New Vitality from Old Buildings

New Vitality from Old Buildings: How Preservation and Building Reuse Can Support Healthy, Equitable, and Resilient Communities with Dr. Michael Powe, Research & Policy Lab Director of Research.

For ten years, the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s Research & Policy Lab has developed a portfolio of innovative research that demonstrates the value of older, smaller buildings and advocates for the inclusion of preservation and building reuse in cities’ community and economic development practice and sustainability and resilience planning. In this talk, the Lab’s Director of Research, Dr. Michael Powe, will give an overview of the Lab’s work-to-date, noting the ways that preservation can support resilient local economies; distinctive, walkable neighborhoods; and inclusive communities. Mike will also offer a preview of the Lab’s current work on the links between preservation, affordability, and displacement, and he will note the ways the Lab’s research and data analysis on more than 50 U.S. cities offers important insights for Bend and Deschutes County.