Were those neighborhood kids? I think it's way easier for today's utes to communicate and coordinate, so they're not limited the same way I was. Back in my day you only really talked to people on a regular basis if they were physically close by, in my case that meant living a few doors down the street and/or going to the same school.
The only time I've seen bands of free-range children in recent memory was in military base housing, but I'm not quite sure how it was tangibly different from other places I've lived beyond the obvious. Maybe it's a demographic thing.
With a huge drippin hog