Historic Preservation & Economics

The problem with economic arguments in favor of historic preservation is
not that they are wrong, there is ample evidence that historic
preservation when creatively implemented pays, but that our initial
response to “economics” is money, such as a dollar. Where this is a
problem is that we do not understand the value of a dollar, any more
than we understand the value of a blue sky. We think that we understand,
but at heart the value of a dollar is a mystery that the economists must
need to argue over.

If the intent of the economic argument is to demonstrate whether or not
an historic building aids in the accumulation of dollars then this is an
argument that does not reach to the bottom-line, which is that we do not
understand nature, ours or the other.

There are other economies, such as the economy of energy. A building
embodies the energy of the materials, wood to burn, the energy initially
required to package the materials into a useable form, and the human
energy required for assembly and maintenance. In the long-term of a
relatively closed environmental system, such as the earth, to be tearing
down old buildings and throwing them into holes in the ground is humanly
suicidal. These buildings will not soon enough for our future needs
convert themselves back into the energy required to replicate their
function of shelter, they will not readily turn themselves back to oil
reserves or human muscle.

There is the economy of meaning and myth. The home of Langston Hughes, a
poet whose value is as ephemeral as a collection of well-placed words,
is a brownstone on East 126th Street in Harlem. This building is in
fairly decent upkeep, yet on either side the brownstones are run down,
abandoned, and one is missing a roof. Obviously the meaning and myth of
one building in a collection of many gives it an added value, despite
the fact that as objects all are identical, constructed by the same
developer, date at the same period, and embody similar amounts of energy
in their mass.

Lastly there is the economy of vision and spirit. Old buildings give
each of us a sense of personal continuity. Buildings that embody the
spirit of our quest for freedom serve to remind us of our brave heritage
in a manner that sustains and energizes our daily activity, which
activity results in a healthy economy. Continuity of history becomes of
particular value when we recognize our mortality and begin to assess the
context of our legacy, while accepting the inevitability of our death.

If asked to live life with a black sky, without moon or stars, and a
blue sky with clouds, which would you pay dollars for?

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