Community-School Planning Case Study

The massive LA school district and several nonprofits document a planning process resulting in a primary school which will include family housing, childcare facilities, an early education facility and a neighborhood park.

1 minute read

August 2, 2005, 11:00 AM PDT

By Chris Steins @planetizen

At the beginning of this project, it was zero-sum; either the school district built its project, or you stopped them. Through negotiation, it has evolved into a school with housing, early education programs, and some open space. Out of this Herculean effort, what could be replicable to the hundreds of other school facility investments in neighborhoods throughout the Los Angeles Basin?

...Do those taxpayer dollars for new schools create spaces that are isolating and that discourage a sense of belonging to a community? The billions of dollars that we are investing could be an opportunity to create centers like those that New Schools Better Neighborhoods has promoted, that are community assets, that allow people and families to participate, to join, to belong. It is goal that we as a society need to embrace, expect, even demand."

Thanks to David Abel

FULL STORY: Collaborative Planning Process Used to Benefit School and Community

Tuesday, August 2, 2005 in The Planning Report

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