Center for Governmental Responsibility, University of Florida Levin College of Law • Department of Urban and Regional Planning,
UF College of Design, Construction and Planning • Center for Tourism Research and Development, UF College of Health and Human Performance
Department of Museum Studies, UF College of Fine Arts • Florida Trust for Historic Preservation
E X E C U T I V E S U M M A R Y
Contributions of Historic Preservation
T O T H E Q U A L I T Y O F L I F E I N F L O R I D A
In the preamble to the National Historic Preservation Act, Congress found that the preservation of America’s heritage
“. . .is in the public interest so that its vital legacy of cultural, educational, aesthetic, inspirational, economic and
energy benefits will be maintained and enriched for future generations of Americans.” In other words, in 1966,
Congress was convinced that the American public’s “quality of life” would improve as an indigenous part of the preser-
vation of its historic towns and neighborhoods. Four decades later, National Trust for Historic Preservation President
Richard Moe opened the annual conference with remarks that re-confirmed that organization’s concern for “quality of
life” and how preservation, if properly integrated, can better our communities.
Recently, Donovan Rypkema, one of the nation’s foremost preservation planners, made the observation about newly
revitalized historic areas that not long ago were nearly dead: “I do not know of a single sustained success story in
downtown revitalization anywhere in the US where restoration (preservation) was not a key component of the effort.
That doesn’t mean it isn’t theoretically possible to have downtown revitalization but no restoration, but I don’t know
about it, I haven’t read about it, I haven’t seen it.”
Indeed, the well-being and potential for the recycling of older communities is an increasing concern in states such as
Florida in all aspects of urban and regional planning. For some time, preservationists have suspected that there is a
real connect