With the proliferation of neighborhood associations I question the need for city sponsored Trick or Treating anymore. Our own annual neighborhood association T or T is always a huge success with kids walking with neighborhood friends getting candy and showing off costumes to neighbors. To that end I should know or recognize the kids or parents with them that I'm handing out candy to.
What a great way to build community! If you don't have a strong or active neighborhood association, what better excuse than Trick or Treat to start one up.

It's a "no and yes" thing for me. I would never take my kids to a random neighborhood, yet every year we go to my childless Aunt's house after our neighborhood. I hand out candy at her door while she walks with the kids - something we've done for 10 years now. All of her neighbors know us, and we go over there for other neighborhood things, too.
So, I'd say if you have a connection to the neighborhood, it's fine. I certainly don't mind seeing my neighbors' kids' friends on our street, and I'd like to think my Aunt's neighbors feel the same.

Trick or Treat is for the little kids not the teenagers. The little kids think that's cool how they can go door to door and get candy or other good stuff.

I really don't see what the big deal is, kids are kids, no matter where they come from. We live in a neighborhood of mostly older adults. Seeing the kids in their costumes are a treat I relish each year. Last year we had close to 500.

If i was a low income parent living in the city I would do everything possible i could for my kids including taking them to a more affluent neighborhood to trick or treat. I don't agree with the term "outsiders" - i think we tend to exclude at times. ALL the kids coming my door today belong to my community - their address doesn't matter.

I agree with you Bewidered. Nobody can have 500 kids for trick or treating. What did he do count every kid that came. You heard of a car counter. Maybe he had a kid counter.

I don't mind trick or treaters coming in from somewhere else to go door to door for trick or treat. What I do mind is the fat parents that can't park their cars to go along. Instead they drive from house to house creating a safety issue for the neighborhood kids. Especially when there are many people in cars too lazy to get out and walk with their kid.

And as for counting how many kids you have at your door, it's very easy. I buy 5 bags of candy from Sam's Club and each bag has 100 pieces. I give out two to each kid so that 500/2 = 250 kids. Usually I have a half of one bag left so I get about 225 kids. It's not complicated.

I just wanted to point out that Wauwatosa is not exclusionary. The city has open daytime trick-or-treating like most municipalities, 1 to 4 p.m. Sunday afternoon (today), and the sidewalks of Wisconsin Avenue were thronged with costumed kids and parents. The residents take it in very good grace; those who wish to participate stock up on bushels of candy and often go to great lengths decorating, knowing their frightful handiwork will be seen by a multitude; those who don't want to participate either just don't answer the door or head for a Packers party.

To the above who think it's not possible to count the kids .. it's quite easy. Each bag of candy has a piece count. When it's over, count the pieces you have left. Presto, now you know.

We have about 600 kids each year. The percentage of neighbors has decreased steadily, and is around 30-40% as there's no doubt the majority of kids at my door are "not from my neighborhood."

To be honest, I used to not mind, when the mix was different, where the majority of kids were my neighbors. Now it's not, and the ratio gets more difficult each year.

To those pure of virtue, good for you. Others have a breaking point.

I did 'double dip' with my daughter, but as some have mentioned, I was invited by people living in the city or neighborhood. I think where things get out of hand is when people look to 'get all they can' with their kids by figuring out how many ToT's they can get to in a few day period. Sends the wrong 'gimme more' message, IMHO. @Lyle - 500 pieces of candy probably equates to 25 bags of candy, which for some is going to be an unattainable expense of $75. For candy.

Sometimes when I think about it it seems like most of the kids trick and treating don't like the large black olives i give them so I over them tooth brushes or crab apples. The parents seem to be irritrated at that, so that...makes me feel as though I have done my good deed. :<)~~~~~

I'm right there with you Lyle - one year we did 400 Halloween goody bags - and we ran out I had bought 10 extra bags of treats and we went through every piece of candy - there were some houses in our subdivision that the grandparents handed out candy - one grandparent would hand candy out and the other used a counter and clicked off every child that came - they reached almost 500. We actually get wagons pulled by tractor trailers in our subdivision as well as golf carts loaded with kids and trucks with kids in the back of them. I think it depends on where you live. I live in one of the subdivisions where we voted to have night time trick or treat and we were flooded with area kids coming into our subdivision and from Milwaukee County. When you have a subdivision that has over 300 homes in it and each home has 2 to 3 kids it is easy to do the math. And almost every house in our neighborhood has a party going on.

I had one trick or treater that was 16 years old. I asked her if she thought that 16 was overdoing it and she said no. Her father was walking with her and he didn't think she was too old either. She didn't have a costume on and was using a pillow case to collect her loot.

Greedy parents and greedy kids.

Gotta love the teens that smoke and have sex but still want to be childish and go trick ot treating

My subdivision has only about 15 houses in it, but there are a couple hundred kids that came around. We love kids, more than ever since our kids are gone at college. We hand out a lot of large candy bars.

