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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I really look forward to hearing more about GDS's building plans. If you want real hate, wait til the neighborhood starts weighing in. This is a good development for the school, the city and the neighborhood. It's hard because there is going to be construction and change. [/quote]

Please explain how/why this is good for the city and the neighborhood?

The area around the upper school is already a dead zone except for the 2 daily waves of cars from Montgomery County - how is adding younger kids going to help?  And the retail in the immediate area is already struggling so adding more retail (which GDS has only intimated they are even going to do) could actually make things worse without more people to support it.

And before you say the neighborhood is gaining green space the neighborhood does not need green space - Ft Reno park is 1 block away and Ft Bayard 3 blocks away and the open space at the current school has always been off limits for the community.

As for the city the long term loss of significant amounts of tax revenue alone makes it a loser - if the two lost buildings would have generated amounts similar to other mixed use buildings in DC the loss is likely in the area of about 10 million a year to start with and that will only go up with time.[/quote]

The tax revenue argument is nonsense, and ignores the tremendous economic impact that not-for-profit entities (which generally are not taxpaying) have in DC.  Indeed without such institutions, DC would have a far flatter economy that it has today.  Look, I get that there are some externalities and negative effects of larger institutions like private schools on surrounding neighborhoods, and those issues (traffic, parking, etc) can and should be managed through the zoning process, binding agreements and so forth.  But independent schools also directly bring economic activity through taxpaying staff, vendors and others, and may positively impact real estate values (which then pay more in taxes).  Their parents may bring their high incomes also, which then get taxed in DC rather than MD or VA>  It's no secret, for example, that the presence of so many nearby independent schools creates a certain level of demand for Cleveland Park houses, as parents get tired of the daily drive (or twice daily drive) from Potomac, North Bethesda and Va. and move in to the area so that their kids can be closer to their schools.  Georgetown Day's consolidation/expansion will contribute to this effect in the nearby area.[/quote]

Nice try but no.  What positive economic impact does a private school (of which fewer than half the students even live in DC) have on DC?

Are you arguing with a straight face that it is better for DC to educate students from Montgomery County with these properties than house DC residents and businesses which it can then tax and who can also contribute to the revitalization of a dormant commercial corridor?

DC would have a flatter economy without the Federal Government who you of course are lumping in with other not for profit entities.   And the private universities at least attract residents who live in DC who otherwise would not live here.

But a private day school - umm sorry no - it is a negative cost to DC's finances having GDS within its borders.

And the housing demand argument is another stretch and a poor one at that - the school is not located in Anacostia (GASP - I'd love to hear the arguments from GDS parents about why that would be a bad idea) but in a high demand neighborhood where FWIW most parents in fact sent their kids to public schools.

Now you can perhaps make the case that some of the suburban private schools in Cleveland Park have lower external costs and are in a neighborhood where far more parents go the private route but that argument in Tenleytown is absurd and unsubstantiated by facts and doesn't stand up to any sort of scrutiny.[/quote]

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