I think a bmx could be very useable for neighborhood riding & commuting. Most of the applications I've seen older retirees use them for ? An alternative for a folding bike. I think they get tired of folding and unfolding those type of bikes, but they'll put a longer seat post in the seat tube and add a basket and off they go to the convenience or grocery store. The frame and bike are sturdy and slower so they feel safer to ride. I have a 20 incher that I want to put a longer seat tube on for that purpose to see how it does. The bmx was free, one's you can get from Wal-Mart can be economical too, but a 26" Huffy Cranbrook makes them hard to justify setting up like a folding bike. I think the older folks that convert them as an alternative to a folding bike like being able to step over them onto the seat without fear of losing their balance and fralling down. Loading up the basket with groceries, trying to step over a 26" top tube & riding home from Wal-Mart is an event for the senior Olympics ? That's the worst thing an older person could have happen to them, break a bone because the bike they had was too fast for them or lose their balance trying to get on/off the bike.