Neighborhood schools are anchors for their communities. They provide both children and adults with a sense of place and often are a gathering place for community events. Yet, today fewer than one in eight children walks or bikes to school. Historic neighborhood schools are being sacrificed for monolithic, austere schools located on the edge of town that offer no connection to the communities they serve. Policies that drive the construction of new schools over the renovation of older ones include minimum acreage requirements or acreage "guidelines", state funding biases and building codes that focus on new construction. Acreage requirements usually call for one acre of land for every 100 students plus an additional 10 acres for an elementary school, 20 acres for a middle school, and 30 acres for a high school. In comparison, older schools use between two and eight acres. In order to accommodate these requirements school districts frequently end up buying green space on the edge of town which often needs to be annexed first. State funding biases often favor building new schools rather than upgrading older ones. A general rule used is that if the cost of renovations exceeds 2/3 the price of new construction, school districts must build a new school. Yet, the calculation of new construction costs often does not include necessary infrastructure such as water and sewer line extensions, roads, and bus transportation. Lastly, building codes are written with new construction methods and materials in mind and they are constantly updated, which makes it difficult for even recently constructed buildings to stay in compliance. Failure to consider code compliance alternatives can rule out otherwise viable renovations for a school.