Note: Tom Mayes' popular Why Do Old Places Matter? series is now available as a book Why Old Places Matter. Order the book today.

In this webinar, sponsored by the Smart Growth Network, three international historic preservation experts—Tom Mayes, deputy general counsel for the National Trust for Historic Preservation, Donovan Rypkema, principal of PlaceEconomics and president of Heritage Strategies International, and Mike Powe, senior research manager, Preservation Green Lab, Natioanl Trust—examine the fundamental and pragmatic reasons that old places are good for people. They discuss how old places give people a sense of continuity and identity, fill their lives with beauty, creativity, lifelong learning, and foster community, and in turn, how these seemingly intangible elements make a powerful contribution to smart growth’s goals of community revitalization, sustainability and economic development.

This webinar was inspired in part by the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s series of essays and the Spring 2015 issue of Forum Journal exploring the role that historic places play in everyday life. Short on time? View this presentation which illustrates and highlights key points from the series.

Below are the audio files of the three presentations.