Capital Region neighborhoods with the most trick-or-treaters
Well, potential trick-or-treaters.
After a recent conversation about popular trick-or-treat neighborhoods, we were curious about which Capital Region neighborhoods have the most trick-or-treaters.
And while we can't really say without some sort of trick-or-treater census, there are numbers are which neighborhoods have the most potential trick-or-treaters.
So we looked it up. Is there an orange map? You know there's an orange map.
What is this?
We looked up Census Bureau data for Capital Region census tracts (which very roughly approximate neighborhoods) to find which tracts have highest estimates for number of kids 14 and under.
Specifically, the data is from the American Community Survey 2012 5-year estimate. So it's not super recent. But it's probably not a bad approximation. (And it's important to remember these are estimates.)
Map
There's a clickable map with numbers for all the census tracts in the Capital Region core above -- click or scroll all the way up.
Neighborhoods with the most trick-or-treat-age kids
Hey, but...
Yep, this look includes kids who are probably too young for trick or treating -- and some that are probably too old.
And, yep, this map/table doesn't account for kids who end up trick-or-treating in neighborhoods in which they don't live. And there are definitely some Capital Region neighborhood that see an influx of kids on Halloween.
If you live in one of those neighborhoods, don't be like this person who wrote to Slate. Consider it an honor! One of the great things about Halloween is that it sends the message to kids that neighborhoods -- and neighbors! -- can be welcoming and safe, even at night. And there's not a lot better than asking a kid about his or her costume and then seeing their face light up as they take some candy while you wish them a happy Halloween.
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Comments
It seems like there would be a lot of variables to this, even within a town. Maybe we could enlist volunteer candy census takers to count trick-or-treaters in well-defined neighborhoods.
I did my own count a few years ago; that's what I based this year's candy buying on.
... said Rob on Oct 31, 2014 at 2:05 PM | link
When I briefly lived in East Greenbush, I had a handful of kids stop by each year. No owning a home in Albany (DelSo/Whitehall area), I was totally unprepared the first year, where we had at least 200 kids come through a 3 hour period. I actually had to run out twice for candy, my pants down big time on prepration efforts. The past few years since, I've been buying close to 400 pieces of candy to keep up.
This analysis is great, but I think a few things get discounted.
One, suburbia's growing aversion to letting kids be kids, because parents have such irrational fears about the world. Therefore, tricker treating gets down in closed environments like the mall. LAME!!
Two, denser neighborhoods, often our cities, offer more bang for your buck. I think that is the case for my neighborhood. Growing up, I'd tricker treat in Burnt Hills, where you were able to hit up a few homes per block, due to houses residing on acre size plots. My city block features at least 20 houses, offering more per mile.
Three (which really is an extension of point two), I have suspicions that suburban parents (those who aren't irrational and believe every city block is gang ridden or every suburban home may feature a pedophile) dump their kids in my dense neighborhood, because of how much candy can be reaped. Can't confirm this, but the soccer mom vans load with kids seems to be confirmation enough :)
... said Rich on Oct 31, 2014 at 2:19 PM | link
I love the little ones, I really do, but I'm turning my lights off and unplugging my doorbell tonight.
... said J on Oct 31, 2014 at 2:23 PM | link
so TRICK then @J ?? :)
... said bickersmith on Nov 1, 2014 at 9:57 AM | link
@Rich: For next Halloween, I'm thinking of having my kids dress up as stereotypes. My daughter could trick or treat as an irrational suburban soccer mom, and my son could go as a self-absorbed young urban professional.
... said Bob on Nov 1, 2014 at 2:09 PM | link
I agree with the densely populated block comment. I live in a section that the map says has a lot of trick or treaters but they all go up 2-3 blocks where the houses are closer together to get more bang for their buck. I get maybe 10.
... said Chrissy on Nov 3, 2014 at 9:35 AM | link
@Bob, yes, there were some jabs at suburbia there (solely based on my own experience), but if you read carefully, I didn't say all suburbanites were irrational :)
This self-absorbed "old" urban "not really" professional has tons of candy for anyone of my regional neighbors :)
Looking forward to seeing your kids next year!!
... said Rich on Nov 3, 2014 at 10:48 AM | link