residents trapped in neighboring houses.
Neighborhood preservation has many
positive, long term implications for benefitting not only
communities, but also surrounding regions. It works to
stabilize communities by increasing home ownership and
generating revenue. Historic neighborhood after historic
neighborhood proves the point. History sells.
Visitors buy it. Tourists buy it. And most
important, residents, the bedrock of any city, buy it.
Yet Richmond, like most old cities with an
enormous inventory of vacant, abandoned, dilapidated buildings,
too often ignores the intrinsic value of old buildings and
neglected neighborhoods in favor of glamorous, new construction
projects. If preservation is not pursued as vigorously as it
should be, perhaps it is because a process that grows house by
house, block by block, neighborhood by neighborhood is too slow
for some officials seduced by the promise (however ill founded)
of quick economic gain from large scale development projects:
sports stadiums, convention centers, and shopping malls.
We shape our buildings, then they
shape us,”
Winston Churchill once said. Was he thinking of grand cathedrals whose soaring lines elevate us spiritually? Or was he thinking of decaying ghettos where battered houses degrade the humanity of residents?
Winston Churchill once said. Was he thinking of grand cathedrals whose soaring lines elevate us spiritually? Or was he thinking of decaying ghettos where battered houses degrade the humanity of residents?
Precisely how buildings shape our
communities is often a matter of` public policy. Historic
tax credits, for instance, can spur prosperity with financial
incentives for renovation and investment. On the other hand,
Virginia’s strong property rights laws allow thousands of
neglected buildings in old neighborhoods to remain in the hands
of irresponsible owners, thereby precipitating the decline of
communities and the quality of life for
The author is the executive director of
the Alliance to Conserve Old Richmond Neighborhoods
