This would be a fabulous field test, Dave. And it's something a neighbor
could actually do on a weekend afternoon: poll both sides of that block
for (a) kids and (b) prices. Prices can be done on Hallwatch, can't they?
-- Tony West
Dave Axler wrote:
Tony, Wilma, et al.:
It seems to me that the 4400 block of Sansom would be an excellent
site for analysis, since the South side of the block is in the PAS
catchment and the North side is not. From what I've observed -- and I
share Ionic St as an alley with the North side of 4400 Sansom, so I've
got a reasonable view of half the situation -- there is currently only
one family with school-age kids on that side of the block. (And, for
that matter, only one or two such families on my side of 4400 Chestnut.)
Houses on both sides of the 4400 block of Sansom have been getting
rehabbed and resold in the last 3-5 years, roughly the same number on
either side of the street. [The rest of the block is mostly
apartments, plus a few non-rehabbed places that are single-family
(some actually family-occupied, others rented to groups of students or
young professionals). Of the half-dozen I can see out my kitchen
window, all on the North side, there is one family w/kids and one with
a young married couple of, as they say, child-bearing years. The rest
are all filled with students or groups of male yups (in the
non-perjorative sense). But I don't know who's buying the ones on the
other side of Sansom, in the catchment area.
So, to my mind, the question could be narrowed down to this: Who's
occupying the rehabs on either side of this block? Is there a
significant difference between the two sides, in terms of (a)
occupancy and (b) price, for these rehabs? If so, then there's some
evidence of what effects, if any, can be directly attributed to the
PAS catchment area. Mathematicians, physicists, and molecular chemists
will all tell you: it's the boundary conditions that often make the
most difference. I think the same applies here.
I'd also note the existence of a persistent rumor that the PAS
catchment boundaries will be expanded northwards. Some versions say
they'll just cover both sides of Sansom, others go as far as Chestnut,
and still other versions mention Ludlow. My opinion is that buying a
house on either of those streets with the hope that the catchment
boundaries will change is sheer speculation, especially if you're
planning to raise kids in that house and want them to attend PAS.
You say that areas north of Walnut are not in the same PSD region as
those south of Walnut. That makes the inclusion of even one side of
Sansom in the PAS catchment a bit unusual, hmmm?
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