WEBVTT - How Historic Districts Work 0:00:01.120 --> 0:00:03.400 Welcome to Stuff you Should Know, a production of My 0:00:03.600 --> 0:00:12.320 Heart Radios How Stuff Works. Hey, you're welcome to the podcast. 0:00:12.360 --> 0:00:16.960 I'm Josh Clark. There's Charles W. Chuck Bryant, there's Jerry 0:00:17.040 --> 0:00:20.040 over there, and that makes this stuff you should know. 0:00:22.120 --> 0:00:26.200 Say the clock tower, that's good? Like that, it's good. 0:00:26.360 --> 0:00:29.880 Just popped into my head. Oh for real. Yeah, I 0:00:29.920 --> 0:00:33.280 wasn't reading this article and doing this research thinking back 0:00:33.320 --> 0:00:36.000 to the future, back to the future. I'm surprised it 0:00:36.159 --> 0:00:38.680 just popped into my head. I actually hadn't thought about 0:00:38.680 --> 0:00:40.440 back to the future at all. But but that's a 0:00:40.479 --> 0:00:42.960 really that's very appropriate, Chuck. But that is not a 0:00:43.040 --> 0:00:47.040 historic district. That is just a landmark building. I think 0:00:47.520 --> 0:00:53.680 that could still it could still qualify for a registry 0:00:53.720 --> 0:00:57.120 on the National Register of Historic Places, it just wouldn't 0:00:57.120 --> 0:00:59.680 be a historic district, which is what we're talking about today. 0:01:00.320 --> 0:01:02.480 Maybe this should just be the end of the podcast, 0:01:02.520 --> 0:01:06.520 the end, Chuck. Have you ever gone into a neighborhood, 0:01:06.600 --> 0:01:08.640 just been walking around town, and all of a sudden 0:01:09.040 --> 0:01:12.720 you realize that you're in the most charming, adorable place 0:01:12.760 --> 0:01:15.920 you've ever been in your life. Well, then you've probably 0:01:15.959 --> 0:01:20.760 been in a historic district. Yeah, this is pretty cool. 0:01:21.360 --> 0:01:23.480 I feel like this. We haven't done one like this 0:01:23.560 --> 0:01:25.280 in a while. Do you like this? When I was 0:01:25.360 --> 0:01:29.480 fully expecting you to say like this so much? I 0:01:29.560 --> 0:01:34.360 love historic places, I know, but sometimes Yeah, I don't 0:01:34.360 --> 0:01:36.080 know why I thought that, but I'm glad that you 0:01:36.200 --> 0:01:38.640 I'm glad that it panned out. I actually selected it 0:01:38.640 --> 0:01:40.480 because I knew you were gonna hate it, so, you know, 0:01:40.560 --> 0:01:42.920 eggs on my face. This is I don't know, kind 0:01:42.920 --> 0:01:45.000 of harkened back to some of our episodes we used 0:01:45.040 --> 0:01:48.800 to do, like row houses and shotgun houses. Uh, yeah, 0:01:48.840 --> 0:01:54.040 that's that stuff. Yeah, yeah, shotgun houses. We did do 0:01:54.120 --> 0:01:57.840 a full episode on shotgun houses and their architectural importance. 0:01:57.880 --> 0:01:59.720 I thought that was a pretty good episode. I agreed. 0:02:00.080 --> 0:02:02.680 I think we released it as a select recently, too, 0:02:02.680 --> 0:02:05.240 didn't we m I don't think I did. But that 0:02:05.320 --> 0:02:07.120 might have been one of your picks. I don't think 0:02:07.160 --> 0:02:11.240 I did. Jerry ghost producer. We need to let Jerry 0:02:11.280 --> 0:02:13.960 select him some from time to time. Jerry didn't have 0:02:13.960 --> 0:02:16.680 time for that stuff. That's fine. She needs nothing else 0:02:16.720 --> 0:02:21.400 on her plate besides, so that's true, and overseeing the 0:02:21.480 --> 0:02:26.600 largest podcast program in the world, Yeah, it's pretty impressive years. 0:02:27.639 --> 0:02:30.919 Jerry said, thank you. Yes she does. She's aid, thank 0:02:30.960 --> 0:02:34.880 your holding me so super in her mouth. So, um, 0:02:35.000 --> 0:02:36.920 I think I've already kind of gotten the intro out 0:02:36.960 --> 0:02:38.400 of the way where I asked if you've been in 0:02:38.440 --> 0:02:40.400 a charming area and said, you've probably been in a 0:02:40.520 --> 0:02:44.000 historic district. Well, I mean there's a good chance that 0:02:44.080 --> 0:02:46.200 you have if you've been in the United States, because 0:02:46.200 --> 0:02:49.560 they're more than twenty of them. Yeah, that's a lot. 0:02:49.760 --> 0:02:52.560 I mean there's all over the place. And you