This is an American problem that is not applicable to other parts of the world

I think that's precisely the issue. They should be more accessible to everyone, particularly on foot.

Outside™: now with more extreme heat watches and smoke advisories!

For kids growing up in car-dependent suburbia, outside does not exist. If you can't drive, you're trapped in your home, unless you want to just go for a walk among endless identical winding cookie cutter streets.

Where is a kid in suburbia supposed to go that's actually within walking distance? I suppose they could just hang out on the street. But homeowners seeing a group of teen loitering on the sidewalk in front of their home will call the cops. Hell, sometimes just walking around is enough to get a group of teens harassed by police.

Not really.

I'm old enough to remember when grade school kids could get on a bus or subway alone without anyone saying anything.

If you made 'Stand By Me' today all the parents would be locked up for child endangerment.

Most kids today can't just go outside with all their friends and come back when the streetlights turn on like many of us did as kids.

Yes, but very few parents just let their kids run around outside. Very few kids get to walk or bike to friends houses, without adult supervision. We have all internalized "stranger danger" and the "danger" that random people are to kids.

Yep. The good old vacant lot that nobody gives a shit about. Really underrated place for kids.

There's still lots of malls .. but they're empty. And often prohibit minors without an adult.