A Review of Preservation Practices and Attitudes in Historic District Act Municipalities of Pennsylvania

Abstract

In a growing number of communities preservation planning has been recognized and pursued for its benefits such as making history, heritage and historic character strong building blocks for revitalization, growth, tourism and job creation. Conceptually, preservation planning in the United States dates back to the decades preceding the civil war when efforts to preserve resources associated with significant figures and events in American history. Subsequent to that time, federal, state, and local legislation, including the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, have contributed significantly to legitimizing historic preservation activities. In Pennsylvania state legislation such as the Historic District Act (HDA; Act 167 of 1961), the Municipalities Planning Code (MPC; Act 247 of 1968), and Home Rule Charters have all paved the way to provide legal authority for local communities to regulate for historic preservation. Given this legal context, this chapter presents a discussion of the significance and evolution of historic preservation in the United States, the role of federal, state and local governments in historic preservation, outlines the historic preservation in Pennsylvania with a focus on the Historic District Act and finally presents findings of a survey of stakeholders conducted to understand what strategies, techniques and tools are being used under the auspices of the HDA, as well as an assessment of how effective these tools are. The survey reveals that while community attitudes are positive toward historic preservation activities, there is some unevenness in implementation. The public at large is broadly supportive of historic preservation activities, whether they be regulatory or non-regulatory approaches. The findings also suggest that, despite this overall level of public support and municipal satisfaction though, there seems to be a lack of capacity in addressing preservation.