Campground Logic is there any thought into assigning sites?

The main reason I prefer Nat Pks, Nat Forests, COEs, St Pks: If a camper is in the next site, it is still far enough away to have your space/privacy. And the price is cheaper as a bonus.

I grew up tent camping and boondocking west of the rockies, where the unwritten rule is that you ALWAYS set up as far from anyone else as possible. This idea that some campers might prefer to be right next to strangers is completely new to me!

Maybe the family requested that site?

Just back from 2 months travel. Traveled from GA to NM and back. Visited a # of different cgs. After reading the posts here I will now be more diligent in looking at cg maps at check-in & have added more questions to ask. We were in one park with 200+ sites. It was mid-week - they were not booked solid. They do have a # of permanents or locals who like to have their spot. So, we are assigned a spot right next to a permanent camper. There were 6 empty spaces on the other side of us. The couple traveling with us were assigned a spot that was so out of level if they had pulled into it, they would have gotten stuck. Luckily, one of the workers came by & radioed the office for another spot assignment. Have almost everything out of the rig & already wondering where we will go next. And I'll be ready for check-in now!

This sounds similar to tables at a restaurant - inevitably we get placed next to a table with small crying kids when there are dozens of empty tables in other areas of the restaurant.

I discuss it with the CG owner/manager when I check in. It doesn't matter to me where they put me because I'm either gone all day or sleeping, but I realize that other people have their favorites. I tell them up front that I don't need to be near the pool, playground or dog walking area. If that's all that's available, its still OK with me. I do, however want a pull thru, relatively level site. Most CG managers don't have a ROM module installed. (Read Operator's Mind).
If you don't speak up and its time to mow, I'd put everybody in the same area to make the mowing easier.

I was at a county campground in so. CA. where I was assigned a spot in a cluster of other campers. Large stretches of the campground were empty. These are small spots with little or no vegetation or separation.

The assignment must be made either for convenience of maintenance, or to simply work down a list of site numbers as people trickle in. It would be best if they assigned every other space in the tight campground when possible.

Good thing is on a second visit, armed with the campground map, I can usually work out a much better site.

DH likes walking around and stopping to visit here and there. I prefer the quiet and solitude. I'm not against visiting or sharing a meal with a small group, but I don't seek it out for myself.

Different people want different things while camping. (I want to be alone with my family.)

I like to be able to pick my site, even when I've never been to the campground. Criteria include things like tree cover (Google Maps comes in handy for this) remoteness, loops vs. roads (low traffic loops are better for kids), size, proximity to water, sometimes proximity to bathhouse for overnights, steepness of hills (for kids biking), etc... On those rare occasions when we stay somewhere where we're assigned a site, they rarely take any of these things into consideration. They just base it on the size of my rig and what hookups I require (usually none).

Well the neighbors with 4 kids and a dog are tolerable .... but I chose this site to be away from the playground and the traffic routes to the washrooms etc... The front office did offer to move me and offered no reasoning why they placed a family of 6 and a dog right next to me when there is 80% vacancy in this park. Call me snobbish hehehe, but really I just want to socialize with like minded elderly couples like myself, not 20 somethings with 4 kids and a dog...
They have their picnic table up tight to my drivers side slideout... I had to ask them to move it away a bit so I could get into one of my basement bays earlier. I keep the blinds pulled down along that side of my motorhome and ignore them except to say hi as I go for my walks.