I like our neighborhood trick or treat better than the wide open one. We had over 400 kids, many of whom were taller than I am. It seemed that many of our trick or treaters were not celebrating or in costume--this is just a way to get free candy.

I honestly don't care where the kids come from. I get a big kick out of them. Most of the costumes are great. Most of the kids are polite. Some of them are real characters. They smile and laugh when you joke with them and most of the parents are great as well. It's two hours of spontaneous entertainment on a Sunday afternoon for the price of a few bags of candy.

When you live in the "country" you must travel to a neighborhood or subdivision. We try to go with friends so we at least are joining locals as we walk around. I'm embarrassed when people know we are not from around there, but it is the only way we can take the kids out.

If each county or the state set a standard TorT time, seems all this double dipping would come to an end. Two hours in length is plenty and a 10 or 12 age cutoff would be good. After reading this, more people should buy less candy and stop answering to door once the candy is gone. 500 kids is a crazy amount of kids. At my house, we get about 50 kids and that's a good number.

I like how some of the democrats on here have no problem raising taxes, spending other people's money or supporting those that do. However, when it comes to handing out candy.... It is one piece of the cheapest stuff they can find.

T or T is a great way to get to know your neighbors and for kids to recognize the people who are around them. Stay in your neighborhood and build community. (Unless you live in a rural area where the houses are miles apart or heavily wooded-- then find a suburban or urban friend and tag along.)

What was happening today near 60th and Wisconsin Avenue? It looked like half of inner city Milwaukee had parked their kids there and sent them trick or treating.
Seriously? It has come to that for a couple bucks worth of candy?

Does anyone still give out the certificates redeemable for one free small fry or ice cream cone from McDonald's?

I have no problem with any child coming to my door for a treat; although, it does bother me when occasionally the mothers carry their own trick-or-treat candy bag and hold it open for free candy...I am not kidding, this does occur.

It gets expensive to feed candy to all these kids from other neighborhoods. I gave away like 25 pounds of candy last year and then had to deal with angry kids and moms when there was none left. There are about 30 kids who actually live in my neighborhood and we had probably 150 that came to the door in total. This year I'm going to leave the lights turned off and not be home for trick or treat. I can't afford to supply candy for all of southwestern Wisconsin.

Who in the hell cares where the kids come from? My preteen nieces are from Racine and go to Kenosha to have fun trick or treating with their preteen cousins. This article is effin ridiculous!

Trick or treating comes only 1 a year. I live in apartment building. Does anyone know how much candy I should buy?

Personally I couldn't care less the age of the kids nor whether they are from my community. I love the costumes, the comments, the innocence and the proud parents.

It's a day/night that kids look forward to. Leave it to adults to screw things up. Let them trick or treat anywhere they want to as long as they (and their parents) behave themselves.

A few years ago the trick-or-treat hours for Greendale were 1-4pm and 4-7pm in Franklin. My kids had always wanted to go when it was dark, probably b/c I had told them that's what I had done as a kid, so after we made the rounds in our neighborhood, we headed over to a nice subdivision just 'across the border.' Boy did we ever get some strange looks and not-so-nice reactions at the door by the residents. Some even asked where we were from. I thought "how could it be so obvious?" The kids were small and in costume, we parked at the entrance to the subdivision and walked the whole way and it was during the publicized T-or-T hours. I did notice there were not that many other kids going door to door however. Finally, one nice lady told me many of the residents were having a big bonfire/Halloween block party a few streets over. I guess that is one way to make sure 'outsiders' don't show uip in your neighborhood. I know WE left right after that!

Personally, I don't care who shows up at my door for candy, as long as they are in costume - even teenagers. I feel bad if I run out of candy, which is rare, but then I just turn off my light and put a note on the door that says "Sorry, out of candy."

Hey, complainers - If you don't want to give candy to black kids, then don't. Nobody's going to come arrest you for that; it's a great opportunity for you to be as racist as you want to be, with no consequences at all. Give candy to the kids who are trick-or-treating the way you want them to (for most of you, that obviously means having Caucasian faces), and slam the door on the ones who don't meet your high standards.

Personally, it would make me feel like a louse of a human being to gripe about this. If you're giving out candy, then give it until it's gone, to anyone who wants it. If you can't afford it, then don't give out candy!

Maybe if all the towns around here go back to having Halloween ON Halloween (that would be Oct 31 at dusk) -- travelling to other communities for T&T wouldn't happen so much.

Driving a distance to T&T is a lot easier if it's on a Sunday at 1pm vs 5pm on a weekday.

Yes -- I'm old-fashioned, and glad my kids did not grow up here / where T&T is relegated to Sunday afternoon from 1 to 4pm.

