With the rise of school choice over the last few decades, neighborhood schools have become increasingly stigmatized institutions that are framed as the last resort for desperate parents. Despite this, many cities have recently seen increased numbers of relatively advantaged parents choosing to send their children to their neighborhood schools. Drawing on 44 in-depth, semi-structured interviews with parents of children in grades K-8 in Philadelphia public schools, this project seeks to understand how some parents are redefining the “neighborhood school” experience” by subverting the normative values of academic achievement and reputation. I argue this constitutes an example of what Erik Olin Wright (2010) calls a “real utopia,” or a project that challenges existing systems of domination and can lead to societal transformation. In the case of neighborhood schools, parents’ choices are challenging the alienation of urban residents both from each other and from the space in which they live.