Tear it down and rebuild something else? Or repair what is already there? These seem to be the two major choices confronting urban planning.
As a historian, I prefer keeping what already exists, because it contributes to a chronological diversity, an array of buildings of diverse ages. Buildings constructed in different time periods reflect the architecture of those periods. The end result is much more interesting than a large swath of buildings all the same age.
But then, I am fascinated by diversity no matter where it is, whether in urban, suburban, or rural settings. Most people are not. In fact, they are hostile to the notion of mixing the old with the new. Some folks are slaves to fashion. They remodel just to update, as if being behind the times was a grievous sin.
Those of us who appreciate the old-fashioned are not against the newfangled. We love the diversity so we want to mix them into an eclectic hodgepodge. In this sense, everything goes together with everything else. Seeing a building two centuries old next to one recently built glorifies history.
In the photo is just such an example. Buildings from three different centuries are visible. The photo was shot from the right angle turn in East Park Place in the City of Norwich. On the left is the C&U (Chenango & Unadilla Telephone Company) (now Frontier) building, constructed in 1965. Behind it to its right is a creamy white-faced red building, erected some time between 1863 and 1872. In the background is the green metallic roof of the Norwich YMCA, built in 2002.
Few other vistas in Norwich, or in the county, capture three centuries. The limiting restriction is being built in 2000 or later, or 1799 or earlier. I encourage readers to seek them out. Hint: find a new building; stand near it, and look around. There is one possibility for four centuries, but I am not convinced of its alleged 1797 date and, while there is a transect that connects them all, I could find no clear line of sight.
Easier to find are viewscapes with half-century diversity. Almost anywhere you look in Norwich are buildings from 1900-1949 and 1950-1999. Throw in 1850-1899 and you get three half-centuries, another easy find. Go by decades and it is necessary to have a good comprehension of the history of architectural styles. It is easy to distinguish between a building from the 1920s and one from the 1950s, but not between one from the 1910s and the 1920s.
Notice that the condition of the building does not play any role in the assay of chronology. Age is the key factor, because buildings do deteriorate and must be repaired or else they become uninhabitable and unsafe. Consequently, most of our buildings are within a range of approximately a century. This range travels with time so it will probably remain that way into the future.
People are the same way. Almost everyone we know is in the range of zero to a hundred years old, just the way it has been for millennia. Now, which is more interesting? A group of people all about the same age? Or a group of people of different ages? Which is more vibrant? Which is more natural? Stand in the middle of a large gathering and look in any direction. When you see youngsters and oldsters and every stage in between, you see chronological diversity at its finest. We should expect to see the same vast range of chronological diversity in our urban buildings.