Great article about success of the American College of the Building Arts. Great job John Paul!

Click here for full article.

Check out the Downtown Housing Market for the Fourth Quarter of 2008. Data collected by Ann Pope.

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Shrimp, Grits, and Careful Zoning

Charleston has long been considered the quintessential southern city, all shrimp-and-grits, refined manners, and linen suits. Decimated during the Civil War, when the city was considered the “cradle of secession,” Charleston slowly recovered. Most of its Georgian, Federal, Greek Revival, and Victorian houses and civic buildings have survived and still dominate the strikingly beautiful cityscape.

This, of course, is no accident: The Preservation Society of Charleston was founded in 1920, the first such activist group in the country. In 1931 it persuaded the city to pass a zoning ordinance that established the Board of Architectural Review and designated the city’s historic district (also a national first and since expanded). Then in the 1970s, Mayor Joseph Riley undertook an urban planning effort that further revitalized the city—while protecting its historic resources through such means as carefully controlling the design and scale of new buildings.

When tourists started making their way to Charleston, it was the rich array of historic architecture, charming oak-tree-lined-streets, imposing waterfront, regional folkways, and nearby Civil War landmarks (including the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s Drayton Hall) that made them want to return. “People retain a real sense of the past here, architecturally and historically,” says Vanessa Turner Maybank, the city’s director of tourism. “I think there’s also a comfortable side of Charleston that other cities don’t have.”

In 1984, in an effort to ensure that the booming tourism industry would not dominate or detract from local culture or living environment, Charleston enacted its first tourism management ordinance—and later, in 1994, a tourism management plan. These were meant both to protect residents’ quality of life and to offer travelers a pleasurable and informative stay. One outcome of this effort was construction of the Visitor Reception and Transportation Center, which orients tourists and coordinates their activities while reducing unnecessary traffic and pollution in neighborhoods. The city also created a tourism commission to implement the management ordinance through, for example, licensing tour guides and properly routing traffic.

Thus far, that effort has been a success: Survey panelists lauded Charleston as “a real open-air museum” and “a perfect blending of past and future.” Another panelist noted that “Charleston is a city of firsts, both for historic preservation and forward thinking on tourism. Its built heritage is second to none in the country and perhaps the world.” Indeed, Charleston’s progressive policies about preservation and tourism—and the bond between the two—have been well noted by rest of the country. Maybank says that “many people from other cities’ boards of architecture or preservation societies visit Charleston today because their communities have patterned themselves after Charleston. There are places all over this country that are using our zoning ordinances and tourism board as models.”

Walton, Krista. “The Secrets of Charleston, SC.” National Trust for Historic Preservation 1 November 2008: 1-3.

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How 109 historic places cope with tourism.

What happens when you match travelers with historic places? Once upon a time, it seemed, only happy endings. The travelers loved discovering well-preserved cities and towns. The destinations reaped financial rewards. Historic preservation was the ultimate winner.

In some locations, however, the situation soured as visitation soared. Popularity spawned crowding, pollution, sprawl, and overdevelopment-vexing residents and visitors alike. Historic sites began to look worse for wear, their authenticity sometimes blurred by the local temptation to “give’em what they want,” even if it wasn’t genuine.

So much for happy endings.

Still, mass tourism doesn’t have to make a mess. Some destinations, having tussled with everything from noisy tour buses to pushy bauble hawkers, have learned to manage crowds with aplomb-avoiding town-tourist conflicts and environmental degradation while keeping history real.

Do you wonder how the world’s top historical attractions are coping these days? Which ones do a good job of protecting their heritage and environment? Which have slipped? To answer these questions, the national Geographic Center for Sustainable Destinations conducted a survey that rated the stewardship skills of 109 places worldwide. Each is a city, town, neighborhood, or landscape of considerable historical value.

A panel of 280 experts-from fields such as preservation, tourism, ecology, site management, travel writing, cultural studies, and archaeology-assessed the destination. (The panel’s criteria were environmental quality, condition of historic buildings, cultural integrity, aesthetic appeal, quality of tourism management, and future outlook.) Each location was given a numerical score, best to worst. The results appear in the November/December 2008 issue of National Geographic Traveler, with additional panelist comments available online at nationalgeographic.com/traveler.

Of particular interest to U.S. preservationists are the survey’s American destinations. Preservation spoke to residents in five featured locales: Ashland, Ore.; Charleston, S.C.; Galena, Ill.; Lancaster County, Pa.; and Santa Fe, N.M.

See what these residents told us, and learn how the National Trust for Historic Preservation can help communities become better stewards of their local heritage, at PreservationNation.org/magazine.

Fleming, Kevin. “Does boom Mean Bust?” Preservation 1 November 2008: 12-13.

I recently received my EcoBroker certification. The EcoBroker program is an international education and certification program for Real Estate professionals who care about the environment and want to promote energy-efficient and “green” features in home and buildings.

National Surveys show that 80% of consumers consider themselves “green-minded”. I am always looking for the best ways to offer my clients the best value. It is imperative that we begin thinking about changing the ways we impact our environment. The EcoBroker designation does not make me an energy or environmental expert but it allows me to understand the issues and convey this understanding to my buyers and sellers.

Thursday night the Preservation Society of Charleston held their annual membership meeting ad reception at the The Rivera Conference Theatre in downtown Charleston. The 2007 Carolopolis Awards were presented recognizing outstanding achievement in exterior preservation, restoration, rehabilitation, and new construction in the City of Charleston.
New time you’re headed down Spring Street be sure to notice the rehabilitation work at number 162. A two story frame single style house built in the 1880’s, its was use changed to commercial in the 1950’s and for decades there was a barber shop on the first floor. This is a great example of an early property being altered to meet the changing needs of a neighborhood.
Read more about it on the Preservation Society website and in Robert Behre’s article in the Post and Courier.