Economics, Sustainability, and Historic Preservation

PLAN414: Heritage Annotation Ori Abara (UW$\#$: 20379366) Prof. R. Shipley July 29, 2013 \‘Economics and Historic Preservation\’ by Donovan D. RypkemaIn 2012, as part of a collection of journal articles that had made a difference, the National Trust for Historic Preservation\’s Forum Journal published \‘Economics and Historic Preservation\’ written by Donovan D. Rypkema. The intended audience for this article is the professionals in attendance at the National Trust conference that is referenced at the start of the article.Rypkema is a real estate developer who has always focused on the economic side of historic preservation. In this article, he stresses the importance of expressing preservationist views in a bigger-\­-picture way and making preservation an everyday tool for municipalities.Rypkema begins the article by mentioning commonly heard statements, which he believes are untrue. These statements include: making the choice between historic preservation and economic development; the idea that municipalities can\’t afford preservation when budgets are stretched; that preservation is not a cost-\­-effective way to house the poor; historic districts reduce property values; neighbourhoods close to the core are eyesores and must be removed; and preservation cannot work as a tourism attraction tool, except for in specific cities.Throughout the article, Rypkema refutes the aforementioned statements using data from research that he had done, as well as others such as the National Association of Home Builders and the State of Washington. In response to the statement on making the choice between preservation and economic development, Rypkema remarks that: historic preservation is one of the best economic development options in the creation of jobs; rehabilitation has a better impact on the local economy compared to new construction; and that allowing a downtown area to deteriorate is a waste of assets such as sidewalks, streets, water and sewage lines that have already been paid for. By not allowing a downtown to operate at its maximum capacity, municipalities are wasting tax dollars and not being fiscally responsible.Continuing on the subject of fiscal responsibility, Rypkema states, that by allowing older buildings in neighbourhoods to remain unoccupied, this not only makes taxes decline in value, reducing a municipality\’s income, but also negatively affects the security of bank loans and life savings that are in home equity and encourages crime to establish in abandoned buildings. He also explains that by rehabilitating abandoned housing, it is not just one building that is saved, but entire neighbourhoods are preserved, leading to the restoration of the economic value of communities.In talking about \‘back-\­-to-\­-the-\­-city migration\’, Rypkema praises historic preservation, saying that it encourages reinvestment, renovation, and relocation to historicneighbourhoods without displacing those already there. He also notes that historicPLAN414: Heritage Annotation Ori Abara (UW$\#$: 20379366) Prof. R. Shipley July 29, 2013neighbourhoods provide a great environment for economic integration in communities.In refuting the statement that historic districts reduce property values, Rypkema cites the many published studies he had read on the economic impact of historic districts to state that no study found that historic districts caused a decline in property values.In closing, Rypkema speaks to the parallels between economics and historic preservation, saying that in essence, the use of historic preservation in municipalities creates a \‘differentiated product\’, and in economics, these types of products command a monetary premium. Through the use of historic preservation, communities are able to showcase their uniqueness and diversity, which will in turn attract investment.\‘Economics and Historic Preservation\’ is very well organized, as it begins by presenting statements to be argued, the arguments related to each statement, and then it closes by noting the importance of emphasizing the use of historic preservation as an economic development tool. Visually, the article was very well presented. There were captioned images used to emphasize points, as well as key statements highlighted throughout.Throughout the article, Rypkema cites many different document sources, legitimizing his argument. Although it is somewhat of an opinion piece, he makes sure to provide proof of his argument at every step of the process.This article is quite relevant to current practice, particularly in its assessment and critique of statements commonly used to criticize the historic preservation field. Although the article focuses on data from American municipalities, I think it is equally applicable in the Canadian context.Bias may be expected in an article written by a preservation professional about historic preservation. But since at each stage of the article, any stated arguments were backed up by statistics or data from relevant studies, it can be assumed that bias has been minimized.Overall, I enjoyed reading the article, and I thought that it brought significant arguments to light. I think it is a good article to read that gives insight to the many positive aspects of historic preservation in communities.positive aspects of historic preservation in communities.