might 0:02:52.560 --> 0:02:55.240 say like, okay, well that's great. Who this is an 0:02:55.280 --> 0:02:57.520 area that has been designated to have some sort of 0:02:57.840 --> 0:03:01.280 historic significance. Um, can I please go to sleep now? 0:03:01.360 --> 0:03:03.639 It will say no, no, please don't go to sleep yet, 0:03:03.680 --> 0:03:06.760 because there's a lot more to it. And in one 0:03:06.800 --> 0:03:09.000 of the more surprising twists you're ever going to have 0:03:09.120 --> 0:03:13.600 in your entire life, it's actually controversial historic districts can 0:03:13.639 --> 0:03:17.919 be Oh yeah, yeah, did you not read that one article? Yeah? 0:03:17.960 --> 0:03:20.919 I was just being coy. Okay, my stomach just bottomed out, 0:03:21.840 --> 0:03:27.200 didn't terror. So should we talk about Charleston, South Carolina? Yes, 0:03:27.400 --> 0:03:31.200 a place where I well I didn't go there. I 0:03:31.200 --> 0:03:34.320 went to the beach near there. Oh the Isle of 0:03:34.320 --> 0:03:36.960 Palms just a few weeks ago. Oh yeah, but we 0:03:36.960 --> 0:03:40.920 were within uh spitting distance of Charleston, South Carolina. Why 0:03:40.960 --> 0:03:43.600 would you spit on Charleston. I wouldn't. I love it. 0:03:43.640 --> 0:03:46.360 Bill Murray lives there, for God's sakes, Yeah he does. 0:03:46.400 --> 0:03:48.520 Apparently he's a man about town there, and I think 0:03:48.560 --> 0:03:52.080 his family lives there too. Yeah, that's why he lives here. Ohtah. 0:03:54.120 --> 0:03:58.160 So Uh they formed the very first historic district in 0:03:58.200 --> 0:04:02.560 the United States. Yeah, they established the Board of Architectural 0:04:02.600 --> 0:04:06.160 Review And this quote here is pretty great. Uh, this 0:04:06.200 --> 0:04:09.720 is the official quote from that Architectural Review Board. Can 0:04:09.720 --> 0:04:12.960 you please read it in the mid Atlantic accent? Mid Atlantic? 0:04:12.960 --> 0:04:15.840 Why that? Because that's the that's the one, the old 0:04:15.840 --> 0:04:19.240 timey one, okay that you're probably going to use. I 0:04:19.279 --> 0:04:22.840 was going to do an old Southern thing. Oh that's okay. Yeah, no, 0:04:22.920 --> 0:04:26.480 that's way more, way better. The preservation and protection of 0:04:26.600 --> 0:04:30.720 the old historic and architecturally worthy structures and quaint neighborhoods, 0:04:31.400 --> 0:04:34.360 which in pought distinct aspect of the city of Charleston. 0:04:34.800 --> 0:04:38.719 That is, that was beautiful. They actually have quaint neighborhoods 0:04:38.720 --> 0:04:44.000 in their charge. Yeah, right, so I mean, like, from 0:04:44.000 --> 0:04:49.719 what I've read too, Charleston like actually is legitimately interested 0:04:49.760 --> 0:04:53.280 in its architecture and preserving its architecture. Yeah, although, as 0:04:53.279 --> 0:04:55.640 we'll see later, there are some people that think Charleston 0:04:55.640 --> 0:04:58.520 didn't do it right. Oh is that right? Yeah, that's 0:04:58.520 --> 0:05:03.080 in the article as okay, so, or that they're overdoing it. 0:05:03.120 --> 0:05:05.720 That's how I took it. Yeah, sure, okay, cool cool. So, 0:05:05.800 --> 0:05:08.680 but Charleston was the first one to basically say, this 0:05:08.760 --> 0:05:13.960 is historically significant architecture. This is a historically a significant area, 0:05:14.279 --> 0:05:16.880 and we want to make sure that it stays that way. 0:05:17.240 --> 0:05:20.520 So we're going to add a layer of protection, legal 0:05:20.560 --> 0:05:24.159 protection over this area that the rest of the city 0:05:24.200 --> 0:05:28.520 doesn't have. And within five years the word had spread 0:05:28.520 --> 0:05:32.200 to New Orleans and they said, that's a pretty good idea. 0:05:32.480 --> 0:05:35.440 Chief We're going to do that for the French Quarter. 