Schools and sprawl

[Ron Force <rforce@moscow.com>]

The Spokesman-Review carries a Washington Post column on how new school
construction is adding to community sprawl:
http://www.spokesmanreview.com/news-story.asp?date=090201&ID=s1017461&cat=section.commentary

Huge, new schools add to sprawl Communities and children benefit when
older buildings are refurbished, Neal Peirce says. Neal Peirce -
Washington Post

Some Quotes
"The situation is familiar -- school boards opting for gigantic "sprawl
schools" on remote sites to which few can bike or walk."

Last fall the National Trust for Historic Preservation issued a clarion
call for smarter school siting -- "Historic Neighborhood Schools in the
Age of Sprawl -- Why Johnny Can't Walk to School," authored by Constance
Beaumont.

"The trend of building shopping-mall-sized schools outside town," said
Richard Moe, president of the National Trust, "alienates students,
encourages sprawl and impairs our sense of community."

"Topping the trust's list of "public policy culprits" were the minimum
acreage requirements for schools (50 acres for a 2,000-student high
school, for example). Promulgated by the Arizona-based Council of
Educational Facility Planners International, the acreage requirements
are almost blindly adopted by many states.

What such rules totally ignore, the trust argues, is that many
communities want to keep schools close-in to support vibrant town
centers and cohesive neighborhoods. "

They mention the Boise High School renovation as an example of bucking
the trend.
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Ron Force    rforce@moscow.com
Moscow, ID USA
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