Associate professor of design Karen Monzel Hughes, in moving from Cincinnati's much-acclaimed Mariemont to the once-struggling Over-the-Rhine, discovers that rebuilding and preserving are both critical facets of preservation.
"I have lived most of my life in urban environments that provide experience with two distinct types of preservation," writes Karen Monzel Hughes. "Distinguishing between the two and recognizing the difference is important."
She moved to Cincinnati's re-emerging Over-the-Rhine area seven months ago, after spending 25 years in Mariemont, a John Nolen-designed community just outside downtown Cincinnati that served as a historical precedent for New Urbanism. Monzel Hughes notes that, "[l]iving in a community that clearly values its heritage and the benefits of an intelligently planned town instilled in me an appreciation for the preservation of the buildings as well as the overarching vision of community, the benefits of walkability, and centrality of place. Mariemont is, and always has been, a community with a clear continuity of purpose."
"In contrast to Mariemont, preservation in Over-the-Rhine takes on a different urgency and faces many other obstacles," says Monzel Hughes. "The opportunity for maintaining its rich historic buildings and urban fabric has long since disappeared. The expense of rehabilitating crumbling buildings can be a roadblock to investment just as the poverty and crime that had overridden the area are deterrents to creating sustainable community. However, Cincinnati has taken an approach that is showing rapid and highly successful results."
Thanks to Simmons Buntin
FULL STORY: Rebuilding and Preserving: Two Aspects of Preservation
Pennsylvania Mall Conversion Bill Passes House
If passed, the bill would promote the adaptive reuse of defunct commercial buildings.
Planning for Accessibility: Proximity is More Important than Mobility
Accessibility-based planning minimizes the distance that people must travel to reach desired services and activities. Measured this way, increased density can provide more total benefits than increased speeds.
World's Largest Wildlife Overpass In the Works in Los Angeles County
Caltrans will soon close half of the 101 Freeway in order to continue construction of the Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing near Agoura Hills in Los Angeles County.
Eviction Looms for Low-Income Tenants as Rent Debt Rises
Nonprofit housing operators across the country face almost $10 billion in rent debt.
Brightline West Breaks Ground
The high-speed rail line will link Las Vegas and the Los Angeles area.
Colorado Bans No-Fault Evictions
In most cases, landlords must provide a just cause for evicting tenants.
City of Costa Mesa
Licking County
Barrett Planning Group LLC
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
Mpact Transit + Community
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
Tufts University, Department of Urban and Environmental Policy & Planning
City of Universal City TX
ULI Northwest Arkansas
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
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.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.