0:05:36.520 --> 0:05:39.800 It is my New Orleans accent. Oh is that it? Yeah? 0:05:41.480 --> 0:05:44.000 Uh yeah, and that you know, what they're basically saying 0:05:44.120 --> 0:05:46.400 is is that it can be either one. It can 0:05:46.440 --> 0:05:49.560 and it all depends on your local jurisdictions, which we'll 0:05:49.560 --> 0:05:54.400 get to. But historically or aesthetically, these buildings in this area, 0:05:54.880 --> 0:05:58.520 they're linked together, right, And so the Charleston thing basically 0:05:58.600 --> 0:06:01.000 provided the Charleston and then in New Orleans when basically 0:06:01.040 --> 0:06:04.120 provided the groundwork, which was this area is protected, and 0:06:04.160 --> 0:06:06.840 we're going to form a board who was charged with 0:06:06.920 --> 0:06:10.120 making sure that it stays this way as much as possible. 0:06:10.120 --> 0:06:13.000 We're gonna vest some legal authority into them. And these 0:06:13.040 --> 0:06:15.120 people are who you have to go through if you 0:06:15.160 --> 0:06:20.400 want to do anything significantly um uh, altering to the 0:06:20.480 --> 0:06:22.600 exterior of your place, if you live in this area 0:06:22.800 --> 0:06:25.680 or have a business there, right, or maybe not even significantly, 0:06:25.720 --> 0:06:29.680 depending on where you are. So kind of like you know, 0:06:29.800 --> 0:06:32.799 plotted along this idea. It was around for a couple 0:06:32.800 --> 0:06:36.599 of decades, and then this whole process of urban renewal 0:06:37.080 --> 0:06:40.279 that was kicked off after the highways started being built. 0:06:40.680 --> 0:06:44.760 Um in part because of the highways, because people were saying, wait, 0:06:44.760 --> 0:06:48.240 you're gonna you're gonna blow right through, you know, the 0:06:48.320 --> 0:06:52.000 Lower east Side in Chinatown with this highway in in Manhattan. 0:06:52.279 --> 0:06:54.800 We don't want you to do that. This is worth protecting, 0:06:54.800 --> 0:06:58.400 So build your highway elsewhere. And then also as the 0:06:58.480 --> 0:07:02.520 highways were built and traffic started being rerouted away from 0:07:02.560 --> 0:07:05.400 other towns, um these other towns that used to be 0:07:05.400 --> 0:07:08.480 thriving sorry to fall into disrepair. Some people are saying like, hey, 0:07:08.560 --> 0:07:10.640 let's knock down these old buildings and build new ones 0:07:10.640 --> 0:07:14.480 and maybe business will come back. Um it. It initiated 0:07:14.520 --> 0:07:17.200 this idea that no, no, we've got some historic stuff 0:07:17.200 --> 0:07:18.800 here and we need to protect it. And it really 0:07:18.840 --> 0:07:21.480 started to kick off in earnest in the in the fifties, 0:07:21.480 --> 0:07:25.440 and by nineteen fifty six the federales had gotten involved 0:07:25.720 --> 0:07:29.080 and through the National Park Service established the National Historic 0:07:29.360 --> 0:07:33.480 Preservation Act that said, you, MPs, you're in charge of 0:07:33.520 --> 0:07:37.440 designating what's his an historic site and what's not. That's right, 0:07:37.680 --> 0:07:41.240 and uh in nineteen sixty six they created the National 0:07:41.280 --> 0:07:44.560 Register of Historic Places run by the National Parks or 0:07:44.840 --> 0:07:48.560 not run. But I guess just sort of maintained. Sorry, yes, 0:07:48.640 --> 0:07:52.080 I said nineteen fifty six. I'm in nineteen sixty six. Okay, 0:07:52.120 --> 0:07:57.280 I got everything else right, Yeah, that's right. So, um 0:07:57.360 --> 0:07:59.720 here's the deal. You can be listed on the National Register. 0:08:00.480 --> 0:08:04.720 And that's really like that doesn't I mean it means something. 0:08:04.720 --> 0:08:06.240 I don't want to say. It doesn't mean a whole lot. 0:08:06.840 --> 0:08:10.080 But if you really want to protect something, you have 0:08:10.200 --> 0:08:13.120 to go with your local historic district. You have to 0:08:13.160 --> 0:08:17.960 create and protect it locally. That's a very big deal. 0:08:18.000 --> 0:08:21.200 But we're gonna go over both national and state, which 0:08:21.240 --> 0:08:23.480 is sort of like national and then local, which is 0:08:23.480 --> 0:08:27.320 pretty different it actually is, but it's really it's impressive 0:08:27.360 --> 0:08:29.520 that the local level is the one that has the 0:08:29.560 --> 0:08:32.280 real teeth as far as historic districts are concerned, as 0:08:32.280 --> 0:08:34.840 it should be so, but most people want to start 0:08:34.880 --> 0:08:38.160 out with the national district at the very least, because 0:08:38.160 --> 0:08:40.520 there's a certain amount of cache to it to having 0:08:40.960 --> 0:08:46.480 your place designated as a national historic um either structure, district, 0:08:46.600 --> 0:08:49.800 or area. But there's there's multiple things that can fall 0:08:50.000 --> 0:08:55.480 under or be um logged onto the Register of Historic Places. 