Traffic Jam to Portland Schools
September 14th, 2010 | Published in Urbanist
Sunnyside Environmental School, Southeast Portland
Friday, Sept. 10 – 8:30 a.m.
Photos by Lisa Bauso
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Every morning, Jammie Trimble, who lives in Parkrose, drives her son Nathan to school across town. “I’d like him to take the bus, but it’s expensive buying bus passes,” Trimble says.
Sunnyside is a special focus school, which means the program attracts students from all over the city. “A magnet environment can be successful at drawing an active mode share,” Graff acknowledges. About 59 percent of the kids at Sunnyside walk or bike to school, an impressive rate Graff attributes to the school’s low carbon footprint philosophy.
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Despite the Sunnyside stats, “the data is clear” regarding the negative impact of magnet schools on student transportation options, Graff says. “If your No. 1 goal is getting kids to walk and bike to school, you would have strong neighborhood schools with compact school boundaries.”
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