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Well, it's a bit late for me to be asking this question because I'm closing on my new house next month. But having watched a house hunting show where this question came up, I'm curious what others think about homes that are located very close to an elementary or middle school? I guess high school too, but I am thinking that has a bunch of different variables such as typically much larger size, much more parking, more students driving. And they seem less likely to be situated within a residential neighborhood the way elementaries and some middle schools are.
In my particular case, we are on the next block over. And the school takes up an entire block. So I think that it's likely that as in the case of the school my son currently attends, the street in front of my house will not be in the range where people park when dropping off or picking up kids. That was the main issue in the house hunting program, that the street was excessively crowded at those times and a potential homeowner would not even be able to park in front of their own home.
Personally, I thought it was a plus to be near a school. Quiet during the evenings and weekends, convenient if you have kids attending, a good anchor for the community, a nice amount of pedestrian traffic - good for friendliness plus safety with more people out and about.
emm74 --
My husband and I lived on the next block over from an elementary school for five years. We lived on the corner lot, so the children walked past our house on the way to the school on the next block. This was in Wisconsin, and the sidewalk had a slight downward slope. So we tried to keep ahead with shoveling snow and taking care of icy spots on the sidewalk. We were young and childless then, and I enjoyed decorating the house for the holidays such as Halloween and Christmas. There were really no negative aspects of this location at all. We loved it!
When we had our first child we moved to a house. There was no neighborhood school at that time. But the school district owned a large piece of land at the edge of our little subdivision. Lo and behold, they built a brand-new school that was ready when our child started Kindergarten. The school was 3 blocks away, no busy streets. They walked to school with a group of neighborhood children -- about 10 in the group. We were very fortunate that things worked out this way.
I agree that it will be a plus to be near the school. Congratulations on your brand-new home. I hope everything works out well for you!
The one thing I'm a little sad about is that my kid won't end up going to the nearby school. He's in 5th grade now and we aren't even moving until next month, so I didn't think it was fair make him change schools in the middle of his last year there. So I'll put up with a not so great commute until the end of this school year and bring him back and forth to the current school. I love the concept of the neighborhood kids all walking to school together, it's what I did as a kid, but it just didn't work out that way for us. But I still think a close to school location is a positive thing in general, and hopefully that will turn out to be the case!
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
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We spent 7 years living 4 doors down from an elementary that was on the cross street. It was nice to be able to watch the kids walk and go into the school from out front yard. because it was not actually on our street the traffic was not bad, the real problem was with people parking on our street for soccer practice, and teacher-parent nights or other school events.
On those few days when I was not at work on a weekday it seemed somewhat comforting to hear the happy sounds of the kids on the playgrounds at recess/lunch. If the school is highly rated it can help the property values to be close, in fact the realtors will market it as "Walk to _______school." Because middle schools are so much bigger the traffic and noise is greatly increased, but I'd still consider living within a couple of blocks if not on the main road in and out. When it comes to high school, there is no way I'd want to be within a mile. Too many noisy evening sports events, the stadium lights, and the worst part, teenage drivers all around. All 3 of our high schools are located on the main arterial through town, within a mile of each other, closer to the commercial areas and not near any homes. There is a car accident involving students nearly every day in that area.
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