Is it OK to bus trick-or-treaters into rich neighborhoods for Halloween?

We all know that some neighborhoods got the goods on Halloween and others … maybe not so much. Just as our ancestors traveled to find the best bounty, why not load up a bus full of trick-or-treaters with the promise of a sweet haul on Halloween?

This was a question prompted by a conversation on KIRO Radio’s Candy, Mike, and Todd. A Californian woman recently expressed her disgust with neighbors  — via an extensive Facebook rant. Apparently, she observed her neighbors embracing cheap candy. In her opinion, Smarties and Dum Dums do not rise to the affluent stature of the Rancho Cucamonga community.

But be careful what you ask for. As many trick-or-treaters are well aware, some neighborhoods have better candy than others. Making a trek for high-quality sugar is not unheard of.

Washington has the worst taste in candy

“I have always heard neighbors complain about this …” Mike said. “It was a wealthy neighborhood that was super unhappy that kids were getting trucked in from other neighborhoods because they knew they could score in a certain neighborhood as opposed to other neighborhoods. Parents in that neighborhood were like ‘We’re getting hundreds and hundreds of children.’ My response is, maybe if you salted it with some more Dum Dums and Smarties and Jolly Ranchers you would have fewer people going for your elite candy.”

Despite objections from listeners, Candy admits to bringing her own kids to neighborhoods outside her neighborhood. She claims to be “nice-neighborhood adjacent.”

When it comes to Seattle, some considerable thought has been put into this. MyNorthwest has reported on the best neighborhoods for Seattle trick-or-treaters for multiple years. As have others (these are generally based on data from Zillow which hasn’t released information for 2019 yet). A combination of the same Seattle neighborhoods frequently pop up on these “best of lists” for trick-or-treaters.

• Laurelhurst
• Madison Park
• Queen Anne
• Phinney Ridge
• Ravenna
• Whittier Heights
• Bryant
• High Point
• Windermere
• Wedgwood

There is a common factor among these areas. Let’s take Laurelhurst, for example. About 34 percent of the households here earn more than $100,000. The median income in Madison Park is $110,051. Or the median income in Ravenna is $100,794. That can buy a lot of candy.

Considering the larger Puget Sound region, it should probably also be noted that the Sammamish area was recently cited as the city with the highest median income in the United States at $183,000.

Candy, Mike, and Todd listeners had some additional thoughts for the region.

• One listener’s nephew lives in Oregon City where kids are bused to for Halloween. He claims Halloween candy now costs him $200.
• Crystal Ridge in Puyallup is reportedly a good neighborhood. One listener says they witnessed a party bus drop off trick-or-treaters one year.
• Normandy Park gets hit up quite a bit. Word on the street is that homes here hand out full-sized candy bars. Neighborhoods in Normandy Park have reportedly hired off-duty police officers to handle the hordes of young trick-or-treaters.
• Kids are reportedly trucked into Maple Valley for some good trick-or-treating.
• Thousands of trick-or-treaters hit downtown Snohomish on Halloween. Same with Edmonds.
• Stickers are great for including kids who have allergies. If you see a teal-color pumpkin, that means the house is handing out items with allergies in mind.
• Someone in the 360 area code likes to simply hand out dollar bills.
• Someone in Tacoma claims to get about 1,200 trick-or-treaters each year.
• Traffic Reporter Tracy Taylor claims that the good trick-or treating territories are in North Seattle.

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