Older districts are often marked by high property values and traditional architecture, but it's not just aesthetics and history that define them. Some historic neighborhoods have gone through vast changes, while others don't appear "historic" at all.
"America's historic neighborhoods often keep their value better compared to newer neighborhoods. But this is no universal rule, and not every old neighborhood is immediately identifiable by its charm or architecture.
While Society Hill in Philadelphia has the city's most stable real estate and New Orleans' French Quarter has the city's most expensive homes, San Francisco's Mission District is neither the city's highest value nor most stable, and Pioneer Square in Seattle has undergone extensive changes in the last 30 years.
In New York, the earliest settled neighborhood turned into the Financial District, where no one lived until just recently - challenging the image of historic neighborhoods as quaint and traditional.
Historic neighborhoods that have been cut off from cities by highways are now experiencing some reintegration into the urban fabric. Boston's Big Dig, for example, has reconnected the North End, causing one neighborhood's value to increase by 345 percent compared to 1990."
FULL STORY: America's Oldest Neighborhoods
San Diego to Update Historic Preservation Program
The city wants to identify new areas for preservation while streamlining processes to promote adaptive reuse of historic properties.
Op-Ed: A ‘Culture of Preciousness’ Undermines Historic Preservation
A focus on historic materials could foster inequity and obscure the important social and historical meanings of a structure.
California Cities Cite Historic Preservation to Block Development
Are some cities using historic designations disingenuously?
Depopulation Patterns Get Weird
A recent ranking of “declining” cities heavily features some of the most expensive cities in the country — including New York City and a half-dozen in the San Francisco Bay Area.
California Exodus: Population Drops Below 39 Million
Never mind the 40 million that demographers predicted the Golden State would reach by 2018. The state's population dipped below 39 million to 38.965 million last July, according to Census data released in March, the lowest since 2015.
Chicago to Turn High-Rise Offices into Housing
Four commercial buildings in the Chicago Loop have been approved for redevelopment into housing in a bid to revitalize the city’s downtown post-pandemic.
How Financing Restricts the Rental Housing Market
The way apartment buildings are financed has a major impact on supply and costs.
Houston Mayor Pauses Complete Streets Projects
The move raises concerns among road safety advocates who point out that traffic deaths continue to rise.
Twin Cities Trains Move to Fewer Cars, Higher Frequency
Headways will drop from 15 minutes to 12 minutes.
Licking County
Barrett Planning Group LLC
City of Cleburne
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
Mpact Transit + Community
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
City of Universal City TX
ULI Northwest Arkansas
City of Laramie, Wyoming
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This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
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Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
