On the heels of the deadline for comment on the draft master plan , PRC submitted comments on the draft. Luckily, the comment period ended the day after Donovan Rypkema’s keynote address at our Heritage Club luncheon, and we were able to incorporate Donovan’s wisdom into our comments. We sent these comments to David Dixon of Goody Clancy and are eager for his reply, which we suspect will be supportive. We’d love your feedback, so please comment on this thread!

Dear David,

Thank you for this opportunity to comment on the draft master plan . We commend your work and the work of the master plan team under incredible time constraints and we appreciate your efforts to incorporate citizen input into the plan. Furthermore, we appreciate the weight given to the importance of neighborhoods, localized economics and historic preservation in the plan, but we feel that the connections throughout the plan could be stronger.   While the economic development element of the plan touches on the role that preservation plays in the economy of New Orleans, it fails to incorporate preservation in the goals for economic development. We offer the following broad suggestions for incorporating historic preservation into the element:   1. Identify historic preservation and main streets as an industry working groups; 2. Recommend that a heritage tourism plan be developed for New Orleans; and, 3. Specify that preservation representation be included in the tourism and cultural economy working groups.

Identify historic preservation and main streets as an industry working groups

Here in Louisiana a million dollars spent in the rehabilitation of an historic building adds 28.4 jobs to the local economy. That is 10 more jobs than is created by a million dollars of new construction in Louisiana and 11 more jobs than a million dollars of manufacturing output in Louisiana.

Here in Louisiana a million dollars spent in the rehabilitation of an historic building ultimately adds $846,000 in household income to the state’s economy. That is $248,000 more in household income than is created by a million dollars of new construction in Louisiana and $298,000 more in household income than a million dollars of manufacturing output in Louisiana.

This greater degree of economic impact is a result of labor intensity. As a rule of thumb, new construction is half materials and half labor. Rehabilitation will be sixty to seventy percent labor with the balance being materials. This labor intensity affects a local economy on two levels. First, we buy an HVAC system from Michigan and lumber from Georgia, but we buy the services of the plumber, the electrician, and the carpenter from across the street. Further, once we install the sink, the sink doesn’t spend any more money. But the plumber gets a hair cut, buys groceries, joins the YMCA – each recirculating that paycheck within the community. That is what makes a sustainable local economy.

But those aren’t just jobs. They are good, well-paying jobs, particularly for those without formal advanced education, and many of those jobs are housed on our urban main streets. Last month, Stay Local released a study demonstrating that here in New Orleans, twice as much of every dollar spent in a locally owned business stays in the community than a dollar spent at a national chain store.

A sustainable local economy should have local economic benefits that are widespread and measurable and historic preservation and the Main Street program provides both.

Recommend that a heritage tourism plan be developed for New Orleans and specify that preservation representation be included in the tourism and cultural economy working groups

The Department of Commerce surveyed international travelers arriving by plane and distinguished between cultural travelers and other tourists.

Approximately a third of all visitors were cultural visitors, 73% of whom visited historic places But what differences did they find between cultural visitors and other tourists?

• Cultural tourists spent an average of  21.3 nights in the US as compared with 13 for others
• 44% of Cultural tourists visited two or more states as compared with 23% of others
• The per visitor expenditure for cultural tourist was $1,660, $220 more than other visitors
• 470,000 more visitors to the US visited an historic place than an amusement park
• 785,000 more visitors to the US visited an historic place than spent time on the beach
• For every visitor that stopped in a casino, 3 visited a historic place
• For every visitor that played golf, 4 visited an historic place

Wherever in the world heritage tourism has been evaluated these characteristics emerge: heritage visitors stay longer, visit more places, and spend more per day than other tourists. As a consequence the per trip economic impact is decidedly greater. Cultural visitors certainly visit New Orleans to listen to Jazz, eat Creole food, and experience our unique culture housed in our historic buildings.

Attached please find Donovan Rypkema’s notes for his keynote address at PRC’s Heritage Club luncheon. While we have incorporated some of his comments and statistics above, his presentation goes into much more detail regarding the role of historic preservation in economic development. We will post a link to the video of his presentation by the end of the week on our blog, www.blog.prcno.org .

On a technical note, the list of tax incentives listed in the economic development element of the plan does not include the tax credits listed in the historic preservation element. The federal rehabilitation tax credit and the Louisiana state historic preservation tax credit should be included in the table.

Please note that PRC has been working with Jack Stewart on evaluating and drafting recommendations for the transportation element of the plan. We are pleased that the suggestions he submitted are being considered and incorporated in the plan.

Finally, PRC shares the Bureau of Governmental Research’s concerns with the proposed Community Participation Program. We fear that the proposed program risks diminishing, rather than enhancing, the neighborhood-level participation in planning and land use decisions. The proposal adds a level of bureaucracy between the neighborhoods and the City Planning Commission and we feel that the concerns of neighborhoods will be lost in the process. BGR’s report can be found on their website: www.bgr.org .

Thank you for your time and consideration of our recommendations.

Sincerely,

Michelle Kimball
Senior Advocate
Preservation Resource Center of New Orleans

Keep up with PRC’s Advocacy Department by visiting: www.blog.prcno.org

923 Tchoupitoulas St. . New Orleans, LA 70130
mkimball@prcno.org . (504) 636-3049 (office) . (504) 636-3073 (fax)