Public Service Announcement: some of us don't have gardens or any outside space

[tectonicplates]

One thing that's really got to me over the last couple of weeks is the number of people on here who just assume everyone has a garden, and that if you want to sunbathe, all you have to do is just go in the back garden. (And yes, I'm also aware of a couple of threads where people's neighbours have told them off for sunbathing in their own back gardens, and no, I haven't been sunbathing in parks, before anyone asks).

www.housebeautiful.com/uk/garden/news/a1615/gardens-considered-unattainable-luxury-for-londoners/

It's partly about the frustration of not having one in this beautiful weather when we're not allowed to sit in parks, but also about so many people's assumptions of what other people have, or how other people live.

A further important thing to add is that if you look at any figures for the percentage of people with access to gardens in a given area, very many of these gardens are shared between flats, especially in big cities. Not everyone gets on with their neighbours. I know I'm not the only one who's lived somewhere in the past where one particular household was always monopolising the garden, and were so intimidating that nobody else dared to use it.

We've been going out for a walk every day, and we're lucky enough to be able to walk to a nice park and a couple of smaller green spaces, but some people don't even have that. I'm really worried that even outdoor exercise will be banned at some point if they want a make the lockdown stronger. Who knows.

I'm already well aware of the lack of work opportunities in rural areas, especially seaside towns. That's one of many reasons why I don't live there. This thread is mainly about how we're annoyed by the lack of awareness, and the widespread assumption that everyone has a garden.

Millions of Londoners didn't give a stuff about the Olympics either.

@farfallarocks
Agreed it’s hugely discriminatory. They need to cut teenagers some slack too

It's not discriminatory. We've all got the same instructions. Do also you think that teenagers are somehow immune and/or can't carry the virus?

Totally agree. We were desperately looking for somewhere to live that was affordable to us when I was pregnant with ds a year ago (we were actually looking for the cheapest possible). We nearly ended up in a 1 bed ground floor flat off a busy road (no garden) but we’re extremely lucky a small house with a small garden came up cheaper in a town next to the city. I don’t think many Mumsnet users understand that it’s a luxury to have a garden, they taken it for granted. These are the same people who consider a couple earning 40k a year each not well off

I agree. I never minded having my own garden because there are loads of parks and greenspaces nearby. I am lucky to have access to a communal garden but if the rules change maybe my neighbours will start using it especially if I clear away the brambles.

We're in a flat with no balcony/outside space. Initially I thought it would be great as there would be no gardening... I might be regretting that slightly, but we had little control over where we ended up.at the time.
It is somewhat irking to be right next to a park and a village green, yet not be allowed to go and sit on them (it's very quiet here, people are sticking to the lockdown rules as far as I can see, as many people have decent gardens, and people are going out of their way to walk around one another with good clearance when out walking.

I know many people have less privileged lives than my family, so I'm taking it on the chin, and pretty thankful that a) we're not a particularly outdoorsy family, and b) my children are not under 7.
They understand what's going on, and are happy to comply (DD got stressed because I needed to go back outside to the car again when I brought home shopping yesterday, as I'd already been out once!).
If I had more than two, or they were toddlers/infants age, I'd probably be on my knees now!

Communal garden/ dog toilet. At least I can look at it out of the window which is a great plus. Some people are sitting out in it. I can walk round it, but we are trying to avoid the communal foyer as much as possible due to dd's asthma.