American Brewery - Baltimore, Maryland
2011 National Trust Board of Advisors’ Award

The American Brewery project rehabilitated an abandoned 1887 brewhouse in East Baltimore whose derelict condition symbolized how far the once-proud neighborhood had fallen. Vacant for thirty years, all previous attempts to revive the striking, five-story Gothic structure had failed. In 2008, that changed thanks to a $25 million historic rehabilitation conducted by a private developer and Humanim, a social services organization with roots in the community. Federal and state historic tax credits and private donations transformed the bat-infested brewhouse while retaining key historic elements, such as the vats that now serve as the office’s “think tank.”

From its new home, Humanim is now perfectly positioned to provide workforce development services and job creation opportunities directly to the neighborhood. In addition to relocating its 250 employees there, the organization made 40 local hires. Meanwhile, new development is taking place, signaling greater developer confidence in the community. The top-notch historic rehabilitation preserves a piece of the city’s industrial past while demonstrating that historic preservation is a viable strategy for sparking new investment and economic development in challenged urban neighborhoods.

Each year the National Trust for Historic Preservation celebrates the best of preservation by presenting the Richard H. Driehaus National Preservation Awards to individuals and organizations whose contributions demonstrate excellence in historic preservation. We invite you to nominate a deserving individual, organization, agency, or project for a Richard H. Driehaus National Preservation Award. The nomination deadline for all awards is March 15, 2012.

Bee Beep Rrrrrrrrrrrr. We interrupt this program to bring you an important news bulletin: minus the addition of some plastic sheeting and removal of some floor tiles, not much has changed at ye olde Lionel Lofts since our last update. Fortunately for your friendly neighborhood National Trust blogger, when I went over to take some new pictures, the key was missing from the lock box and I was unable to enter. Turns out it’s asbestos and lead paint remediation time. Probably for the best that I didn’t breathe all that in.

But don’t click away thinking I’ve left you empty handed. Voila, a fascinating window (literally?) into the old Lionel Trains shop of the 1970s.

Stay tuned for more Restoration Diary soon. Next up: interior demolition. Get excited for the crumbling walls to come tumbling down. (While carefully preserving key character-enhancing elements, of course.)

David Garber is the blog editor at the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

(Photo: Flickr user tibchris)

Why are we so fascinated by pretty pictures of needy places? Until this morning I’ve brushed them off as a largely insensitive well-framed, grungy counterpoints to the mediums in which we usually see these images: glossy magazines, bright computer screens, or crisp, white-walled galleries – and there’s something to that. There’s an artistic draw to the broken, and with it, the temptation to keep the images out of context. Entertainment over investment.

(Photo: Flickr user Jon Bradley Photography)

For three years I lived in Washington, DC’s historic Anacostia neighborhood. The neighborhood has its charms: dollhouse Victorians (albeit many in need of repair), open spaces, and active neighborhood groups. But it’s better known for the things that bring it down: the drug busts, bullet-proof glass retail, the crumbling facades, and the severed connections to the rest of the city. But the neighborhood doesn’t want it to stay that way, and is actively seeking solutions to repair and restore. There’s much less romance in boarded-up buildings when they exist, not printed in black and white, on your own block.

(Photo: Flickr user sebastien.barre)

But rather than disparage the “pretty pictures of sad places” craft I’d like to offer a more hopeful explanation for our fascination with them. These images get more screen and gallery space than positive images. And while it would be wonderful if there was a greater journalistic and artistic effort to highlight the good, there are reasons we are drawn to the falling down: they get our hearts pumping faster and we are connected into needs without any expectation that we’ll follow up and do anything about them.

(Photo: Flickr user Howzy)

There are at least two ways we can respond to this phenomenon. We can see the pictures and go on: Leave the gallery, turn the page, click away. Or we harness their energy, allow them to become inspirations, and become doers. These images serve as an important reminder that there is still a lot left to restore before more needs to be created. And we’re the only ones that can do anything about it.

David Garber is the blog editor at the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

Compatible Infill Design can be downloaded for free by clicking on the link in the text or by visiting the HPLO website.

On October 13, the Historic Preservation League of Oregon (HPLO) unveiled a special report on Compatible Infill Design to a room full of the organization’s closest members and friends. After conducting nearly a year of research and stakeholder input, the HPLO’s 12-page report detailed seven principles for new construction in Oregon’s Historic Districts.

