In 2024, former schools were redeveloped into almost 2,000 apartments.
Like office buildings, shuttered schools around the country are seeing new life as apartments, reports Linda Jacobson in Next City. “Data from the Brookings Institution showed that between the 2018-19 and 2021-22 school years, 12% of elementary schools and 9% of middle schools lost at least one-fifth of their students.”
“In 2024, nearly 2,000 apartments were built in former schools across the U.S., a record high and four times the number a year earlier, according to an analysis from RentCafe, a property search website.” According to RentCafe, there are 74 school conversion projects underway in the United States.
This rapidly growing sector is benefiting from a nationwide drop in school enrollment and the closure of schools. In Atlanta, the school system is repurposing eight former school sites into housing, projects which will give teachers the first choice of apartments.
FULL STORY: As Enrollment Falls, Old Schools Find New Life as Apartments
Repurposing Vacant Schools
Some communities are turning abandoned campuses into offices, art studios, and housing.
New Jersey affordable housing requirements spur infill development across the state
A 50-year-old law continues to reshape development around housing goals.
Office conversion is picking up steam in San Francisco
The city spent five years streamlining approval processes and reducing fees to encourage more adaptive reuse of vacant office buildings.
Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
The state-sanctioned urbicide of Austin
People don’t kill cities. Freeways do.
US to reduce Colorado River water deliveries to Mexico
A new Colorado Treaty amendment reduces Mexico’s Colorado River water allocation by 250,000 acre feet.
Mamdani overhauls NYC's Vision Zero plan with 100 new policy goals
The overhaul aims to reduce traffic deaths and make streets safer for pedestrians, cyclists and drivers through lower speed limits, new safety infrastructure and more.
Amtrak not solely to blame for New Jersey commuter rail's unreliability, report finds
A new study from the Garden State Initiative found that NJ Transit’s budget grew 20% across a 4 year period, but reliability declined significantly over the same period.
EPA erases limits on planet-warming pollution from power plants
Under Monday’s plan, power plants would still have some limits on how much mercury, arsenic and other contaminants they can emit.
FREE Course: Walkable City 1: Why Walkability?
After describing his path towards focusing on walkability as the essence of good planning, Jeff Speck marches through his five principal reasons for making more walkable places.
Reinventing Malls: Planning Alchemy—Turning Gray Fields Into Gold
The course focuses on the opportunities and imperatives that shape reinvention of mall sites.
Eagle County Government
Harvard University Graduate School of Design
Nashville Planning Department
The Architects Foundation
University of Cincinnati Online
The Pocatello Development Authority
The Urban Renewal Agency of the City of Pocatello
Journal of the American Planning Association