Our neighborhood had its annual July 4th kiddies bicycle parade. ABout 100 kids riding everything you might imagine dress up their bikes, and the motorcycle police esort them through the neighborhood, sirens blasting and all.
This year we had far more than before, which I attribute to folks simply staying at home over the 4th of July instead of heading to the mountains.
However, this is really tough on the mountain tourist trade, and the ski areas are bracing for a difficult upcoming year with airline fares higher, and gas higher. I didn't know that the ski areas subsidized the airline flights, but they do, at least as reported by our local paper.
I LIKE the idea of doing more "in neighborhood" kinds of things.