0:08:55.800 --> 0:09:00.680 Apparently in other countries they have similar registers, but they'll 0:09:00.720 --> 0:09:06.920 include things like uh, events, um, people, just not necessarily 0:09:07.200 --> 0:09:10.000 things or objects. But in the United States there's a 0:09:10.080 --> 0:09:14.920 real emphasis on place and situation and buildings in particular. 0:09:15.400 --> 0:09:19.640 And so if you're on the National Register of Historic Places, 0:09:19.720 --> 0:09:22.960 you are two things. You're an object and you're inanimate, 0:09:23.400 --> 0:09:27.280 and you probably are in situated in a specific area. 0:09:27.440 --> 0:09:30.800 You're like where you are what you are is kind 0:09:30.800 --> 0:09:33.560 of tied to the area you're around. That's the real 0:09:33.640 --> 0:09:37.160 focus of the United States National Register of Historic Places. 0:09:37.360 --> 0:09:41.280 That's right. So there are five overall categories. Buildings, it's 0:09:41.280 --> 0:09:46.160 pretty obvious. Structures also kind of obvious, but that could 0:09:46.160 --> 0:09:47.800 be it says in here, that could even be an 0:09:47.800 --> 0:09:50.120 aircraft as a structure. Yeah. I saw that there's a 0:09:50.160 --> 0:09:54.640 grain elevator in the Fox, Illinois that's protected because it's 0:09:54.679 --> 0:09:58.360 an example of the transition between one story and two 0:09:58.400 --> 0:10:02.280 story grain elevators. Say, it is amazing, and I don't 0:10:02.280 --> 0:10:04.240 want to yuck anybody's ye. That's the thing about this, 0:10:04.600 --> 0:10:07.480 like to me, like if you can see, chuck, I'm 0:10:07.520 --> 0:10:08.960 bleeding a little bit out of the corner of my 0:10:09.000 --> 0:10:11.440 eye from being bored and even saying that sentence. But 0:10:12.120 --> 0:10:15.000 I'm sure there are people out there really appreciate the 0:10:15.120 --> 0:10:18.560 different architecture of grain elevators. And that's the point. It 0:10:18.640 --> 0:10:21.480 means that if it's on the National um Register of 0:10:21.480 --> 0:10:24.920 his Story Places, it is important to some group of people. 0:10:25.320 --> 0:10:27.320 And so don't yuck there, yum, even if you find 0:10:27.320 --> 0:10:30.240 it's boring, agreed, because they might find what you find 0:10:30.280 --> 0:10:33.600 interesting is boring. Number three, It can be an object. 0:10:34.600 --> 0:10:37.040 Number four, It can be a site. And this is 0:10:37.080 --> 0:10:40.319 a big one, uh in the United States because like 0:10:40.360 --> 0:10:44.960 Civil War battle fields, UM, stuff like that Applach and trail, Yeah, 0:10:45.120 --> 0:10:49.040 or MLK Historic site. Sure, it's like a bunch of 0:10:49.480 --> 0:10:51.720 well we'll tell you we'll talk about that later. Or 0:10:51.720 --> 0:10:54.679 it can be a district, which is basically some kind 0:10:54.720 --> 0:10:58.719 of combination of those first four UM or just let 0:10:58.720 --> 0:11:03.280 me group like you know, the street has has ten houses, 0:11:03.840 --> 0:11:06.280 ten ten beautiful Victorian houses are all built by the 0:11:06.320 --> 0:11:09.319 same architect and so this is, well, we're going to 0:11:09.400 --> 0:11:12.720 consider this a district. Right, So like maybe in each 0:11:12.760 --> 0:11:15.320 of those instances, if one of those houses was in 0:11:15.320 --> 0:11:19.600 a neighborhood, it might qualify for UM designation as a 0:11:19.720 --> 0:11:23.240 historic building. But if you put them together, because they're together, 0:11:23.920 --> 0:11:27.000 they form this district, which is you know, the some 0:11:27.240 --> 0:11:31.120 of these parts forms something larger and that connects them 0:11:31.200 --> 0:11:35.360 and UM there's a couple of qualifications that they have 