When it comes to getting a big candy haul for Halloween, not all streets and neighbourhoods are created equal, On The Coast city-making columnist Brent Toderian says.

Toderian says many homes, especially suburban and single-family homes, fail what he calls the "trick-or-treat test."

"As the suburbs evolved, the door sort of got recessed into the building and the garage began to protrude out into what became known as 'snout houses.' Sometimes the door got tucked into the garage. You could barely find it," he told On The Coast guest host Gloria Macarenko.

Toderian says the trick-or-treat test is a conversation starter for home and neighbourhood design. He says the "door density" of many neighbourhoods is not only a guide to better candy hauls, but also to how efficiently neighbourhoods use space.

Toderian says many apartment buildings pass the trick-or-treat test, but security measures usually keep people either out of them entirely or limit people to the floor for which they have a key fob.

He suggests parents with families living in apartment buildings should consider setting up trick-or-treating within their own buildings.

"I'm starting to think, that's the way you meet the neighbours on your floor: you go a day or two before … ask them if they're going to give away candy and tell them you'd love to bring the little guy to knock on the door," he said.

"If nothing else, it gives you an excuse to actually learn the name of the person you've been smiling at in the elevator for years."

With files from CBC Radio's On The Coast

To hear the full story, click the audio labelled: Halloween can teach a lot about city design, former planner says