on your swing set but it's also not necessary.
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I think it's tacky to allow your kids to use someone's swing set all the time.

(I don't think it's tacky, but I'm surprised that people find it tacky for someone to say that you use it all the time and obviously, the swingset is getting 5 times the amount of use/abuse than it would have from just my family.)

The issues in asking everyone to chip in is that she loses any sense of control as now they all own it. Also, as others said, she can't just send them home now and they will feel way more entitled to it. It might become like a local park and I don't think she'd want that. She can limit the usage of the set if she wants to do that.
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Diamond Member Joined: Feb 28 2010 Posts: 4866

Thanks for the responses! She's most likely not going to ask anyway, just wondering what you would do. Her backyard is not closed off and she is too generous when it comes to her swing set. It's not neighborhood kids coming, it's mostly only block kids. I'm going to tell her that it's better not to because of ownership. That makes the most sense to me. Being tacky, is true, but it broke much sooner than it should have because of all the wear and tear.

I guess it is one of the downsides on living with lots of kids around. If she lived on a quiet block full of old ladies she would have a fixed swing set, but bored kids, who would mess up her house and cause more wear and tear inside.

Posted: Mon, Jun 14 2010, 10:59 am Post subject:

I thinks he should invest in a fence... safer for her own kids and keeps the other kids out.

I also want to point out one issue that many people don't seem to realize - insurance. If CH"V a kid gets injured while on her property on the swings, they could sue her house insurance. It has happened. I would suggest she put up a sign notifying that this is private property, please keep out or something. This way she should be covered (I think). Whatever, I'm not the expert, but it's definitely something she should look into.

Platinum Member Joined: Jan 01 2006 Posts: 48152

The cost of a swing set aside, she should have insurance. THAT"s going to be expensive.

Posted: Mon, Jun 14 2010, 11:39 am Post subject:

If she's told the mothers they need to be there watching and they aren't, then she has to either call the moms to come over or send the kids home.

I still think she'd be better off building a fence.