Em,

It is a personal choice. I just helped a young couple with a child whom thoguht it was wonderful to live across the street.. The home they purchased was in escrow but the elder couple decided they did not want to live across from a a school and backed out during their contingency period. My clients jumped on the opportunity. Other pluses not already mentioned: it could save 20 minutes a day in travel time, save on gas money, great location if one wants to do baby sitting or child care.
Concerning the noise if you are a working person you might already be out of the house during the noisy times, if you are a stay at home parent your child will be in the middle of the noise, if you work the night shift and are a day sleeper maybe a home near a school is not for you.
I would be happy to help you in your home search. Please do not hesitate to contact me at 877-lee-sells (650-358-3959) or lee@leesellsmore.com http://www.leesellsmore.com
Lee Ginsburg

Hi Em,

We live right across the street from our kids' school, and we love it. Yes, there is a short period of time in the morning and afternoon with increased traffic, but this lasts less than 15 minutes each - and it isn't that noisy at all. We are more likely to hear the kids at recess having a good time. Even this isn't a negative for us, maybe because we assume our kids are among the happy noises.

What we didn't know when buying our house was just how handy the school would be for recreation outside of school hours. Our kids go play on the fields, have adventures in the halls, play basketball, scooter, bike, roller blade, you name it. If you have kids, the benefits will likely outweigh the drawbacks.

Now, if you don't have kids and don't plan to anytime soon, then a lot of these could be negatives. Do you have a dog? They use the field, too. Pick up basketball?

One consideration that is more important may be where the home is with respect to the field/playground. That will be the source of noise. If you work from home, then I'd say this is a very real consideration.

As the others have said, the best way to investigate is to check it out!

Good Luck,

John Barman

Em,

We strongly recommend that you consider both the positive and negative reasons associated with purchasing property in a school neighborhood.

It is true that there will be additional pedestrian and vehicle traffic during certain times of the day.

Other aspects that should be considered:

1. Buyers with children often seek property close to schools

2. School zones are aggressively monitored by the police

3. School is in session slightly more than 180 days a year

4. Easy access for residents to use school facilities

5. People often view school areas a safer locations

Depending on your point of view, the proximity of a home to a school may be more of an advantage than a disadvantage.

Hi Em,

In response to your second question, the easiest way to address your concerns about traffic/noise, would be to drive to the school and park across the street about 20 minutes before school started. Observing the traffic flow and noise would be the best way to determine if living in close proximity to the school would be a problem for you. Don't forget to take into consideration that noise from schools can come from children playing in the schoolyard during recess & lunch times. Some schools also have PA systems that relay messages over outdoor loudspeakers which can sometimes be heard a couple of blocks away from the school.

Good luck with your home search,
Dania

Hello Em,
Do you have a paticular reason for wanting to pursue a home near a school? If you have a child that you want to be able to walk to and from school, then maybe this warrants putting up with some of the downfalls. But if not, then you should consider keeping a buffer from the nearby schools. A location right next to a school will most certainly have the downfalls of noise and added traffic. (The bells can be very loud also!) A location within a half mile or so will still be close enough for a supervised walk to school and most likely won't have the added noise. The best way to look into this is to drive the neighborhoods you are considering buying in during differnet times of the day. Most importantly when school is lettiing in and out. This should give you a very good idea of what you will be dealing with as a homeowner in the immediate area. I hope this helps. Good luck to you & take care.