• The District is the Resource, Not its Individual Parts
• New Construction Will Reinforce the Historic Significance of the District
• New Construction Will Complement and Support the District
• Infill Will be Compatible Yet Distinct
• The Exterior Envelope and Patterning of New Buildings Will Reflect District Characteristics
• Contributing Buildings Will Not Be Demolished to Create Infill Opportunities
• Archaeological Resources Will be Preserved in Place or Mitigated

Philosophically, the principles are a clear departure from the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for Rehabilitation, an oft-cited justification for harsh differentiation. Based upon the input of stakeholders from across Oregon, the report and its principles refute the notion that all infill must be stylistically modernist regardless of its historic context. Ultimately, Compatible Infill Design calls on the National Park Service to revisit the intent of the existing Standards and to pursue standards and guidelines specific to new construction within historic contexts. The HPLO’s seven principles for new construction provide a starting point towards that end.

The principles and the supporting documentation found in Compatible Infill Design are the product of the Preservation Roundtable, an annual HPLO initiative that seeks to spur healthy discussion among diverse stakeholders about a challenging and topical preservation issue. Launched in 2010, the Roundtable focuses on moving Oregon’s historic preservation community upstream of prevailing issues, helping to reduce the perception that preservationists are merely the “purveyors of no.”

The inaugural 2010 Roundtable focused on “Healthy Historic Districts in a Changing World,” and brought together over 100 people to talk about the challenges and opportunities facing Oregon’s most historic areas. One of the nine recommendations presented in that year’s culminating special report, Healthy Historic Districts, was the “need for baseline standards for new construction.” Defining this baseline for historic district infill is what the HPLO set out to achieve with the 2011 Roundtable.

Participants in the Ashland Roundtable. (Photo: Historic Preservation League of Oregon)

The 2011 Roundtable held workshops in three cities – Ashland, Portland, and The Dalles – to gather the perspectives, experiences, and visions of diverse groups of Oregonians. Through the help of a volunteer taskforce and paid consultant team, the HPLO heard from over 200 Oregonians, including mayors, city councilors, planners, architects, developers, business owners, and landmark commissioners. Interestingly, while many of the participants were stakeholders within the same historic districts, the workshop sessions made evident that strategic conversation about new construction were long overdue. The Roundtable’s ability to bring stakeholders into a collaborative forum has provided not just a benefit for the HPLO’s Roundtable research goals, but has assisted communities in taking steps towards addressing critical local preservation issues.

In the month since releasing Compatible Infill Design, there has been plenty of feedback on the principles, their underlying assumptions, and the strategies for their implementation. At least five Oregon cities are already looking to implement some form of the principles into their standards and guidelines; Main Street managers are publically discussing how the principles could relate to downtown development goals; and – most importantly – diverse Oregonians are thinking collaboratively about how to chart a consistent approach to new construction in the state’s 123 National Register Historic Districts.

Compatible Infill Design and the conversations it has spurred are intended to bring a renewed interest in how Oregon protects and develops its Historic Districts, a group of places far more valuable than the sum of their individual parts. Both the 2010 and 2011 special reports are available free of charge on the HPLO website.

Brandon Spencer-Hartle is the Field Programs Manager at the Historic Preservation League of Oregon. He has asked that special thanks be given to project consultants Rick Michaelson, Karen Karlsson, and Jeff Joslin, 2011 Preservation Roundtable Taskforce members Paul Falsetto, Natalie Perrin, Ross Plambeck, Matthew Roman, and Patience Stuart, and the National Trust for Historic Preservation for its grant support of the program.

The TED slogan is ‘ideas worth spreading’, and at some point last week I realized this had happened. Thanks to multiple historic preservation distribution networks, a video of a presentation I gave earlier this year at TEDxCLE has been shared by preservationists far and wide.

In my talk I mention how the loss of a building in my hometown sparked my interest in historic preservation, so it seems only appropriate that I mention “Memories of Endicott, New York” as another example that demonstrates core idea of the talk – historic preservation is really about community. Within a few short days this Facebook page, just one of many ‘you know you’re from so-and-so’ type pages that have appeared in recent weeks, has generated hundreds of comments.

An overwhelming number of posts are about the special places – buildings and local business, some still around but many long gone- that make up this community. One of the comments in particular struck a special chord with me – the contributor wrote about how they were upset when they discovered on the bus ride home that the Moose Lodge (where the Pizza Hut stands today) was demolished while they were at school, and I couldn’t help comparing that to my own experience of loss of our hometown heritage.

