John L. Gann Jr., president of Chicago area-based Gann Associates, consults, trains and writes on marketing places for economic growth. He formerly was with Extension at Cornell's College of Human Ecology in Ithaca. Gann has just written the manual "Successful Smaller Downtowns & Business Districts.'' By John L. Gann Jr. Historic preservation has been the foundation for programs in cities and towns across New York state ostensibly aimed at revitalizing downtown business areas. Historic preservation of one kind, that is: preservation of buildings, specifically of their appearance. But some 50 years of experience have shown that downtowns have chosen the wrong kind of preservation. It is not...
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