Living next to a high school, especially one with over two thousand students, has both its advantages and disadvantages. While many of Franklin’s neighbors are students themselves, the majority are people not affiliated with the school.
Franklin’s proximity to Atkinson Elementary School means that a lot of families with young children move to the area. The two schools sit close enough to hear each other’s bells, and are separated only by Clinton Park. It offers a short commute to drop off kids, and Franklin is right next door for when those kids grow up.
“Living close to [Franklin] is great for our kids when they reach high school age,” says one parent. “That’s why we live here.” On the other hand, because Franklin and Atkinson start their first classes of the day within 15 minutes of each other, another parent of an Atkinson student reports that “every so often there is speeding, and I worry about crossing the street. It’s really crowded on our walk to school.”
Traffic and parking were commonly mentioned problems for people living near the school campus. “Parking can be difficult during school hours,” says a source from the neighborhood. “If I need to leave, doing so during dropoff and pickup can be a bit of a challenge.” People with driveways generally reported fewer problems with parking compared to those without, but having a driveway doesn’t eliminate the parking dilemma entirely. Neighbors who want to have people over can face problems due to the lack of street parking for their guests, and occasionally students’ cars block driveways.
More than traffic, the most common complaint brought up by Franklin’s neighbors is trash. One neighbor says that “definitely a lot of garbage ends up in my yard, which is not my favorite part. That is probably the main downside, that folks often toss things all over the place.” A suggestion from one community member was to put a trash can across the street from the school on Woodward, to help mitigate the problem.
While schools are supposed to be a safe environment for students, staff, and the surrounding community, this is unfortunately not always the case. According to The National Center for Education Statistics, in recent years there has been an uptick in school shootings, which can occasionally spill out into the broader neighborhood. One source spoke up about having “some deeper security issues because of things that have happened living across from [Franklin],” while students living in the area have reported feeling unsafe in Franklin’s next door park, Clinton.
In one instance, a woman who has lived right off of Woodward for some time explained that her boyfriend had a gun pulled on him during morning drop-off for honking at a parent. This was immediately reported to the school, but she says that “sometimes we don’t mind, but other times we feel like we need to move.” Fortunately, this is not the case for everyone. For example, when asked about security issues, one newer resident said “there have been no [issues], that’s been really great.”
On a more positive note, many appreciate such close proximity to Clinton Park. People enjoy being able to walk to the park with their dogs or kids, as it is large, grassy, and equipped with a full playground and sport courts. Next to the park, you have Franklin itself, which is a convenient source of entertainment in the form of plays, musicals, dances, and sports events. “We just walked over and saw the [Little Mermaid] play last week,” mentions a neighborhood parent, “so that was cool.” Another person says, “I like living next to the school actually. I enjoy watching the cross country races and football games.”
From the perspective of a teenager living around Franklin’s perimeter, students reported that waking up later for school was a huge perk of living close by. “Although it can be awkward running into people you know from school so often,” says Lane Frazee-Johnson, a junior at Franklin. “It’s nice to have an easy place to go and crash after school with friends.” On the other hand, “having a place so close to the school can make it harder to resist skipping,” a second student says, “it’s just too easy.”
While Franklin can be a vibrant and valuable asset for the community, we all need to do our part to make sure we are respectful of those living in the area by keeping the neighborhood clean and safe. A good way to accomplish this is to make sure that, especially as students, we are throwing away trash in assigned garbage cans. This helps keep the neighborhood healthy and beautiful, and overall a nicer place to live or go to school in. Driving with awareness and being careful not to block people’s driveways is also important. The support of the neighborhood is vital for the health of the Franklin community, and we must be conscientious of that. Overall, the Franklin neighborhood can be a wonderful place to live, and we all want to encourage a positive experience for students and neighbors alike.