To some, this facebook page may not fit the traditional definition of historic preservation, but for others of us, this is what historic preservation is all about. And for a select few, something like this collection of memories may even inspire a career choice.

A final thought for those who asked: I’m wearing a 1980’s ‘vintage’ Betsey Johnson dress in the video. Some argued this isn’t old enough to be considered vintage, but I’m not yet aware of a 50 year rule that applies to fashion.

For more, see:

• Historic Preservation Saves Communities’ Souls, Argues TEDxCLE Speaker
• Innovation Relies on Hope: Notes from TEDxCLE

Rhonda Sincavage is the Associate Director for Intergovernment Affairs at the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

Given that it is the first Wednesday of the month – our usual time for such things - I’d typically be writing this post as a quick reminder that there’s a Twitter chat this afternoon. However, it’s not normal circumstances, it’s summer vacation season, and as such, two thirds of the team that produces the Twitter chats are out of the office this week. We thought it unseemly to ask our volunteer moderator to run the whole thing, so instead we moved the chat one week later into August.

And so, I’d like to invite you to join us one week from today – Wednesday, August 10, at 4:00 EDT – to talk historic preservation on Twitter. Our theme will be reaching out to under-served communities and how to build connections outside the “usual suspects.” If you’ve been participating on the Twitter chats for a while, you may recall that this came up when we were talking about outreach in general, but we thought there was enough to discuss that it warranted a chat of its own.

In case you don’t remember how to participate – or haven’t joined us before – here are tips for joining in prepared by our chat co-founder, Ontario-based preservationist Kayla Jonas:

How to join in:

1. Sign in to Twitter, Tweet Deck or Tweet Chat. I usually use Tweet Chat to follow twitter chats since it adds the hash tag automatically and allows you to reply and retweet easily.

2. Follow and tweet with the hashtag #builtheritage

3. Watch for the questions in the Q1 format. Provide answers using the A1 format, and interact with other tweeters using replies and retweets.

Oh, and what Kayla means by the Q1/A1 format is this: Questions (we usually have four per chat) are posed by the moderator as Q1, Q2, Q3, Q4 about every 15 minutes. We ask that chatters reply with A1, A2, etc. to help everyone stay clear on what they’re responding to. A lot of side conversations and such still break out, but it helps keep things at least a little organized.

Hope you’re able to join in!

Sarah Heffern is currently the most sunburned member of the Digital and New Media team at the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

The $3.5 million rehabilitation of the historic People’s Building in Rocky Mount, NC exemplifies the type of historic redevelopment project that will benefit from an expanded federal historic tax credit.

One of my wise co-workers recently posited that a commercial district is only as strong as its surrounding neighborhood. While I am not 100 percent sure someone couldn’t come up with an example of a healthy shopping district that draws mostly from neighborhoods other than its own, I absolutely agree with the underlying sentiment that commercial district revitalization and residential rehabilitation go hand-in-hand.

The recent introduction in the U.S. House of Representatives of two key pieces of legislation is designed to address both sides of that coin. These bills would capitalize on historic preservation’s power to create jobs and revitalize the communities where we live, work and yes, shop.

The first bill, the “Creating American Prosperity through Preservation Act,” or CAPP, is co-sponsored by Reps. Aaron Schock (R-IL) and Earl Blumenauer (D-OR). A major feature of this bill is to make the existing federal historic tax credit more useful to developers of smaller-sized historic rehabilitation projects, typically found in Main Street districts. Historic rehabilitation activity generates more and better-paying jobs than new construction. The changes proposed by this bill will undoubtedly increase the volume of historic tax credit deals done in this country. This is good news for the economy.

Reps. Michael Turner’s (R-OH) and Russ Carnahan’s (D-MO) “Historic Homeownership Revitalization Act (HHRA)” creates a complementary homeowner tax credit that would incentivize the rehabilitation of historic homes and the revitalization of historic neighborhoods. This credit would serve to make it more affordable for homeowners to care for their homes—a definite boon during these difficult economic and real estate market conditions—while helping to maintain the historic integrity of the properties and the vitality of historic neighborhoods.

Family homes, such as the Bennett’s, will benefit from the Historic Homeownership Revitalization Act.

Together, the bills promote balanced residential and commercial economic development, and construction activity that creates skilled jobs, in our historic Main Streets and neighborhoods. This legislation will help ensure that our older neighborhoods and commercial districts remain vibrant, relevant thriving centers of modern life that are sustainable, attractive, meaningful places to live, work and do business.