0:11:35.480 --> 0:11:38.320 to meet to to be part or listed on the 0:11:38.400 --> 0:11:42.000 National Register UM. Almost without exception, they have to be 0:11:42.040 --> 0:11:46.439 fifty years old. I think the law is that, UM 0:11:46.480 --> 0:11:49.920 it has to be exceptionally important to be younger than 0:11:49.960 --> 0:11:52.559 fifty years old and still be designated on the Historic 0:11:52.600 --> 0:11:55.760 places register, that's right. Uh. The other thing it has 0:11:55.760 --> 0:11:59.160 to be as significant, which sounds kind of broad, but 0:11:59.559 --> 0:12:01.760 um and and I guess it kind of is, because 0:12:01.800 --> 0:12:05.640 significance is in the eye of the beholder. But that's 0:12:05.640 --> 0:12:07.720 why we have boards and things like that to determine 0:12:07.760 --> 0:12:10.280 whether or not they think it's significant to behold things 0:12:10.320 --> 0:12:13.600 for us. And then finally it's got to be evaluated 0:12:13.920 --> 0:12:18.800 that's significant and historic context, which kind of speaks for itself, 0:12:19.000 --> 0:12:22.720 like it did any great history happen there? Um? You know, 0:12:22.840 --> 0:12:26.120 was this Bob Dylan's house in Minnesota when he was 0:12:26.160 --> 0:12:28.600 a child. Although I don't know if that's on the list. 0:12:28.760 --> 0:12:31.840 I just threw that out there. It could be. I 0:12:31.840 --> 0:12:34.160 mean it could be that's that's a that's a home run. 0:12:34.520 --> 0:12:37.320 But say, like let's say you said, um, well this 0:12:37.320 --> 0:12:40.680 this building used to house soda shop, a soda shop 0:12:40.720 --> 0:12:44.760 that made pretty good chocolate malts. Um and so it's 0:12:44.840 --> 0:12:47.480 representative of that time. Well, if you were on the 0:12:47.520 --> 0:12:50.080 board looking at this application, you would look around and 0:12:50.080 --> 0:12:53.280 try to put it in context, like, yes, people liked 0:12:53.480 --> 0:12:56.760 chocolate malts at soda shops at one period in American history, 0:12:57.240 --> 0:12:59.800 But was this the place where chocolate malts were in 0:13:00.000 --> 0:13:03.120 wanted or is this the place where everyone widely agreed 0:13:03.200 --> 0:13:06.200 made the best chocolate malted It's like no, Like it 0:13:06.280 --> 0:13:11.359 has a history, but not necessarily significant history in context 0:13:11.480 --> 0:13:14.240 of the larger era that it's a part of, So 0:13:14.280 --> 0:13:17.400 it would probably get passed over. Yeah, like the four 0:13:17.960 --> 0:13:20.680 sort of historic context that you you have, it's not 0:13:20.760 --> 0:13:24.079 shoeing necessarily, but you have a good chance if if 0:13:24.120 --> 0:13:29.640 something important historically happened there, like this is the place 0:13:29.679 --> 0:13:32.720 where so and so was shot and killed or born 0:13:32.840 --> 0:13:37.400 perhaps who on a more up note, okay, uh, did 0:13:37.440 --> 0:13:40.959 someone live here that was significant? George Washington slept here? 0:13:41.120 --> 0:13:44.520 Sure or associated with them? Didn't have to live there necessarily? Um, 0:13:44.640 --> 0:13:48.200 is it related to a certain architectural period or method 0:13:48.200 --> 0:13:50.520 of construction? Like that's a that's a big one for 0:13:50.600 --> 0:13:54.840 the Park Service. Sure, like this is the um this 0:13:54.920 --> 0:13:58.240 is the last house to be used that used plaster 0:13:58.360 --> 0:14:01.240 and laugh for their walls. Or there's a there's a 0:14:01.280 --> 0:14:04.800 college in Florida called Florida Southern College that is like 0:14:04.840 --> 0:14:08.480 the entire campus was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. So 0:14:08.559 --> 0:14:11.199 that is clearly going to to be accepted on the 0:14:11.280 --> 0:14:16.920 National Register or Finally, Um, was there information at this 0:14:16.960 --> 0:14:20.880 place that is historically important? Yeah? Or might there be 0:14:20.880 --> 0:14:23.640 because they can afford protection to say, like an archaeological 0:14:23.720 --> 0:14:27.120 site that's a known archaeological site that they haven't really 0:14:27.200 --> 0:14:30.040 