The school-oriented development hypothesis developed by Carolyn Reid and Emily Talen has thus far been tested only in suburban neighbourhoods. This study attempts to ascertain the impact of various design elements of the school-oriented development hypothesis on political and civic participation in the Homewood community in Pittsburgh, using a mixed methodology. Only one of the public schools in the study demonstrated a significant impact on political and civic participation in the surrounding blocks, and though this school also best followed the physical criteria of the school-oriented development typology, none of the other data warranted a conclusion favourable to the school-oriented development hypothesis. At the same time, however, greater attention must be paid to factors such as homeownership, whose effects were much greater and more significant than the presence of schools, and to the academic programmes in each school, which have the most direct impact on students and on the community as a whole. Greater communication between academic, design and community institutions is highly recommended
