Reply to APS new middle school boundary options posted

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Wilson might have been a good fit for H-B and Stratford if APS had gotten its act together and done something about capacity issues 10 years ago. Now the programs are in a building that can't house enough students to fix the problem even if the current occupants were evicted. So where do you move H-B and Stratford students while you tear down the building on Vacation Lane and rebuild, even assuming that's the best place for it?[/quote]

There weren't any capacity issues 10 years ago. Total enrollment in APS dropped every year between 2002 and 2006. They never would have gotten the support to add capacity 10 years ago--too many existing schools need renovation. Growth has outstripped their best projections, anyhow--in 2007, they projected five years out and estimated that there would be 19,000 students in 2012 and elementary capacity would still be under 100% in aggregate, although certain schools would be overcrowded. Actual enrollment was over 21,000 and more than half the schools were very overcrowded. 
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And most likely the bump in 2007 was related to the housing market crash; suddenly a *lot* of young people who had bought starter condo homes were *stuck* in Arlington (rather than moving out to the suburban Fairfax as had happened the decades before).

Now raising their kids in an urban area has proven to be quite pleasant, and realizing how important the short commute it vs larger house, young parents have put down roots and decided to stay.

However, it is unclear if the next generation of young parents will make the same decisions; they will not be forced to spend early years of childhood in underwater condos; they will have options to move out to the further 'burbs and get that green space and yard and all that.  This might be a demographic bubble in the student population, not necessarily a growing trend.  Hard to say. Yes urban walkable living is more popular now, but people think KIDS == HOUSE, and compromising on some tiny Arlington brick box or condo or th is not the first thing that comes to people's minds. They think of that nice 0.25 acres in Vienna or Oakton or Burke, and think "what's another 15 minutes added to my commute".  They have options and they may take it?[/quote]

Not at all. Most people I knew left DC in 2005-2010 for public school.  Almost everyone on the streets around moved in over the last 5-8 years.  We came from NW in 2009.[/quote]

Yep. We moved with our two kids to our arlington brick box in 2008.[/quote]

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