Preserving the future: Historic districts in New York City and Chicago in the late 20th century

The creation of historic districts in New York City and Chicago during the last half of the 20th century illustrates how the community planning movement has intersected with the historic preservation movement and changed the practice of both urban planning and historic preservation. Historic districts are distinct from other types of historic preservation in scale, motivation, and conception and history. Historic district activists were the progenitors of a new postwar community planning movement that challenged the idea of the urban expert.; Communities like Greenwich Village in New York City and Old Town in Chicago developed a community narrative centered on artistic practice and pioneered alternatives to postwar urban renewal, yet their architectural "integrity" challenged traditional notions of historic preservation. Other neighborhoods "lost" the urban renewal battle and were devastated by mid-20th century inner-city decline, disinvestment and demolition. Neighborhoods like North Kenwood-Oakland in Chicago and Harlem in New York used historic districts in the late 20 th century as a community revitalization strategy.; Historic districts confound traditional architectural preservationists, urban historians and even planners in their discretionary application of local motivations in the disposition of the built environment. Historic preservation literature has portrayed the creation of historic districts as a kind of triumph for the historic preservation movement, while planning literature has ignored this expression of community desire for control of the built environment. Historic districts host a more ambiguous and nuanced set of motivations, ranging from a sort of democracy of the built environment to a desire to control new development and exclude new residents. The historic district as a proactive planning tool is a legacy of the influx of community planning into the historic preservation movement.