Planning the future doesn't mean carting the past off to the landfill.

        That's the message Richard Moe, president of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, tried to convey Friday to a gathering of politicians, preservationists and concerned citizens at The Phoenix restaurant downtown.

        Mr. Moe was the featured speaker at the Cincinnati Preservation Association's fifth annual fall forum.

        Mr. Moe, who co-wrote the book Changing Places: Rebuilding Community in the Age of Sprawl, focused on how communities can save their heritage by preserving historic buildings and landscapes and how revitalization, rehabilita tion and reinvestment in existing buildings can stem sprawl.

        “A community can fall victim to amnesia, can lose the memory of what it was, and thereby lose touch with what it is, what it meant to be,” Mr. Moe said. “We need old buildings and neighborhoods because we need our collective memory — and the danger of losing this memory is especially acute in the age of sprawl.”

        Greater Cincinnati is suffering from one of America's worst cases of sprawl, according to the Sierra Club. The Washington D.C.-based environmental group says Cincinnati ranks fourth among the 10 worst metropolitan areas for sprawl.

        The Sierra Club issued a report last month singling out two proposed mall projects in the Deerfield Township-Mason area in Warren County as examples of the most “irresponsible development” in the state.

        Mr. Moe, however, praised Cincinnati and Hamilton County leaders for having the vision to preserve historic buildings such as the Netherland Plaza, the Plum Street Temple and Union Terminal in the midst of such growth. He said leaders did so “at a time when many other communities were smashing their grand hotels, historic synagogues and railroad stations to rubble.”

        “We've cheered your ongoing efforts to revitalize historic neighborhoods such as Mount Auburn, Walnut Hills and Over-the-Rhine,” Mr. Moe said. “And we've watched you develop successful public-private partnerships that have not only saved individual landmarks, but also utilize preservation as an engine for bolstering the local economy.”

        Mr. Moe said cities should redouble their efforts to save old buildings for practical use as places to live and work.

        “We need to grow smarter, and you can't have smart growth without preserving and reinvesting in existing communities,” Mr. Moe said.

        As a means of stimulating and ensuring smart growth, The National Trust and its preservation partners are pushing for the enactment of the Historic Homeowner's Tax Credit.

        This legislation would extend federal tax credits to homeowners who rehabilitate their historic homes, giving residents of older neighborhoods incentives to stay and invest. It would also provide an incentive for others to move back into older neighborhoods and would offer cities the chance to put deteriorated properties back on the tax rolls, Mr. Moe said.

'I miss you and I love you, too, son'
Term limits add urgency to next legislative class
Wehrung trial stays in adult court
County to get funding sell job
RAMSEY: Great teachers
Sanity questioned in killing
UC plans degrees in biomedical engineering
Amelia school scene of bomb threat
Anderson Twp. joins peace effort
Baby helps ease dad's grief
Folks at Pioneer Days celebrate the old ways
Kings nears 'effective' ranking
McNUTT: Heart of game
Newport gas work still far from done
Rivals jab over cases lost to time
Save our history, preservationist urges
Seeing the art in life
Their own garden gives Ross students a hand on nature
Two new cases of E. coli infection confirmed
Week aims to cut sex assaults
Woman pleads guilty to reduced charge in theft from animal clinic
Bunning lets needle item go
Court reverses award to inmate
Harvests of corn, soybeans growing
Legislator, woman die in car crash
Pikeville politicians lead money race
Police team triumphs in shuffleboard game
Kentucky News Briefs
Tristate A.M. Report