Aesthetics and healthy growth

The community benefits from balancing preservation with healthy growth. Let’s face it, not all change is good. By preserving historic properties and neighborhoods, communities maintain their overall aesthetic appeal.

This sustainable growth is achievable through municipal planning. Communities can strengthen local laws to guide zoning and development, preserving their character.

Commemorative

Sites can mark both good and bad moments in our nation’s history. The community is richer for having the tangible presence of past eras and historic styles. Younger generations can see and appreciate that history happened right here. This sense of place makes a stronger personal impact than text in a history textbook alone.

While our office does not issue plaques, it does recognize historic sites. We manage listings on the New Jersey and National Registers. These formally recognize a site’s significance and provide legal protections.

Social bonding

The community benefits when citizens take pride in its history. Mutual concern about local historic fabric motivates its protection.

Additionally, a well-preserved neighborhood provides a backdrop for other community events. They bring residents through historic neighborhoods but are not limited to historical themes. Some popular examples include:

• Seasonal festivals
• Townwide yard sales
• Food and/or drink tastings
• Car shows
• Nationally recognized events, like National Night Out

Education

Historic properties continually inspire us to interpret and reinterpret the past. They invite discussion of virtually every aspect of human life — economics, social relations, familial structure, politics, and more. Each generation will learn different lessons according to their needs. Sometimes, we discover a property we thought we already understood has a facet we missed.

• Many travelers look to broaden their horizons by seeing historic sites in person. Visitors from other towns and states want to learn more about American history. International travelers want to learn more about their host country.
• Local children benefit from having these sites open. Schools can organize trips to bring students to these sites. Combined with a well-designed interpretive program, this gives them a more engaging experience than sitting in a classroom.
• Local adults can benefit as well. They may have lived in the area for decades or even grown up here, but there are many stories in our collective history that they have not heard. Many marginalized people did not have a voice when these adults learned about local and regional history in school. Visiting these sites gives them new insight into the place they call home.

Economic growth

Historic preservation provides multi-pronged economic benefits. Rehabilitation costs less than demolition and generates more local jobs and economic activity. Designated districts stabilize or enhance private property values. On top of this, heritage tourism is one of the fastest growing niche market segments in the travel industry today.

In short, heritage tourism brings visitors into communities. They spend or donate money directly at the heritage sites themselves. Beyond that, though, the majority of their spending is in the surrounding area. They shop at local businesses and eat at local restaurants. If part of a larger trip, they may choose to stay at local motels and hotels.

Conversely, heritage tourism keeps local visitor spending within the community. Citizens gain reasons to explore their own community — and support local businesses — in their free time.

Education

Many travelers look to broaden their horizons by seeing historic sites in person. Visitors from other towns and states want to learn more about American history. International travelers want to learn more about their host country.

Locals benefit from having these sites open, too. Schools can organize trips to bring students to these sites. Combined with a well-designed interpretive program, this gives them a more engaging experience than sitting in a classroom.

Local adults can benefit as well. They may have lived in the area for decades or even grown up here, but there are many stories in our collective history that they have not heard. Visiting these sites gives them new insight into the place they call home.

Environmental

Preservation is not just for retaining open space and cultural landscapes. It also reduces the environmental cost of development. Two often-overlooked impacts of construction include:

• Buildings take energy to build. New concrete alone causes roughly 8% of all global carbon emissions from human activity.
• Construction and demolition produce waste that requires transportation, processing and/or disposal. Recycling materials keeps them out of landfills but still requires energy and practical use cases.

A well-preserved historic building already invested that initial construction energy. Maintaining that building does not produce as much waste as demolition. Historic preservation is compatible with sustainable architecture practices.