Required reading

Why Historic Preseration Is Smart Growth by Donovan Rypkema, who is my new hero. Some outstanding points in why historic preservation and smart growth/urban development are not only not mutually exclusive but are natural partners.

It's neat seeing some of this sort of thing put into action: for example, folks like LJ Urbanjust got their project at 27th & V approved. Instead of simply knocking down the one building (a Craftsman bungalow in need of some serious restoration) they went out and found a new home for the bungalow. And when one deal fell through, instead of giving up they went and found another home. The owner of the land had originally planned on building a duplex on the site, but moving and re-siting the building (and the needed restoration) will cost less. Thus, we get multiple wins: a historic home gets preserved and re-utilized, land is consolidated for an infill housing project, and the landfill remains free of a house-sized pile of old-growth timber.