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Originally Posted by pdxtex
1. kind of disagree. i guess it depends on the neighborhood. urban education is complex.
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It really isn't complex. The vast majority of difference in performance of a school is basically due to selection bias - a different sort of incoming student results in a different result. Take race, economic background, and education level of the parents out of the equation, and differences between schools are pretty negligible.
Further, there's a lot of data out there now studying the life outcomes of children who just barely get into selective schools - like magnets with entrance exams - with kids of similar academic background. On the whole, no difference in adult outcomes.
Schools just don't matter that much, if at all. Getting into a good school won't make you any smarter, in exactly the same way that getting onto the basketball team in 9th grade won't make you any taller.
Quote:
Originally Posted by pdxtex
4. yes. completely agree. a tree canopy might be nice in hot places but in city likes mine, it clogs drains and makes more of a mess than anything. oceans process more oxygen than trees anyway.
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I was thinking more about use of street trees in zero-setback rowhouse neighborhoods with very narrow streets.
Here's an example from Pittsburgh I consider "overdone." The trees block a clear view of the interesting Victorian architecture for like half of the year.
Quote:
Originally Posted by pdxtex
5. you mean, we need something else to walk to besides a place to spend our money? mm, I guess I agree. but I think that's already changing anyway. retail will become 50 percent internet based and neighborhood commerce will shift to entertainment and service type businesses. or things you may immediately need, like stuff at the hardware store. boutique businesses will see a resurgence too.
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I think within the next century we'll have to adjust to much of what we now think of as commerce being done by machines for little to no cost. If we want the walkable neighborhood to still have relevance - if we want something other than neighborhoods as collections of houses - we'll need to try to find some financially feasible model to have "third spaces" within neighborhoods not tied to profit-making ventures.