Fox Point resident

I know of Shorewood kids who have gone out for candy in Shorewood and then come to Whitefish Bay!! Or Whitefish Bay kids who started first in Shorewood and then returned home to Whitefish Bay to rake in more sweets. Let's get 'em all!!! Give me a break!! This is just a thinly veiled complaint that we are giving candy to African American children. Time to check in with your moral compass.

When my children were young, all of my friends with children from many outlying communities would bring them to my house for T or T. When all were able to make it, we had a group of about 20 kids and their respective moms. It was a way for the kids to have fun together and for the moms to reconnect while walking with them. Then we would have juice or soda afterward while the kids checked out their goodies on my front lawn. It was great fun for all of us! Also, I don't mind that others come to my community if they feel safe here. In this world, the kids need to know that there are places to go where they don't need to worry when knocking on someone's door. By the way, I did run out of candy this year...the first time that has happened. This year I gave out two pieces per person. Next year it will only be one!

Wow, interesting comments! I also ran out of pretzels & little fish crackers in an hour. Felt bad when I had to close the blinds & turn off the porch light. Still had kids banging on the door. I think it's gotten kind of out of hand. I don't deny the kids from other neighborhoods, don't care what color they are cause their neighborhoods are probably not safe to go trick or treating. But I think the time for it should be shortened for sure!!!

Closed my blinds this year and didn't answer the door. Last year was terrible. I didn't recognize a single face that came to my door. 75% of the "kids" didn't say "Trick or Treat" or "thank you." Half weren't in costumes. We had many ADULTS with bags, putting them out to receive candy. There was no joy last year, so I just stopped.

Every year we get infested by our neighbors to the East. If you're in a costume I don't care. It's the ones that do nothing but wear their slutty school clothes that bother me.

Seriously people? Age limits? State Trick or Treat times? Let The children have fun no matter the age and no matter where they are from. If I can provide a safe place for kids to trick or treat then fantastic. If you run out of candy then you turn your light off or put up a sign saying "Sorry all out." We had very few children come to the door in my neighborhood. I would have liked to have seen more no matter where they were from.
I was however disappointed in the children who came to the door holding out their candy bags without saying a word and never saying thank you. Parents teach your children some manners.

I love seeing the little ones smiles and the older kids creativity. I wish we would get more Trick-or-Treaters. We live in a rural area and they all head to the subdivisions where they have many home close to each other. We usually head to my brothers house, we bring candy to pass out for the neighborhood trick or treaters. He supplies chile and a bonfire for family and friends. This has been a tradition since he bought his house 20 years ago.

Trick or treating is stupid, this candy/sugar fetishizing has to stop. Just say NO to the entire thing.

There are children who live in dangerous neighborhoods. Their parents want them to have the fun experience of Halloween in a safe environment. Also children who live in the country should be able to participate in the festivities. Buy a couple extra bags of candy and enjoy the look on the kids faces when they come running up to your home calling Trick or Treat!!!! I enjoy seeing kids/adults of all ages join in - as long as you are having fun - go for it!!!!

I wish there could be a way to send donations to the high-traffic areas, like Fox Point's trick or treat street. We live 3 blocks from there, and get no more than a handful of kids who bother stopping on their way over there. For the number of years my kids have gone over there, I'd gladly buy someone on that street a whole sack of candy to give out!

I love seeing the kids and welcome any and all! We deck our house out and have fun doing it - it is our way of giving back to the community and the kids that are part of it. I love seeing them excited over our decorations and hearing the laughter is priceless!

If you don't enjoy giving out candy for whatever reason, don't. Over the 40 or so Halloweens I've been lucky enough to be here for (on earth, not Wisconsin) I've participated some years and not others for various reasons. Lately it's been fun, for the most part...the cute, polite kids of every age and color outweigh the not-so-cute and kind of rude people. I think it's better to give only if you can do it with an open heart. In everyone's life there are times when it's too difficult to give without judgement. Those are the times to just take care of yourself. Diane

We were out of town this year, but last year our neighborhood association tried to organize trick-or-treating and it was a total bust. We had so much candy left over that I sent some over to HE Pennypacker, and the sugar rush kept him up all night, posting anti-Obama rants of epic length and incomprehensibility on Patch, stroking and whispering sweet nothings to his precious Heinz 57 all the while.

We often do have a large number of kids from other neighborhoods trick or treating in our neighborhood. How do I know? Because I'm one of the first houses at the entrance and the van pulls up, parks in front of my house and all the kids get out. As long as the kids behave themselves, as I expect from ALL the kids, neighborhood or not, I have no problem with it. Maybe the parents don't think it's safe in their own neighborhood or they want their kids to have the opportunity to trick or treat at night. Whatever. I can think of a lot better things to worry about than what neighborhood any particular kid is from. And to those who don't think you can have 300+ kids...you haven't seen our neighborhood, either. When Halloween falls on a weekend, it's crazy.

We had so many trick or treaters my door bell started on fire!