Uneasy Rhetoric

Graswich’s column in the Bee today opens with a vignette about Washington Elementary School at 18th and F. “It’s a real downtown public school,” he says, and points to the fact that they can walk for field trips (yes!) and that VIPs are always visiting.

In addition, Graswich postulates that Washington Elementary could see its enrollment increase because of all of the new housing downtown. There might be some enrollment growth, but I doubt it will be very much. The housing market in downtown just isn’t catering to families with children right now. Sure, there might be some intrepid souls who try to raise children in the condos — even truer believers in urban infill than I — but if I had to guess I would say that the vast majority of the market for the condos will go to upwardly mobile singles, empty nesters, second homers (doh!), and childless couples.

Although childless couples are a growing portion of the population, I am going to continue to argue that, until you can also find a way to make downtown housing attractive to families with children, you really aren’t going to do a whole lot to alleviate suburban sprawl.

Having nearby schools is a start. Besides Washington there is also William Land (where I went for a while), which, though located in Southside, will probably also serve some of these new developments. Perhaps just a subtle shift in marketing, mentioning the proximity of schools, is in order?