I know what you’re thinking: new tax credits—in this political climate and federal budget situation? The economics of the federal historic tax credit are clear. Rutgers University data revealed that the credit has attracted $5 of private investment for every $1 of credit paid out by the Treasury. The cumulative, 32-year, $17.5 billion cost of the program is more than offset by the $22.3 billion in federal taxes these projects have generated.The successful track record of similar state tax credit programs makes a compelling case for the passage of a federal historic homeowner tax credit. We hope you’ll agree and help us by calling on your Representative to sign on as a co-sponsor of both bills. Take action now.

More information about the bills, including the newly released Rutgers University report on the Economic Impact of the Federal Historic Tax Credit, a list of endorsing organizations and a sample letter to send your Representative can be found on the PreservationNation website.

Erica Stewart is the outreach coordinator for the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s Public Affairs department.

Rifino Valentine with his Michigan-made vodka. (Photo: National Trust)

Over the past several years, the visible decline of the Detroit area – from the city itself to the smaller towns that surround it – has caught the nation’s imagination. With image after haunting image of ghostly vacant blocks and countless gloomy editorials, sometimes it seems like the media has already written the region off. However, amidst the rubble of times past, a new breed of locally-minded, dedicated entrepreneurs has decided it’s time to give southeastern Michigan new life. In the city of Ferndale, on the very edge of Detroit, one such businessman has successfully turned an innovative vision into a thriving company with true staying power.

“I’ve always been one of those people who appreciates handmade stuff – appreciates how things are supposed to be made,” says Rifino Valentine, owner of Valentine Distilling Company, “and now I have the chance to be the producer.” Valentine’s story is slightly unconventional; he got his start as a small business owner midway through a big business career as a day trader on Wall Street.

Valentine spent 13 years developing his background in economics and business in New York City during the day, but at night he indulged in a different pursuit entirely: the search for the perfect dirty martini. Somewhere along the line, Valentine’s night-time search started to develop new meaning. “When I would ask for the best vodka that these bars could give me, I was always served an imported product,” he explains.“And I started thinking, why can’t we make the best right here, where we are drinking it? Why can’t we make world-class vodka in the United States?”

It turns out that Valentine was more than curious about this idea; he was committed to making it a reality. In 2005 he left his job in New York and moved back to his home state of Michigan to open up his own artisanal distillery. He decided that he wanted to set up his business in the Detroit area, both to function as an economic stimulus for the area, and also to work the city he loves into his brand. “Detroit gets such a bad rap—it’s the butt of so many jokes—but at the same time people love it and its grittiness,” says Valentine.

The Valentine Distilling Company building in Ferndale. (Photo: National Trust)

When it came time to pick the distillery’s exact location, Ferndale really stood out. “When I was just starting, I called and left a message for the Ferndale city planner just to throw some ideas around about locating there, and she called back within five minutes with a list of potential properties for me,” says Valentine. Cristina Sheppard-Decius, executive director of the Ferndale Downtown Development Authority (DDA), the city’s Great American Main Street Award-winning program, says that the placement of Valentine Distillery in Ferndale grew out of great communication and cooperation between the DDA, the Ferndale Community Development Department (a branch of the city government), and Valentine himself.

Ferndale was incorporated as a city in 1927, and the factory building that Valentine chose for his distillery was built in 1928, so it truly is an original piece of the city’s history. The building’s last use before Valentine moved in was as a high-end, custom pool table manufacturer called “Wolverine Billiards.” Valentine emphasizes this legacy—from handcrafted billiard tables to handcrafted vodka—it’s all within the speakeasy, Detroit-made brand that he has created.

Valentine kept a strong preservation and reuse ethic throughout the entire construction process. “We used reclaimed materials for the renovations: bricks from buildings that have been knocked down in Detroit, old factory windows—and our bar is made out of wooden beams from Michigan barns.” This “keep it local” philosophy extends to Valentine’s supply-chain network; 99 percent of his bottles are Michigan-made, as are his boxes, bottle decorations, t-shirts, and, perhaps most importantly, the grains that are used in the vodka. He explains, “We can’t keep going the way we are- exporting knowledge and importing finished products. Especially in times like these we need to support our own. If one out of every 10 bottles of alcohol … sold in Michigan were actually made here, close to $100 million would stay in the state.”

