HISTORIC PRESERVATION AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT IN AN AMERICAN COLLEGE TOWN

Athens, Georgia is the quintessential American college town, home to the first state-chartered university in the United States. While its cultural heritage has suffered from development, particularly in the latter half of the twentieth century, it has retained much of its character by employing available public and private historic preservation tools. This paper explores how some of those tools have been utilized by government, nonprofit organizations and private individuals and enterprises, including survey, planning, listing, economic incentives, and protection through government regulation, private law devices, and public education. The role of nonprofit organizations, the University of Georgia, and local government are highlighted. Maintaining community character as the community continues to develop and grow will be an ongoing challenge, but current tools, along with new approaches, can be applied to achieve that end.

Keywords:

United States, historic preservation, survey, listing, incentives regulation,

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