I caught this thread on the Preservation-L, and I missed the boat when it was
happening; however, since I labored over this response, I figured I'd send it.
If interest has been lost... there's always the next button. I won't be
offended

I think *most* people appreciate the sense of security, history, community and
beauty that the nation's architectural history provides. I have found an
overwhelming sense in the public that old buildings are important, although
most people can't explain the motivation for their feelings. So if there is
the "overwhelming sense" in the general public, why is there a need for
"preservation"?
  - Good preservation takes thought, planning, consensus, and cooperation,
none of which are characteristics endemic to the political process.
  - Consensus and cooperation do not make good press. Preservation in
mainstream media is synonomous with expense, delay, and inflexibility. Why?
Stories are based on conflict and dissention: no conflict, no story. The
result is that the public often only hear about the problems, not the benefits
of preservation. (This acutally happend to me... a reporter told me that since
all parties in a preservation project were getting along, there wasn't any
story.)
  - Technology has made demolition an "easy" solution. If we had to demolish
'em by hand, there'd be a lot more old buildings standing.
  - Preservation is a long term idea trying to root in a "short term" society.
  - Tastes change. The ethic of preservation is in confict with the nature of
individual taste. ("You people aren't going to tell me what color to paint MY
house...")
  - Preservation is linked with public sentiment and public reaction, and
people rarely express *satisfaction* with the status quo; rather, they only
voice their desire for change. If 99 people appreciate a building, and 1
doesn't, who is more likely to express those feelings? As trite as it sounds,
the squeaky wheel almost always gets the grease.
  - While "historic" has a positive connotation, there is, I believe, a bias
against 'old.' No one advertises "it's the same OLD formula we've had for
years;" although, "A trusted name since 1897" is considered a winning slogan.
The perception of "new" is powerful, and the concept of "old" is not linked
with "historic" often enough.
  - There is almost no sense of architectural literacy in the real world: no
ability to decipher a building or a landscape, and see the layers of culture
and history that have been overlaid one on top of the other. As a book has
little real meaning to a person who can't read, buildings have little real
meaning to those who don't understand the landscape.

Just my .02.

-Heidi
PS  I suppose I should also introduce myself, a little belatedly. My name is
Heidi Harendza, and I work as a preservation specialist/historic site
manager/history girl friday in Ewing Township, the nothern suburb of Trenton,
New Jersey (Exit 2, 3, and 4 off of Interstate 95.) My office is located in
the Benjamin Temple house, a well-preserved vernacular frame farmhouse, circa
1750, currently unairconditioned, which was moved in 1973 due to the
construction of Interstate 95 <insert generic preservation soap opera story
here>. Anyway... I hope that gives a little of my background and interest.
========================
Heidi E. Harendza
Historic Preservation Specialist
Ewing, NJ