Historic Preservation Or Smart Growth?

19 August 2002 - 12:00pm

In some areas of Philadelphia, the teardowns of historic shoe-boxy abodes for million-dollar mansions is a 'regular demolition derby.'

"The choicest tracts are 1.5 to 2 acres, with homes of no more than 1,800 square feet - the kind that 'will blow up good,' said builder Jeff Regan, whose Glenside firm just razed its fourth house in as many years in Lower Gwynedd Township... Smart-growth advocates look at the big picture and smile: They see sprawl turning inward and remaking itself. Rather than reaching farther into the dwindling countryside for developable land, builders - typically small firms - are increasingly invested in mature neighborhoods nearer the city rim."

Source: The Philadelphia Inquirer, August 18, 2002
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