At Valentine’s recent opening, he spoke about how the distillery’s proximity to Detroit has been an overwhelming positive. “He had such a wonderful story and message. He spoke about how Michigan will make a comeback with entrepreneurs like him,” says Sheppard-Decius, “People that think out of the box and have something new to offer—and we agree.”

Charlotte Cottier in an intern with the National Trust Main Street Center.

As seems to be the case elsewhere in the United States, Georgia lacks an exemplary track record of progressive thinking when it comes to siting new schools and making decisions regarding the treatment of older schools. Historic preservation advocates have expressed concerns for historic schools in Georgia for years, but although there have been isolated success stories, the overall picture is not pretty.

Oconee Street School, Athens, Georgia. This c. 1908 building was taken out of service as a school in 1975 and the neighborhood that surrounds it subsequently became transitory, dominated by housing occupied by University of Georgia students. The building currently houses a non-profit agency. (Photo: John Kissane)

When the National Trust for Historic Preservation included Neighborhood Historic Schools on the list of America’s 11 Most Endangered Historic Places, Alexander II Elementary in Macon, Georgia was chosen to represent all of the endangered schools in the southeast. Renovated in 2002-2003, the school now serves as an example for the region of how older buildings can remain in use and function effectively.

In 2003, the Preserving Georgia’s Historic Schools report from the Georgia State Historic Preservation Office determined that deferred maintenance was the primary threat to the state’s historic school buildings. Why is maintenance being deferred? Money, or lack thereof, is one answer – but that’s only partially correct. Also at play is the often incorrect assumption that new construction is more cost-effective than rehabilitation.

There’s also the fact that certain areas of our state have experienced phenomenal population growth and – until just recently – economic expansion while other parts of the state are struggling to survive. In both area situations, those working to preserve historic school buildings face uphill battles.

Georgia’s “Helping Johnny Walk to School” project began when GeorgiaBikes! (the statewide bike/ped nonprofit) and the Georgia Safe Routes to School State Network received one of the grants made available through the National Trust in its cooperative agreement with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. We established a Steering Committee which started looking at state policies and practices that impacted two things: retaining historic school buildings as schools and siting new schools in locations that allow them to function as community centers rather than isolated outposts.

Our project was fortunate to participate in a survey conducted last summer by David Salvesen of the Center for Sustainable Community Design at UNC-Chapel Hill and the National Trust for Historic Preservation. The survey was distributed to school superintendents, school board members, school facility planners and a variety of others, all of whom play some role in the school facility planning process. A total of 204 surveys were completed.

What did the preliminary findings reveal about school closings in Georgia? The number one survey response was that closings happen primarily due to the desire to construct new facilities. The second was that new construction is seen as a money-saving measure over rehabilitation. Ranking third was that reductions in enrollment have pushed school districts to close some of their schools.

We found the following expanded survey response of particular interest:

“While our systems are building new schools, we have turned most of our efforts into rehabilitating and renovating existing facilities with an eye toward greater sustainability. Limited new sites and the price of land have made it more practical to reinvest in existing facilities rather than build new.

However, our state funding program and state guidelines are more conducive to building new schools and are in need of revisions to reflect the need to reuse existing facilities where appropriate.”

This type of response suggests that rehabilitation possibilities are being considered and acted upon at the local level, but that state policies are discouraging such action.

David C. Barrow Elementary School, Athens, Georgia. Constructed in 1923, Barrow School is a much-loved neighborhood resource and began the first Safe Routes to School efforts in Athens several years ago. Athens is one Georgia city that has mostly succeeded in maintaining its older school buildings and keeping them in use as schools. (Photo: John Kissane)

As a result of the findings, our recommendations include suggestions that policies such as minimum acreage requirements and minimum school enrollments be eliminated. We also encourage local government participation in school site selection, as well as expanding opportunities for joint use of school facilities. These recommendations constitute the concluding section of a school siting white paper prepared through our project this spring.

To encourage discussion, the Steering Committee encouraged a symposium on the topic of school siting. The Atlanta Regional Commission is now spearheading the planning for a school siting symposium to be held in late September or October of this year.

Planning partners for the symposium include GeorgiaBikes!, the Georgia Conservancy, the Georgia Safe Routes to School Regional Network, Mothers & Others for Clean Air, the Civic League for Metro Atlanta, Dan Drake, a School Planner, and Laura Searcy, a Nurse Practitioner.

This one-day gathering will bring together decision makers, school and local government officials, state agencies, and advocacy groups to learn about factors currently influencing school siting decisions in Georgia. Together, we’ll discuss the ramifications of those decisions and ways to improve school siting practices through local, regional, and state level policies and actions.