dug yet, Like, we'll find it right there, saying there's 0:14:30.040 --> 0:14:33.280 a pretty good potential that some information or history or 0:14:33.360 --> 0:14:36.560 historical significance will be yielded from investigation of the site, 0:14:36.560 --> 0:14:39.120 but we want to protect it now before developers come in. 0:14:39.680 --> 0:14:42.000 That's right. Here's the thing though, if you want to 0:14:42.040 --> 0:14:45.560 be a historic district, um, that doesn't like if you 0:14:45.640 --> 0:14:47.800 if you want to say, like these three square blocks 0:14:48.240 --> 0:14:51.440 or historic district, that doesn't mean that every single property 0:14:51.520 --> 0:14:56.080 in there is what's called a contributing property to that district. Yeah, 0:14:56.120 --> 0:14:59.120 they're non contributing properties are allowed. Sure, Like if you 0:14:59.160 --> 0:15:02.520 have the those fifteen Victorian houses on a block, and 0:15:02.520 --> 0:15:08.120 then there's the one, you know, m the one modern McMansion, right, 0:15:08.520 --> 0:15:10.960 that's non contributing. I think we can all agree. But 0:15:11.040 --> 0:15:15.080 it doesn't disqualify the rest of the area necessarily. It 0:15:15.240 --> 0:15:17.520 just it depends on um. From what I've seen, it's 0:15:17.640 --> 0:15:22.880 very much a subjective measure. How much that McMansion detracts 0:15:22.960 --> 0:15:27.840 from the field or the um authenticity of the rest 0:15:27.920 --> 0:15:31.320 of the site what they call um integrity. Yeah, that's 0:15:31.360 --> 0:15:33.600 really kind of interesting, I think, because all the stuff 0:15:33.680 --> 0:15:39.440 is subjective, but the integrity there is how that the 0:15:39.440 --> 0:15:43.880 physical characteristics of that property reflect, like on this day, 0:15:44.000 --> 0:15:47.040 reflect that significance historically, right, So like if you have 0:15:47.160 --> 0:15:50.560 that row of Victorian homes, but every single one of 0:15:50.600 --> 0:15:53.000 them was altered in the sixties or the seventies or 0:15:53.040 --> 0:15:55.960 the eighties, and the people inside made some really weird 0:15:56.000 --> 0:16:00.800 decisions and so altered the interior the exterior of these homes. 0:16:01.160 --> 0:16:05.200 That yes, they were all part of this Victorian era, 0:16:05.560 --> 0:16:08.840 and they were once pretty good examples of it. They 0:16:08.840 --> 0:16:11.960 aren't any longer. Even though it qualifies for all these 0:16:12.000 --> 0:16:15.360 other things, it would not be considered um a site 0:16:15.360 --> 0:16:19.040 with integrity, and it might get passed over unless everyone 0:16:19.080 --> 0:16:22.520 agreed to restore the houses back to that Victorian era. 0:16:22.760 --> 0:16:24.680 That's the saddest letter to get, I think, is I'm 0:16:24.680 --> 0:16:28.360 sorry you've been denied because your property has no integrity 0:16:28.520 --> 0:16:32.200 pretty pretty much, you know, and you, sir, do not either. 0:16:33.080 --> 0:16:35.320 That's how they finish every letter like that. Should we 0:16:35.360 --> 0:16:38.120 take a break and talk about how you might create 0:16:38.160 --> 0:16:41.320 a historic district. There is one other thing before we do, Chuck, 0:16:41.320 --> 0:16:43.160 I think it's a fine idea. I'm not shooting down 0:16:43.200 --> 0:16:46.160 your idea, but I do want to point out that 0:16:46.320 --> 0:16:52.160 um areas have to be unified, not necessarily physically, visually geographically, 0:16:52.400 --> 0:16:55.200 but somehow they have to be linked to be considered 0:16:55.240 --> 0:17:05.080 a district. All right, now you wanna take a break, yes, Okay, 0:17:06.280 --> 0:17:09.520 if you want to know, then you're in luck. Just 0:17:09.920 --> 0:17:20.639 listen to don't chuck susion. Alright, So if you're a 0:17:20.680 --> 0:17:25.000 person and you live, let's just take us for instance, 0:17:26.000 --> 0:17:27.600 Like let's say I wanted to get my house in 0:17:27.680 --> 0:17:31.800 my neighborhood and in Atlanta recognize as it or my 0:17:31.840 --> 0:17:36.760 block as a historic National Historic district. Okay uh. And 0:17:36.800 --> 0:17:39.360 the real reason