School Planning and Design in Urban Development: A Historical Case Study of Niagara Falls, New York 1950-2007

School planning and design implicitly enters the realm of urban development when public school districts make land-use decisions on where to locate, construct, operate, maintain, and close their facilities. Moreover, schools and their campuses can impact the physical environment, influence urban design and development patterns, affect the local housing market, and alter economic conditions. This research asks: how can school districts, and other local planning districts, collaborate for effective comprehensive master and land-use planning? The pages that follow examine physical school planning and design on urban development in a post-industrial, economically depressed Great Lakes urban school district, specifically; Niagara Falls, NY, from 1950 to 2007. Along the way, we can see how the building of new or renovation of existing schools--and the abandoning of neighborhood schools--interacted, or failed to interact with urban development while impacting the physical environment of Niagara Falls. Given the role school planning has in physical placemaking, land use development, and environmental design, public schools and their campuses are as much a responsibility for educational administrators as they are for urban planners. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]