Maintaining 'Hometown Character' in the 21st Century: A Conference Report

Last month, the Landmark Society of Western New York held its annual conference. This year’s theme (see our post title) focused on downtown revitalization as the key to creating and retaining the sense of place that people want. You need only to look at Celebration, Florida an actual city planned and built by Disney, to see what makes a community desirable. People want unique architecture, walkability, access to shops, restaurants, and public facilities. What Disney is finding out, however, is that people also want authenticity and that is something you only get in a city with some history (read about the future of Celebration after Disney, here).

The conference (which didn’t discuss Celebration, Florida at all) was aimed at bringing those desirable characteristics back to life in communities with history. From sessions titled “Funding for Downtown Conversion Projects in Historic Buildings,” to “Design and Code Issues in Upper Floor Conversions,” to “Using Zoning and Land Use Regulations to Create the Community You Want,” to “Introduction to Historic Preservation Planning,” the conference was tailor made for the issues currently facing Geneva.

The conference offered five “tracks,” each of which focused on a specific element of community character. One could stay in one track for the full day, thereby learning several strategies for addressing a particular issue, or one could jump between tracks between each session to get a general overview. There were nine Genevans registered for the conference, representing members of several city boards and commissions. From City Council, Augustine and Jason Hagerman attended*. They both attended Track A: Enhancing Main Street; Making Upper Floors Work Again.

As you might imagine, the implicit assumption of Track A was that successful downtowns require a ‘people presence’ 24 hours a day. The idea that downtowns can sustain themselves on a 9a-5pm schedule has been shown to be a recipe for disaster time and time again. So what are the conditions that need to be met in order to create that atmosphere? Turns out it’s a combination of walkability, sustainability, and desirability. People will come to live, work, play and shop in a place that is conducive to living, working, playing, and shopping. That means there must be the kind of housing people want: larger units with historic, urban elements like exposed brick walls, tin ceilings, original mouldings, and big windows. There should also be a mix of office and retail space, interspersed with (as opposed to segregated from) the housing. There must also be well-maintained and strategically located open spaces and other recreational opportunities. You might notice that parking isn’t listed here. This isn’t to say that parking isn’t important, but when you think about it, the benefit of a downtown is that everything is within walking distance. If parking is on the periphery, then people might wander from their intended destination into one of the other offerings. For instance, an appointment with an attorney might turn into lunch at a local restaurant and a little shopping to boot.

Track A also offered a detailed discussion of code issues related to historic structures. The presentation was given by one of the authors of the current building code. And there was a presentation about funding sources and strategies for upper floor conversion projects. All in all, the take away message of the day was “Where there's a will, there’s a way.” It was clear from the discussions that Geneva has all of the ingredients to be a viable downtown community. The question is, do the property owners and the City have the will to work together to make Geneva even better than Celebration?



*Augustine and Hagerman attended as city councilors, but their registration fees were their own out-of-pocket expense, not paid by the city.