I want to do this is because 0:17:39.600 --> 0:17:42.680 of the street near my house. They're going to expand, 0:17:43.480 --> 0:17:45.840 and it's a real bummer because they're gonna have to 0:17:45.840 --> 0:17:49.080 tear down, um a few of the houses that are 0:17:49.119 --> 0:17:52.400 really what I think are significant, and they might take 0:17:52.440 --> 0:17:55.359 possession of that little strip of land that you've been 0:17:56.000 --> 0:18:00.480 exercising squatting on. Yea. More importantly, they will take my 0:18:00.520 --> 0:18:03.760 little strip of land, right Okay, so what would you do, like, 0:18:03.840 --> 0:18:05.800 what what are you gonna do? And and um as 0:18:05.880 --> 0:18:09.879 step one check to protect your home well to place 0:18:09.920 --> 0:18:12.600 it on the National Register. I would start at the 0:18:12.600 --> 0:18:15.760 state uh, the state Historic Preservation Officer, and this is 0:18:15.800 --> 0:18:18.399 a person every state has one. You can go to 0:18:18.440 --> 0:18:22.080 the NPS website to find out who yours is and 0:18:22.119 --> 0:18:25.640 get in touch. And they're basically gonna help you out 0:18:25.840 --> 0:18:29.280 with I mean, you're gonna you're gonna plead your case, 0:18:29.320 --> 0:18:31.639 of course, but they're gonna help you fill out this 0:18:31.760 --> 0:18:36.320 form um explaining why. I mean, they may say listen, 0:18:36.359 --> 0:18:38.639 don't even bother, But what they're supposed to do is 0:18:38.680 --> 0:18:41.240 help assess whether or not it might be eligible and 0:18:41.280 --> 0:18:44.680 help you fill out all your national forms to send in. Right, 0:18:44.720 --> 0:18:46.600 they might say like how old your house? And if 0:18:46.640 --> 0:18:48.480 you're like, oh, it's Bill in the nineties, it's still 0:18:48.520 --> 0:18:51.080 pretty nice, they'll be like, don't don't bother, that's right. 0:18:51.440 --> 0:18:54.639 But um, you're since you have never done this before, 0:18:54.800 --> 0:18:56.959 your dinghis at it and they're there to help you 0:18:57.080 --> 0:18:59.280 figure this out and how to do it right. They're 0:18:59.280 --> 0:19:01.879 not the ones who were going to judge this. A 0:19:02.000 --> 0:19:06.600 board will and typically a state board um for a 0:19:06.680 --> 0:19:10.200 state historic preservation board. Their review board is made up 0:19:10.240 --> 0:19:16.400 of people who know what they're talking about, architects, historians, archaeologists, anthropologists, 0:19:16.400 --> 0:19:20.120 people who have been trained in this stuff, who can say, yeah, 0:19:20.119 --> 0:19:23.120 this actually isn't that great. There's a much better example 0:19:23.160 --> 0:19:26.040 of it, you know, a couple of blocks over. As 0:19:26.040 --> 0:19:27.280 a matter of fact, why don't we go to the 0:19:27.320 --> 0:19:29.760 other place and make that a historic district? And then 0:19:29.760 --> 0:19:35.919 you're like, no snobs, but um, the the officer that 0:19:36.000 --> 0:19:39.359 you are contacting, it's their job to help you get there, 0:19:39.400 --> 0:19:42.480 your application in, in state your case, and then get 0:19:42.520 --> 0:19:44.720 it in front of the review board, who will then 0:19:44.760 --> 0:19:47.760 take it from there and say this is a great idea, 0:19:47.960 --> 0:19:51.200 there's a terrible idea, or I don't care either way, 0:19:51.200 --> 0:19:54.240 and it's time for lunch. Approved, that's right. And this 0:19:54.320 --> 0:19:57.280 is again going for that national register. And one reason 0:19:57.320 --> 0:20:00.480 you might want to do this is because here's the thing. 