Teardowns and McMansions Resource Guide
Tight Fit
Shoehorning massive new homes into historic neighborhoods is
a difficult fit.
This resource guide is a one-stop-shop for information on teardowns and the tools that are available for use to best manage this trend. Residents in communities experiencing teardowns want to know what they can do and how to do it. The guide shows how various communities have worked to put in place and adopt tools to manage teardowns and retain the character of historic neighborhoods. Communities from across the country are featured and illustrate the process used, including challenges and innovative approaches. Contact information is provided so you can talk directly with local decision makers and experts.
The guide will continue to expand, offering more resources on community visioning and organizing, interim and emergency measures, overlays and districts, real-estate and market-based approaches, and zoning and development standards.
- Advocacy for Alternatives to Teardowns (pdf)
Step-by-step guide and advice for advocating for alternatives, mounting a successful campaign and strategies for managing teardowns. - Teardowns by State and Community (pdf)
Latest National Trust count of teardowns, broken out by state and communities. - What's Wrong with Teardowns: A Visual Analysis (pdf)
Graphic illustrations to help make the case for how teardowns are impacting older neighborhoods. - Teardowns Glossary (pdf)
Terminology of the growing teardown trend. - Teardowns in the News (pdf)
Up-to-date summary of national database featuring articles on teardowns, searchable by date/year. - Share Your Teardowns Experience (pdf) – Tell us how teardowns are impacting your community.
Other Resources
- Protecting America’s Historic Neighborhoods: Taming the Teardown Trend
Discusses the impact of teardowns--the practice of demolishing an existing house to make way for a much larger structure--on historic places and suggests tools for curbing this disturbing trend. Published by the National Trust for Historic Preservation. - Protecting America's Historic Neighborhoods: Taming the Teardown Trend (pdf)
Summarizes the full report. Reprinted from the July/August 2002 Forum News. Published by the National Trust for Historic Preservation. - Too Big, Boring, or Ugly: Planning and Design Tools to Combat Monotony, the too-big House, and Teardowns
Offers planning and design tools to tame the too-big house, shake free of monotonous development, and negotiate the political minefield of teardowns. Published by the American Planning Association. - Protecting Potential Landmarks Through Demolition Review (pdf)
Explores the use of demolition review, different types, multiple approaches and examples of ordinances. Published by the National Trust for Historic Preservation. - Teardown Trend Altering Historic Neighborhoods (pdf)
Transcript of interview with Richard Moe on National Public Radio Morning Edition, September 26, 2006
