HP Final Exam: Comprehensive Study Guide and Review
first local historic district is in - correct answer ✔✔Charleston in 1931
Regulatory powers given to the administering agencies of the historic districts were... - correct answer
✔✔limited (value of historic districts were acknowledged, but not legally enforceable)
aesthetics plus - correct answer ✔✔idea that there must be a reason beyond aesthetics (historic
character) to justify regulatory control (but berman vs. parker 1954 does away with this rule)
*5 overarching reasons for establishment of historic districts* - correct answer ✔✔-Protection of historic
properties
-Control new development (protect against the threat of inappropriate development)
-Redevelopment incentive (encouragement through protection of property values and tax
credits/incentives)
-Stabilize or increase property values
-Foster public relations and promotion (improve the image of the community at large)
benefits of historic districts - correct answer ✔✔-Local districts protect the investments of owners and
residents of historic properties (historic district designation encourages people to buy and rehabilitate
properties because they know their investment is protected over time
-Properties within local historic districts appreciate at rates greater than the local market overall as well
as faster than similar, non-designated neighborhoods
-Local districts encourage better quality design (better design = greater sense of cohesiveness
-Local districts help the environment (encourage communities to retain and use their existing resources
in established neighborhoods → reduces need for cars, cuts back on pollution and congestion, eliminates
landfill waste)
-Local districts are energy efficient (natural light, cross-ventilation, climate-appropriate materials)
-Historic districts are a vehicle for education (tangible link to the past and a way to bring meaning to
history and people's lives)
-Historic districts can positively impact the local economy through tourism
-Protecting local historic districts can enhance business recruitment and potential
, -Local districts provide social and psychological benefits
-Local districts give communities a voice in their future
historic district commissions - correct answer ✔✔-HDC's are established with regulatory powers after a
city/county/town has been enabled through state regulation
-State historic preservation act = encourages historic district ordinances and commissions
--Purpose:
-Safeguard the heritage of the local unit by preserving one or more historic districts that deflect
elements of the unity's history, architecture, archaeology, engineering or culture
-Stabilize and improve property values in each district and surrounding areas
-Foster civic beauty
-Strengthen the local community
-Promote the use of historic districts for the education, pleasure and welfare of the citizens of the local
unit and the state
historic district boundaries - correct answer ✔✔-Grouping of historic structures unified by spatial and
architectural characteristics
-Group of structures as a whole have more significance that the structures have individually
-At least one unifying element or theme
-Concentrated assemblage of historic structures representing an architectural period or style or
important era in the community's history
-Sometimes non contiguous sites or structures bound by a common theme
-May be defined by natural features and edges
-May be based on the early settlement patterns
-Refer to early maps and historic descriptions, city atlases, plat maps
-Local planning groups and citizens should be consulted when planning boundaries
-Sometimes the boundaries themselves become de facto districts on their own = buffer transition areas
that are important
-In some states the SHPO must approve the historic district boundaries
historic district ordinances - correct answer ✔✔-Must withstand legal challenge
first local historic district is in - correct answer ✔✔Charleston in 1931
Regulatory powers given to the administering agencies of the historic districts were... - correct answer
✔✔limited (value of historic districts were acknowledged, but not legally enforceable)
aesthetics plus - correct answer ✔✔idea that there must be a reason beyond aesthetics (historic
character) to justify regulatory control (but berman vs. parker 1954 does away with this rule)
*5 overarching reasons for establishment of historic districts* - correct answer ✔✔-Protection of historic
properties
-Control new development (protect against the threat of inappropriate development)
-Redevelopment incentive (encouragement through protection of property values and tax
credits/incentives)
-Stabilize or increase property values
-Foster public relations and promotion (improve the image of the community at large)
benefits of historic districts - correct answer ✔✔-Local districts protect the investments of owners and
residents of historic properties (historic district designation encourages people to buy and rehabilitate
properties because they know their investment is protected over time
-Properties within local historic districts appreciate at rates greater than the local market overall as well
as faster than similar, non-designated neighborhoods
-Local districts encourage better quality design (better design = greater sense of cohesiveness
-Local districts help the environment (encourage communities to retain and use their existing resources
in established neighborhoods → reduces need for cars, cuts back on pollution and congestion, eliminates
landfill waste)
-Local districts are energy efficient (natural light, cross-ventilation, climate-appropriate materials)
-Historic districts are a vehicle for education (tangible link to the past and a way to bring meaning to
history and people's lives)
-Historic districts can positively impact the local economy through tourism
-Protecting local historic districts can enhance business recruitment and potential
, -Local districts provide social and psychological benefits
-Local districts give communities a voice in their future
historic district commissions - correct answer ✔✔-HDC's are established with regulatory powers after a
city/county/town has been enabled through state regulation
-State historic preservation act = encourages historic district ordinances and commissions
--Purpose:
-Safeguard the heritage of the local unit by preserving one or more historic districts that deflect
elements of the unity's history, architecture, archaeology, engineering or culture
-Stabilize and improve property values in each district and surrounding areas
-Foster civic beauty
-Strengthen the local community
-Promote the use of historic districts for the education, pleasure and welfare of the citizens of the local
unit and the state
historic district boundaries - correct answer ✔✔-Grouping of historic structures unified by spatial and
architectural characteristics
-Group of structures as a whole have more significance that the structures have individually
-At least one unifying element or theme
-Concentrated assemblage of historic structures representing an architectural period or style or
important era in the community's history
-Sometimes non contiguous sites or structures bound by a common theme
-May be defined by natural features and edges
-May be based on the early settlement patterns
-Refer to early maps and historic descriptions, city atlases, plat maps
-Local planning groups and citizens should be consulted when planning boundaries
-Sometimes the boundaries themselves become de facto districts on their own = buffer transition areas
that are important
-In some states the SHPO must approve the historic district boundaries
historic district ordinances - correct answer ✔✔-Must withstand legal challenge