Stay tuned…

John Kissane is a consultant to Georgia Bikes! and resident of Athens, Georgia. He cares deeply about the vitality of Georgia’s neighborhoods and believes well sited schools are a critical component.

The famous Slows Bar-B-Q in Detroit’s Corktown neighborhood. (Photo: Flickr user DigDowntownDetroit)

In preservation circles, it’s a story we’ve all heard a million times yet still hasn’t reached the mainstream: restoring existing buildings is one of the greenest ways to build. For all the press that green starchitect skyscrapers get (much of which is actually pretty cool … we need flashes of new every once in a while), historic preservation rarely gets a mention.

But review columns and trades magazines showcase a different reality than most Americans experience. Look around – it’s the older neighborhoods and buildings that are pricier – first choice for those with the most resources. The hot new speakeasies and galleries are typically in old buildings. Exposed brick is still king. When given the option, most people tend to choose a look and a lifestyle that mixes old and new. Trendy and retro go hand in hand. If green is the headline, then why isn’t preservation and adaptation the story?

Certainly it’s up to us to make that change. We know that preservation is sexy. We can preach (too often to the choir) that preservation is green. Here are a few stories that help flip that vision to a wider audience (and a few that just keep us jazzed about preservation in general).

Miller-McCune Magazine published a story titled “Old Buildings Combine Sustainability, Preservation” that gives a little more depth to common “preservation is greenest” cry.

Helping historic preservationists present their case are new studies that calculate what is lost — in measurable environmental terms — when we tear buildings down and replace them with new ones. Plenty of studies have demonstrated the merits of constructing new green buildings, but until recently, there’s been relatively little data available on the economic and environmental benefits of building reuse.

In New York, one preservation story is pretty much all about green, hip, good-looking, and relevant: The High Line Section 2 is Now Open. We’ve pushed High Line stories before, but if you aren’t familiar, it’s a new contemporary park and pathway built atop old elevated railroad tracks on the west side of Manhattan. And dang is it a preservation and adaptation win. The New York Times ran a story about how the opening has changed the neighborhood for the better, and the Inhabitat blog has some great photos of the park’s latest segment.

We’ve all seen photos of Detroit’s abandoned buildings and windswept neighborhoods, but it’s time the Motor City got some good press. The New York Post highlights the Corktown neighborhood in its article “The New Detroit Cool,” and shows off an old side of the city that’s lifting itself up.

Here, you can now see artists working to re-appropriate forgotten spaces as public art. You have urban farmers making productive use of vacant land, taking the idea of eating local to the extreme. You have the city’s most talked-about restaurant (an excellent barbecue joint), a record store, a Martiniquais (by way of Paris, Brazil and Brooklyn) making crepes, a cool little vintage boutique, two brothers selling freshly-made bagels out of their apartment, a sustainable food truck and, soon, a speakeasy-style cocktail lounge and a third-wave coffee bar.

(PS – if you haven’t seen these great videos featuring some of the cooler sides of Detroit, they’re definitely a must-see.)

Check out this great op-ed from Dallas – “Not J.R.’s Kind of Town” which tells the story of how one local found a way to restore the old Kessler Theater. With so many old and abandoned theaters across the United States, this is actually a really relevant story for how to give them new life. The key: bring in more uses than just performances.

Oh hey look! In preservationy-but-not-necessarily news, the Chicago Tribune is reporting that the “front porch is enjoying a renewed surge in popularity.”

“It changes the tempo and pace of your life,” said Gail Warner, a public relations consultant who bought a house with a front porch in a planned community in Fort Mill, S.C., in 2007. “We’re out there in the evening with our porch mayor (pet dog), having a glass of wine and talking to the neighbors. We all have front porches here, which means we all know each other. When a neighbor needs help, we galvanize.”

Before moving to Fort Mill, Warner and her husband lived in a porchless town house. “Nine years there, and I never knew my neighbors,” said Warner.

A front porch, you say? Couldn’t we all use one of those right about now? Commence mid-day dreaming.

Still don’t have your preservation news fix? Check out these other stories that caught our eye:

• Could a low appraisal kill your old house purchase?
• New Orleans school to become elderly apartments
• Batter Up: 19th Century Baseball Day

David Garber is a member of the Digital and New Media team at the National Trust for Historic Preservation. Sweet parks, good barbecue, and front porch sittin’ sounds really good to him right now. Fightin’ the urge.