What is the relationship between education policy and urban/suburban form?

[Editors note: The author has no background in education policy. This is a purely speculative inquiry interested in exploring these questions] 

At the end of the Transportation Research Board conference, I found myself at a wonderful reception at ITDP, graciously invited by an UCLA urban planning alumni. The room was filled with great food, great people and great conversation. One of my research idols, Todd Litman arrived and I was happy to get a chance to pick his brain. Todd, I and another person I had met earlier at the conference, began an enlightening conversation on a topic I had not considered previously:

 

What is the relationship between education policy and urban/suburban form?

The National Association of Home Builders[1] recognizes there is demand among millennials for walkable communities and they are willing to pay a premium for this lifestyle. However, there is a certain question that remains: As that generation ages, gets married and liking has a child or two, are there going to be quality public educational opportunities for their children within the urban core? There will always be private schools that can offer high quality education. Some families who live in high cost of living cities will likely be affluent enough to afford these schools. But what happens when a family cannot afford private school education? A common answer is they will move to the suburbs where the public education may likely be higher. 

Now, this could be perception rather than reality. However, the reality is that there is a disinvestment trend in urban public schools. There is the debate around charter and public schools. I’m sure this complicates the urban education issue even more, but is outside my knowledge base. 

Back to the issue at hand, there is a monetary trade-off here which speculatively works in this hypothetical family’s favor. The cost for a more auto-oriented lifestyle with lower housing costs could be less than private education. Financially, it could pencil out in the suburbs favor. This is a pull for many families because education quality is a direct future investment. Beyond financial incentives, I believe people would willingly trade an auto-dependant life for this future investment.  The other benefit for the suburban lifestyle is the allure of larger lots typically offering private green/open space which is less available in the urban core. 

Maybe this isn’t a problem, per say. United States household demographics are shifting. The largest growth is in two groups: aging baby boomers whose children are grown and in young professionals who are having children later in life and family size is decreasing. As the hypothetical family referenced above moves outward, it is likely that there will be demand for their inner city housing. 

However, if municipal/state governments focused on inner city education and it was reflected in their budgets, could this cycle all be towards city life?

This brings this argument to the affordable housing problem. Finding affordable multi-bedroom housing/apartments in the city can be a difficult task. This may be another reason families would flock to the suburbs. If planners want cities to maintain people for a variety of goals including sustainability, infrastructure, etc, I contend the following barriers to city life need to be removed/dealt with:

 - Increase investment in public education
 - Increased green space/pocket parks/open space
 - Decreasing/removing parking requirements to spur infill development

These are large barriers and I am unsure how feasible the first two will be in these tight fiscal times. However, these are important issues for cities future development. As a transportation planner, I would like to believe that creating dense urban areas with a variety of non-car transportation alternatives would lure people to live in cities. However, after thinking through the barriers for families, the suburban/urban appeal just became a lot more multi-faceted than I had previously thought.

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[1] http://blogs.wsj.com/developments/2011/01/13/no-mcmansions-for-millennials/