Rowhouse survival guide

Penrose Rowhouses, Fairmount, Philadelphia, Flickr photo by MikeWebkist.

Alan Heavens is the real estate columnist for the Philadelphia Inquirer. A couple weeks ago, his column, "Building a survival guide for rowhouses," covered how:

The Philadelphia City Planning Commission is soliciting proposals from consultants to prepare the "Philadelphia Rowhouse Manual: A Guide for Property Owners and Neighborhoods."
The manual will be an educational tool with basic architectural history and maintenance information to aid rowhouse owners and provide ways to update the housing form for 21st-century living. The manual will be helpful for the city's community groups and community-development corporations in furthering their work of rehabilitating and promoting Philadelphia's neighborhoods.
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Again, this is something that cities need to do to educate people on the value of history and historic buildings.

In the late 1970s, DC published Anacostia Conserved and LeDroit Park Conserved, about the historic building stock in those neighborhoods and how to maintain it. These items, produced by the consulting firm created by the late (and great) Kevin Lynch, are available at the Washingtoniana collection of the DC Martin Luther King Library.

Other cities and states have published similar guides, such as the State of Ohio/Ohio Historical Society's Old-Building Owner's Manual and Caring for Your Old House, and the Rehab Rochester guide published by the Landmark Society of Western New York State. Because the Rehab Rochester guide is online also, I always recommend it.

And this is a similar effort to Chicago's Historic Bungalow initiative, which includes a house expo every year.