Citizen complaint of the day: Too many strollers on Dwight Street

However the owners of such conveyances would never consider taking them on public accommodations. They were much about "show and pretense", and wouldn't be practical for people who, perhaps were so unfortunate as to not have servants taking care of the messy details.

Yes, cheaper models were sold to some mainstream consumers, but they were still considered baby carriages, and were mainly used by infants and not toddlers. Being transported in the baby carriage was seen as infantile, so when children were old enough to understand that, they didn't want to be placed in one, lest they be ridiculed by their toddler friends.

Finally, someone developed a simple stroller that folded up to not much larger than an umbrella. This made it much easier to bring small children on public transit — because it was so simple to fold up the stroller and place the child on your lap.

No longer something just for infants, the strollers were employed for toddlers and even older children, but mainly as a temporary helper between being carried and walking on their own — not as the child's primary mode of transportation..

The stroller was quite like an umbrella, in that you could quickly deploy it when needed, and just as quickly stow it again before entering a bus or train. People got accustomed to taking children more places in these strollers.

But then, the strollers changed. The simple, practical, folding "umbrella strollers" kept getting larger and heavier, with wider and longer wheelbases. They became impractical to fold, and far too heavy to carry like an umbrella.

So we've come back to the heavy, oversized strollers of past pretense, but now they're being used by a much wider age range of children, and with the expectation that unlimited space will be made available for them on busses, trains, and sidewalks. It's a recipe for disaster!

I, too, have noticed kids who look to be four -- and even five -- being pushed around like princes and princesses in these giant strollers. I was kicked out of the stroller to make way for my sister when I was two and a half or so. What is wrong with making a kid walk?

If they lived there when they gave birth, they should have gotten a more appropriate means of transportation. If they moved there after birth, they aren't too bright to move into a place where they have to store your stroller on the street. On the other hand, I have brought stroller and child up stairs with few issues. I still do it, and he's probably 35 pounds by now (we jog, and to get to the door it's about 8 steps from the street, but I have bounced him further up stairs.)

It sounds like a lot of poor planning on Dwight Street.

Jim Gaffigan (the comedian, not the poster on this website) talks about dealing with strollers in New York. His clan was able to find a place in the lobby to store the stroller. That's a much better option in so many ways.

Our parents carried us until we were big enough to walk. If we didn't walk fast enough for the occasion, they'd pick us up and carry us again. It was simple and effective.

Twins? You've got two arms, haven't you?

Bullshit, bullshit.

My tandem was 45 lbs and I still took it upstairs.

In my day, the MBTA required parents to fold the damn things while transporting.

I carried the infant and the stroller and my older kid held onto the stroller. Not hard at all.

You can also settle them in their room, close the gate, and run down and get it.

Been there, done that, not that hard, and bullshit.

None of those side streets have sidewalks that are wide (or even) enough to be ADA compliant. This stroller is clearly right up against the wall. If someone had a patio chair there, would people be bitching the same? Likely not.

aren't exactly adequate for wheelchairs, either. In fact, it's tough enough to walk on them with all the broken bricks and pieces sticking up. I can't fathom how women (or men) in heels do it.

Such enormous strollers are a menace to public safety — particularly so in the environment of a crowded bus or subway car. Operators of these devices frequently position them as barricades across the subway platforms, obstructing the flow of passengers through to less crowded areas before or while trains are arriving. It's dangerous!

The Ⓣ has specific rules regarding the transport of bicycles, and restricts them to non-rush hour times. Similar rules should be applied to strollers. There also should be some basic size limitation that no stroller on The Ⓣ may exceed — big enough to carry a child safely, but not so big that it becomes a rolling toybox/closet/pantry/shopping cart.

The bike path.

That's it. Otherwise, they don't fit through doors, some don't fold, and all are ridiculous.

-Grumpy old mom who used to fold her damn stroller on the T

Wide strollers are only an issue because pedestrians get screwed over by drivers. They get four times as much space despite the fact that drivers are vastly outnumbered. Take away a driving lane and you will solve this problem and make Boston a safer place.

Entitled much? A public sidewalk isn't a place to store your crap.

1. I get an extra run or 2 in per week.
2. When Jr. was younger, I was able to get him to nap while running.
3. He is into the active lifestyle. He loves races (and yes, I do race with him, but I do also try to keep from bumping people. And no, I don't start in the back, since I will end up passing most of the other runners anyways.)

I'm glad that running with a stroller is a thing. Are you going to walk with your kid 2 miles to see something? On the other hand, the little one loves 4 mile runs.

I suppose I could do the opposite, sit around in front of the TV all day, gain 30 pounds, and the little one will somehow get some exercise, but running is more fun.

...who never rides the bus.

Listen to yourself. You're venting in a thread on uhub; you're not communicating with any of the people who complain about big strollers, much less listening to them. You're making up an imaginary, delusional story about these people. Doesn't it strike you as insane to make up stories in your head like that and pretend that it's reality?