Suburban vs. Urban Nature Kids

The first two years of my children's lives we spent completely locally in our urban community.  We traveled almost solely by public transit or on foot.  When the boys turned two we started to venture out a bit more.  They could face forward in their car seats and we could talk about where we were going.  We became regular visitors of the Mercer Slough and my kids new the route by tunnel, lake, tunnel lake, and then exit.  We hiked on the east side of the park again and again so that my kids could tell the seasons were changing based on what they saw.  On our return trip we would stop on Mercer Island at Luther Burbank Park where we would go down to the water and then spend time at the playground.   I figured if we were already out of the city we should enjoy the sights and make a full day of it.

Now I realize that the suburbs, having been placed more recently in nature, tend to have terrific places to play in nature: only you must drive to most of these sites.  Nothing is made for walking and there is very limited mass transit.   This raises the question for me: is it worth it to take these excursions or should we stay truly local, truly urban?  And if we do then what is it that we will find?

My thoughts are that we will mostly find areas that  the community is trying to return to natural states, with volunteer work parties.  The result is beautiful places and greater community: however there is also a lack of just wildness.  The type of wildness that comes from having old growth trees and snags - home of hawks and bears and cougars.  But, do children really notice this difference?  I have to say that they do.   If only I can judge it by the smiles that my boys have when hiking in a woods filled with moss and layers and layers of old growth forest.  Or as they walk across the furrowed land of a blueberry field that has been there for almost a century?

So if there is this difference, then how do we make these suburban nature areas accessible to everyone?  And why don't suburbanites demand it?  Do people really like to ride in their cars from one parking lot to another so they can experience nature?   And will this nature be preserved?   A recent hike after a class offered for children by Tilth near the Pickering barn in Issaquah makes me worried.  We were on a nature trail, near a river and beautiful old trees when we hear and then see construction vehicles.  It doesn't seem like you should see bulldozers clearcutting an area in the middle of your natural area?  What does the osprey we saw perched on the old growth snag think?  What is the future for this place?