Older, Smaller, Better?

Posted on May 16, 2014 By admin Real Estate

Now there’s something you don’t hear very often. Older, smaller, better, in this case refers to older, smaller business areas…like the Heights.

Older, Smaller, Better?

A recent study backs up what we’ve intuitively known forever. That funky old shops promote more people walking, gathering, visiting and enjoying the area.

After all, which is more fun, the shops on 19th St with its art events and food trucks, or going to the mall, or downtown? A quote form the study:

“Neighborhoods and commercial areas with a mix of older, smaller buildings make for more vibrant, walkable communities with more businesses, nightlife and cultural outlets than massive newer buildings, according the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s study.”

Young and old alike are drawn to small, local businesses.  These small businesses, have proportionately more jobs than would a mega-store.

See the original report on Older, Smaller, Better by the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

I’m always suspect of groups that come out with data supporting their own cause, but this one seems intuitively correct…that’s better than science, right? Anyway, the studies were done in major historic areas like San Francisco’s Mid-Market; Seattles’ Capital Hill, etc. They plan on studying smaller areas too.

“People want to be where there’s an interesting and exciting mix of the old and new,” he said. “Now we have all this data to back up what I think preservationists and planners have sort of known for decades.”

See a pdf of theOlderSmallerBetter_ExecSummary.