0:20:00.640 --> 0:20:04.400 It's it's sort of a badge of honor um like 0:20:04.440 --> 0:20:07.440 we said before, and we'll we'll uh, we'll talk about 0:20:07.480 --> 0:20:10.200 again later about the local one. That's one you really want. 0:20:10.680 --> 0:20:13.040 But if you are on the National Register, it does 0:20:13.160 --> 0:20:18.160 provide you with some legal protections federally, So if that 0:20:18.280 --> 0:20:22.399 road is a is a federal highway project, then it 0:20:22.440 --> 0:20:25.560 could protect your house, or even better, even if it's 0:20:25.600 --> 0:20:28.560 a local or a state project, if it's getting any 0:20:28.600 --> 0:20:32.719 federal funding whatsoever. The same thing applies sure where they 0:20:32.760 --> 0:20:35.320 have to say what's going to be the impact on 0:20:35.359 --> 0:20:38.360 any historic district of this project, and if the impact 0:20:38.440 --> 0:20:41.600 is deemed too great, the project won't go forward. So 0:20:41.840 --> 0:20:45.479 there is there are some protections for it, but for 0:20:45.520 --> 0:20:47.920 the most part it's kind of symbolic, and there's a 0:20:47.920 --> 0:20:49.960 little bit of cache. And you know, you can put 0:20:50.000 --> 0:20:51.880 it on your zealo page that your house is part 0:20:51.920 --> 0:20:55.160 of a national historic district, right, but you can't. They 0:20:55.160 --> 0:20:56.919 can't say, I mean you can. You can live in 0:20:56.920 --> 0:20:59.919 a historic a national historic home, and you can let 0:21:00.000 --> 0:21:03.960 it fall into disrepair and like garbage. And they can't 0:21:03.960 --> 0:21:06.119 come in and say, whoa, whoa, whoa, you're you're on 0:21:06.160 --> 0:21:08.359 the national register. You can't let your house fall into 0:21:08.359 --> 0:21:11.719 disrepair like this, right, Yeah, clean yourself up. You got 0:21:11.800 --> 0:21:14.160 a stain on your shirt, get a shape, what's your problem. 0:21:14.800 --> 0:21:17.600 They don't say that that those are individual property rights 0:21:17.880 --> 0:21:20.720 and it's only up to local governments to infringe on 0:21:20.800 --> 0:21:24.119 individual property rights, not the state or federal government. So 0:21:24.119 --> 0:21:26.959 while the state or federal government will have laws restricting 0:21:27.000 --> 0:21:31.080 its own activities in regards to historic districts, like expanding 0:21:31.080 --> 0:21:34.359 a road or something like that. Yeah, if you get 0:21:34.400 --> 0:21:37.679 on the National Register of Historic Places, your whole neighborhood 0:21:37.840 --> 0:21:40.280 gets on there. Your neighbor can do whatever they want 0:21:40.359 --> 0:21:42.200 with their house. Still, So if that was your whole 0:21:42.200 --> 0:21:45.280 employ all along Chuck to really keep your neighbor from 0:21:45.280 --> 0:21:48.080 doing something like, say, I don't know, putting a second 0:21:48.080 --> 0:21:51.879 story on their house. Um, you're going to find that 0:21:51.960 --> 0:21:56.159 you have been frustrated. That's right. Um, you can go 0:21:56.240 --> 0:21:59.240 to the state, But the state is basically like federal 0:22:00.080 --> 0:22:01.920 Um as far as protections and stuff like that go. 0:22:02.640 --> 0:22:05.879 Where where the real teeth come in is with the 0:22:05.920 --> 0:22:10.320 local historic districts, and it is very different. They don't 0:22:10.359 --> 0:22:12.680 have to meet the same guidelines. A lot of times 0:22:12.880 --> 0:22:14.560 very similar, but they don't have to have the same 0:22:14.600 --> 0:22:19.840 exact guidelines as the national Historic districts do. So the 0:22:19.880 --> 0:22:22.840 first thing that you're gonna need, though, is there's got 0:22:22.840 --> 0:22:25.639 to be an ordinance, a local preservation ordinance, which is 0:22:25.680 --> 0:22:29.639 basically just, hey, here are the rules on how we 0:22:29.680 --> 0:22:32.600 do this around here. Here, here's how we're gonna identify 0:22:32.680 --> 0:22:35.280 these houses. And here's what it means if you have 0:22:35.359 --> 0:22:39.440 one right, so, and this isn't like this is like 0:22:39.720 --> 0:22:42.160 square one stuff like. This is what a city has 0:22:42.240 --> 0:22:46.040 to do before it ever creates its very first historic district. 0:22:46.400 --> 0:22:48.359 If your city has already done this, then you would 0:22:48.400 --> 0:22:51.399 just basically go through the same process that you would 0:22:51.400 --> 0:22:56.880 with the National Register in applying to get historic designation 0:22:56.960 --> 0:23:00.640 for your neighborhood in your city from your local unit pality. 0:23:00.680 --> 0:23:02.560 But if they've never done it before, they've got to 0:23:02.600 --> 0:23:05.840