How do I politely handle our inconsiderate neighbors?

[Clara Bow]

Nothing keeps kids of all ages out of the road like running over them. It definitely makes a lasting impression...
I hate people who do not  supervise their kids. My neighbor has a little boy who runs the roads day and night. He's ten and was practically living with our friend Ginny to play with her 4 year old  ???when she lived here. The kid just wanted some attention and Ginny felt awful for him having no one who would look after him. He (Wes) would show up at Ginny's whenever she and her son were home and play up until time for Ginny's son to go take his bath and get ready for bed. Then Wes would either go home to the empty house (or the lackadaisical care of his stupid older bother, spelling intended) or just ride his bike up and down. I've seen him out there past eleven, with his mom sitting in her yard smoking like a ten year old riding his bike at eleven is the most normal thing in the world....

[kingsrings]

In my neighborhood growing up, there was a family with five kids who lived at the end of the street. Mom let all five of them run and play in the street. They were devoutly Catholic, and when my mom and other parents tried to warn her about them getting hit, she replied that it was okay, because God was protecting them.

[Lisbeth]

In my neighborhood there are some kids who play ball in the streets.  On several occasions I came close to running into them in my car because they didn't have the judgment to get out of the street.  I was also scared that they were going to throw their balls at my car and dent it or break a window.

I'd call the appropriate authority (animal control, Humane Society) re the dog and register a complaint with CPS about the kids.  They're playing without supervision and in a high-traffic area at that.  I'm sure it's only a matter of time before someone gets hurt or property gets damaged really, really badly. 

[Kyle1964]

We also have a small group of teenagers that play street hockey on a street in my neighborhood.  However, they aren't exactly what I'd call polite, as they place the net(s) almost in the middle of the street and we are forced to 'squeeze' by as they stop playing and do their staredown - but they make no attempt to move the net.  To make it more irritating, even though this is a residential street, there is an even smaller dead-end street just 2 houses away that they could use that would get almost zero traffic...but they never use it.  This all happens only half dozen times a year, so it's bothersome but not enough to call the police.

This same group of kids also plays basketball in the warm weather in the same spot.  Again, just the usual staredown as they slowly move out of the way, letting us know that WE are incoveniencing THEM.