Public education and the livable community

Showing the connection between public education and, well, everything else...

My husband and I chose to buy a home in Worcester 10 years ago because of the overall livability the city offers. We know our neighbors. We walk to school, shops, parks and other destinations. The traffic is tolerable. There is more green space than many people realize. I believe in reuse, including old industrial cities, and I am proud our housing has not contributed to the sprawl that eats up acres of open space in Massachusetts each year...Livable community principles focus on land use and transportation. Strong public education is an important underpinning of a livable community, however, to achieve the mix of families, young professionals and retirees of varying economic levels that make a vibrant, thriving place to call home. A strong public education system does not benefit only the families directly in the school system, it benefits the entire community: it is a common good.


(Karin Valentine Goins, Worcester Magazine, 6/12/08)

(Worcester Magazine comes out each week on Thursday. If you want to get it in for a week's publication, get it by Monday, or, better yet, the previous weekend. They've got a great turnaround time if you hit the window right.)