Why is walkability to public schools & stores so hard to find?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m seeing listings on Redfin that are 3+ miles away from the zoned school!

There are locations which provide both but good homes there are expensive and people don't want to accept what they have within their price range.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m seeing listings on Redfin that are 3+ miles away from the zoned school!

There are locations which provide both but good homes there are expensive and people don't want to accept what they have within their price range.

At least in DC, you can find lots of choices with schools, metro stations, stores and restaurants.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Because schools are big. ES have 500+ kids instead of small ones. And it only gets bigger from there.

+1

Everything is on a massive scale.

Yes. And even if you do find something walkable it's very rare to be walkable to ES and MS and HS.

My kids had a bus to ES but are walkable to MS and HS and I really appreciate that. ES kids still need parents to take them to/from school so the walkability is of limited value IMO. But the independence for teens in getting to/from school has been great.

I think it's been wonderful to be within walking distance of my daughter's school. I have 5 years of wonderful memories of walking together to school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Because schools are big. ES have 500+ kids instead of small ones. And it only gets bigger from there.

+1

Everything is on a massive scale.

Yes. And even if you do find something walkable it's very rare to be walkable to ES and MS and HS.

My kids had a bus to ES but are walkable to MS and HS and I really appreciate that. ES kids still need parents to take them to/from school so the walkability is of limited value IMO. But the independence for teens in getting to/from school has been great.

I think it's been wonderful to be within walking distance of my daughter's school. I have 5 years of wonderful memories of walking together to school.

PP here. Just trying to mak the point that being within walking distance of an elementary school has been wonderful for us.

[Anonymous]

In the US, developers build neighborhoods around the car. And so very little is walkable. Yet when people are searching for houses, they say they want to live in a neighborhood where they can walk to amenities. It seems like there is a disconnect between what developers think people want, and what people actually want.

[Anonymous]

Aurora Highlands 22202. Can walk to the elementary and middle school. Other things walkable within 1 mile - library, parks, Pentagon City Mall/ Pentagon Row, Costco/Best Buy/ Nordstrom Rack, Whole Foods, Amazon Fresh, Harris Teeter, restaurant/bar strip on 23rd st., 2 metro stations.

[Anonymous]

We live in a neighborhood that was built a little over 100 years ago and made to be walkable - because cars barely existed. We LOVE it. DS can walk to schools, libraries, parks, stores, restaurants and friends houses. However, we aren't in the DC area. I couldn't image living spread out where Ds couldn't navigate himself around so easily. And being able to walk home from dinner is great.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I hate to be an Arlington band wagon person but if I wanted that urban balance not in DC (let’s face it, DC is not getting a safer anytime soon so I would not realistically consider it) I would choose that orange line corridor.
Not the very north/McLean wannabe part of Arlington but the actual urban part of it.
Otherwise you may as well live in Vienna or n Bethesda or an exurb for something further out that does not cost 2.5m for a decent house.

+1 to the Arlington bandwagon. We live in the south part of North Arlington (Ashton Heights/Lyon Park) and are in the walking boundary for all three schools (elementary, middle, high). Plus we walk to daycare so there you go.

Another vote for Arlington. It's the #1 reason we live here. We've had 4 condos/houses over the years and could always walk to schools and shops.

[Anonymous]

Kentlands has this if you don’t need to be in DC every day.

[Anonymous]

Most people will have to choose between square footage and walkability. It'll be expensive to find a 3500 sq ft+ size SFH that is within walking distance to a school and shops. 3000 sq ft homes in upper NW within walking distance to schools like Lafayette, Murch, and Mann are going for around $2M+.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:In the US, developers build neighborhoods around the car. And so very little is walkable. Yet when people are searching for houses, they say they want to live in a neighborhood where they can walk to amenities. It seems like there is a disconnect between what developers think people want, and what people actually want.

But there's also a disconnect between what people way that they want and what compromises they're willing to make. Walkability to lots of things = high density = multifamily house and no/small yards. Most people want their single family houses with large yards AND easy ability to drive where they want to go AND walkability. In most cases, you're just not going to get everything, unless you luck out with the one or two SFHs in a district that are relatively close to the schools (but not right across the street where you get the bus traffic) and close to a couple of stores.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The short answer to your question is 50+ years of poor urban planning and car-centric design. In most cases, the decision to make things unwalkable was very much on purpose. We've (mostly) realized the error of that approach by now, but walkable spaces are now pretty scarce outside of pre-WWII neighborhoods, and they're enough in demand that they go for a large price premium even though walkability doesn't really cost more to build.

We're starting to retrofit walkable infrastructure into suburban neighborhoods, but it'll take decades, and we're limited with what can be done within the constraints of many of the choices that are already baked in.

Ding ding ding. Basically op, it’s literally illegal to build walkable neighborhoods in most of America. That’s the reason AU Park is so absurdly expensive

And AU Park sucks. Who wants to walk to what they can walk to besides Wagshals.

Lots of schools, a library, Target and metro station, restaurants and a music store that gives lessons…just to name a few things my kids and l walk to.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: I have 5 years of wonderful memories of walking together to school.

this. Being right down the street from the schools has been great for us. I can count on my hands how many times in 12 years I have had to deal with kiss and ride.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We live in an "undesirable " neighborhood in S. Arlington. We can walk to ES and Shirlington (so restaurants, groceries ans the movie theater). We can bike to the MS ans HS easily (and could wall if we weren't always rushed lol).

We also often go fishing in the stream near us. But again "undesirable " neighborhood.

South Arlington looks so drab and poor and run down.

Meh. Still can walk to everything.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: I have 5 years of wonderful memories of walking together to school.

this. Being right down the street from the schools has been great for us. I can count on my hands how many times in 12 years I have had to deal with kiss and ride.

My house was exactly 300 feet from entrance to elementary school. My 3 kids walked to school maybe a grand total of 2-4 times.

Why first of all they open the doors at a set time at an assigned door where teacher comes to get class. Can’t leave a six year old alone on sidewalk. On way out for legal reasons they won’t release younger kids without parent or guardian.

I did walk with them on nice days. But most days I drove the 300 feet.