Economic Impacts Of Historic Preservation-Main Street programs typically return about $35 for every dollar invested in operating the program.

Consultant charts economics of historic preservation Holding on to the past can mean more money in the present day for cities with historic preservation districts.

The Journal Record (Oklahoma City, OK)

Historic preservation has a far-reaching impact on the local and state economy, as Dwayne Jones of Urban Prospects, half of the consulting team hired by the City of Oklahoma City to create guidelines for the historic preservation process, illustrated for City Council members Tuesday.

The state of Oklahoma currently has 10 cities which include historic districts, according to city staff. Eight historic districts within Oklahoma City are included under the proposed preservation guidelines.

Nationally, Main Street programs, which focus on revitalizing historic districts, return about $35 for every dollar invested in operating the program, according to figures compiled by the Center for Urban Policy Research at Rutgers University, Texas Perspectives and the LBJ School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin.

Using data for Texas, where Jones and his partner Marcel Quimby are based, Jones made it clear that the monetary benefits of preservation and rehabilitation far outstrip the visual.

In Texas, more than 75 cities currently participate in the Texas Historical Commission’s Texas Main Street Program. Since the program’s inception in 1981, Main Street cities have averaged $97 million annually in reinvestments, $56 million in income and added $87 million to the state’s economy.

Statewide, in Texas preservation activities generate more than $1.4 billion of economic activity, and support almost 41,000 Texas jobs.

For every $1 million of investment in Texas Main Street cities, 24 jobs are created in the state, $580,000 of income is generated, $51,000 in state taxes are generated, $50,000 in local taxes are generated and the gross state product increases by $900,000, the study shows.

Rehabilitation is the fastest-growing segment of the construction industry, which is one of the fastest-growing industries nationwide. Rehabilitation is more labor-intensive than new construction, Jones said, and often requires a higher level of specialization. This kind of work translates not only into better construction wages, but often requires employing local workers and using local materials, bringing more dollars into the local economy.

Though dollar for dollar, historic building renovation creates about the same number of jobs and generates the same amount of tax revenues as new building construction, historic renovation saves tax dollars from being spent on new infrastructure and landfills, Jones pointed out.

Revitalization results in commercial reinvestment as well, he said. As previously underutilized inner-city neighborhoods are rehabilitated and re-inhabited, businesses located in the area begin to flourish once again and more such businesses are created.

In every instance where a neighborhood has attained historic preservation status, property values have at least stabilized, and in many cases have increased substantially, Jones said. A property in a Texas city that is designated historic can generally expect to see a 5 to 20 percent increase in property value, the report shows.

The reason is that each individual property owner’s investment is protected by the restrictions put in place on neighboring properties, "which largely influences the type of investment of the people around you," Jones said.

Often, the kind of investor willing to rebuild a neighborhood will have a different mindset from other kinds of home buyers, he said. "They take more of an ‘urban pioneering’ approach," Jones said, which translates into higher levels of community pride, lower crime rates and greater public involvement. Cities benefit in countless other ways which are difficult to measure, he added.

"Historic designations reversed the trend of neglecting and abandoning older houses to attracting urban pioneers who restored the homes and stabilized the neighborhoods," the study quotes Dallas’ Ann Piper, SRA. "As these historic districts restored confidence in the area, adjacent neighborhoods began to improve and started a ripple effect in the next layer. What were slums 20 years ago are new prestige neighborhoods."

Historic preservation zones also have an impact on tourism.

"Heritage tourism is the number one or two economic activity in every state in the country," Jones said. Polls conducted by visitor centers in Texas have revealed that more tourists visit the state to see historical sites and landmarks than to go shopping. Surprisingly, many tourists not only visited museums and landmarks, such as The Alamo, but also went sightseeing through historic neighborhoods.

According to Jones, Oklahoma City is well positioned to compete in this arena.

"Oklahoma City has some of the best, the biggest, and the most intact historic districts than any we know of, certainly in the Midwest," Jones said.

Heritage tourists also spend an average of almost $30 per day more than other travelers, pay for lodging instead of staying with family or friends, and stay longer than other tourists. This results in added expenditures for lodging, food establishments and other local retail and service businesses.

"Half the states in the country are beginning to study the economic impact (of historic preservation), and the results are pretty much the same," Jones said.

Urban Prospects has worked over the last year to develop a set of guidelines for historic preservation districts in Oklahoma City, including Crown Heights, Edgemere Park, Heritage Hills, Heritage Hills East, Jefferson Park, Mesta Park, The Paseo, Putnam Heights and the Shepherd Historic District.

The consultants held more than 20 meetings with the neighborhoods to both educate and get input from the residents of these communities on preservation issues.

"Enforcement is the one thing we heard more than anything else," Jones said. "Without it, we’ve spent a lot of time with little to show for it."

Currently, violations of the historic code are only dealt with when a resident calls the city action center and reports it — a system that has proven to be severely flawed in its enforcement of the historic preservation code. Of the violations that do get reported, few citations are acted upon by the city, residents and staff members have complained.

Though Jones said many residents attending meetings over the past year have asked that the city conduct sweeps of historic preservation zoned neighborhoods to find and stop residents doing unauthorized work to the exterior of their homes, Mayor Kirk Humphreys said he wasn’t sure that would be the answer to the problem.

"It’s complaint-driven rather than proactive," Humphreys said, noting that years ago, the city used to take the "proactive" approach, but the neighborhoods objected. "Let us go in there and do that and see if we hear the same response," he said.

Residents and staff are also investigating what can be done to better educate the public, both before they buy into a historic preservation zone, and on what homeowners are permitted to do with their homes.

The new guidelines and an amended ordinance will next be considered by the planning commission on Feb. 27, which will forward its recommendations to the City Council for consideration on March 11.

Jones said the new guidelines strike a balance between preserving the historical fabric of the houses while making regular home maintenance feasible for the average homeowner. For instance, Jones said residents no longer have to find old-fashioned "wavy" glass in order to repair broken windows.

"Thank goodness," said Councilman Guy Liebmann, Ward 8. "I thought I was going to have to move."

Copyright 2003 Dolan Media Newswires

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