Quote of the day: historic preservation, competitive advantage

Ypsilanti is a distant much less wealthy relation, when compared to the next door city of Ann Arbor in Michigan. The latter is the home of the University Michigan and massive hospital complexes. The former is the home of Eastern Michigan University (one of a number of what I used to call "direction" schools in the state -- Northern, Central, Western...).

But Ypsi has great residential building stock, comparable to Ann Arbor, although in comparison it's cheaper and a short 15 minute "drive" from Ann Arbor (a bus would take longer--hey they need a streetcar or light rail system to connect the two). (Going to school in Ann Arbor and living there for a time afterwards prepped me mentally for becoming a historic preservationist.)
Gilbert Mansion, Ypsilanti, Michigan. Photo from the Ypsilanti Heritage Foundation.

An article about the value of historic preservation in building the competitive advantage of Ypsilanti ran recently in the Ann Arbor News, "Historic District has paid off: Ypsilanti finds its niche by preserving architectural flavor of city." From the article:

"A lot of economic development officials are talking about how, in a world economy, you have to find your niche - and I think Ypsilanti's niche is the historic nature of the city," said Brian Vosburg, director of the Downtown Development Authority and the Depot Town Development Authority. "Historic preservation is one of the biggest drawing cards for tourism and people moving back to historic urban centers."

Of course, I make this point til I'm blue in the face. While it seems that those of us commenting this way are beating our head against the wall (one perfect example is the Florida Market), things are changing a bit.

Note that the Ypsilanti Heritage Foundation has a pretty good website, including this section with before and after photos showing the positive changes reaped by rehabilitation.

For example, I have discussed the relatively abominable design for a proposed multiunit housing building on the south side of the 600 block on H Street NE. See "If ever a project screamed out for design review!"

While I was one of the first people to push the issue publicly about the execrable design, other people, many of whom I don't know, or who haven't put their toes out in public discourse on these kinds of issues heretofore, are making similar points on neighborhood e-lists and in public meetings. It's really heartening to see!

Plus, ANC6A is pushing the issue strongly. While the project is within ANC6C, which doesn't have too enlightened of a perspective on urban design and a quality built environment, fortunately the project lies within 200 feet of the ANC6A border and thus they have standing for "party status" to participate in the proceedings, and as they make the point: this is the first project on H Street to come under the design guidelines passed as part of the Neighborhood Commercial Overlay District for H Street NE, so getting it right at the outset is very important.

Index Keywords: urban-revitalization; historic-preservation