I am still, probably, a ways off from having a kid, but I have thought about what where I would want to settle to have one. One thing I experience as a kid growing up was that my parents seemed very protective... I grew up a suburb away from the city, commuted 50 minutes one way to school, and hanging out with friends was entirely dependent on whims of parents (to drive me to meet friends).

While I am not sure if a latchkey kid was the way to go, I want to make sure my kids grow up with some level of freedom. I want them to be able to walk to school, go out with neighborhood friends on a Saturday morning and maybe not return until Saturday night, grow up with public transport normalized so if they want to hop on the train to go to some event with friends, they can.

But also, I feel you sort of have to balance this with the protectiveness of being a parent, which I have never felt that feeling before as I do not actually have kids yet, but I was wondering for other parents in my situation, how did find some balance?