Daily Archives: August 23, 2007

Peoria Park District

Bradley Park going to the dogs?

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Dog RunningAt the Peoria Park District’s Planning Committee meeting Tuesday night, they heard a report back on the possibility of establishing a dog park in Peoria. The idea is to fence in approximately five acres of Bradley Park (it was unclear from the picture shown at the meeting exactly what part of Bradley Park is being considered) as a dedicated place where dogs can run free and “socialize.”

Of course, there would be certain restrictions, including, but not limited to: the dogs must be licensed and up to date on their shots, can’t be in heat, can’t be aggressive, and must be well-behaved (e.g., come when called). No explanation was given as to why Bradley Park was chosen for the dog park which will also have an invisible fence for dogs added.

Supporters spoke of how they take their dogs to the dog park in Morton and wished their home town offered the same amenity. They also said that it’s a feature desired by young professionals moving into the area. If you are planning to own dogs, make sure to visit the AmericanListed webpage for more options.

If approved by the full board, the district would have to bid out the job of fencing in the area. The plan is to use chain link fencing.

City Council, City of Peoria, Peoria Public Schools

School consolidation could lower property values

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While the city explores using its enterprise zone to help incentivize reinvestment in older neighborhoods, any potential benefit may be undermined if the school district continues to consolidate and realign its neighborhood schools.

District 150 tells the Journal Star that in order to use $32 million in Health Life Safety bond money, they’ll have to close not only White and Glen Oak, but Kingman and Irving schools as well. That has the district contemplating replacing all four schools with one big building:

The new school was originally supposed to house students from Glen Oak and now-closed White Middle School. But [District treasurer Guy] Cahill said Wednesday it could also potentially serve as a replacement school for Irving and Kingman. He and district spokeswoman Stacey Shangraw also left open the possibility of more than one school being built.

I hope they’re more than open to the possibility of building more than one school; I think they should advocate it. According to a study published in the Journal of Urban Economics (2000), “disrupting neighborhood schools reduces house values by 9.9%, all else being equal.” While the authors don’t specifically study the reasons why changing boundaries and closing schools lowers home values, they have a pretty good hypothesis: “by making it harder for parents to get involved, it harms the quality of schools. It also makes it more difficult for students to participate in after-school activities relative to the case where they can walk to and from the school.”

Lower home values wouldn’t just be bad news for the city, it would also hurt the school district itself, since it relies heavily on property taxes for funding. In their attempt to save money through consolidation, it may turn out that the school board actually loses revenue because of it.