There was an article about this in Family Circle this month, too. I grew up in a very safe small university town but with lots of biking-- so I consider freerangibg vital but helmets don't count as bubblewrap parenting in my book! It's hard to let kids roam here (not hometown) with the suburban sprawl and poor pedestrian routes, but as my kids grow we'll figure some ideas out (the community areas, botanical gardens, etc can be solo spots w friends, even if getting to some takes a car smirk