Recently I've been considering switching my major (criminal justice) to architecture or urban planning but have decided against it. Now I've been looking up information on historic preservation and it seems really interesting. But do you think it would be easy to find a job? Has anyone else majored in this?

While I haven't majored in anything... I've gone on an aweful lot of college visits and I know people who are full time preservationalists. SCAD down in Georgia stressed the importance of the field and really showed how rewarding it was. I mean, its got to be! You take a shabby old building and turn it new again! Thats pretty sweet!

 

My sister's boyfriend's dad is a preservationalist and he is on the road a lot. He refurbishes cathedrals and state capitol buildings (this summer he is doing the Kentucky State Capitol  maybe?) I've talked to him about it before, because I am interested in it as well. He says its a great job, you are able to provide for your family, but, the time you spend with them is sometimes sacrificed for far away jobs.

 

I guess it depends on what your values are.

You will have a lot more opportunities if you get an architecture degree and focus on historic preservation.

 

If you are looking for a more technical / hands on education, I have met graduates of a Belmont Technical School that reccommend the program highly.

http://www.btc.edu/current_students/programs_list_detail.cfm?ID=5 

^Or a Planning Degree with a focus on Preservation.

My undergrad was Urban Affairs with a dual focus on Preservation and Planning.

If you're interested in historic preservation as a career, it helps to have a background in a related field.  Get an undergraduate degree in architecture, engineering, or planning, and then go for a Master's in historic preservation. 

 

Heck, for what it's worth, I consider myself a preservationist, as I tend to work on mostly rehab and renovation projects.  I don't have a degree in historic preservation, though--just a lousy BS in engineering, and a strong interest in preservation.

 

You can find a job if you're looking in the right places.  If you want to stay in Ohio after school, your prospects might be dimmer than if you were to move to an East Coast city.  Then again, I know someone who works for the West Virginia DOT, identifying historical properties that may be impacted by roadwork.  It all depends on what you want to do career-wise.

Good answer.

Thanks for all the info guys.  DaninDC, I actually live in metro Detroit.  Do you think it would be hard to find a job up here?

Actually, I think Detroit would be a bit tougher than Ohio.  The local economy in Detroit is less than stellar right now.  Detroit also doesn't exactly have a record of respect for its historical buildings, although there are more renovations taking place in recent years.

 

I disagree.  Detroit is a good testing ground for people with no experience whatsoever in historic preservation.  The city can be such a pushover in unloading condemned property that nobody really cares about. 

 

But lets first get something straight.  Zach, I'm wondering if the term historical preservation is a bit too formal.  I thought you simply wanted to renovate or fix up abandoned properties.  In the case of preservation, you'd be applying for grants and tax credits to finance your project, but I'm not sure if that's what you are going for.

 

So.....

 

As you know Zach, redevelopment in Detroit occurs in random spots throughout the city.  For example, a good place to purchase an abandoned house for under $1000 would be the far East side, which has essentially been wiped clean by the closure of factories, high crime, and lack of investment.  However, little do people realize that a developer plans on buildings thousands of new homes in the area.  If you get in there and secure the property ahead of time, you'll find yourself in the middle of a major redevelopment project, thus making your property worth something, whether you intend to sell it or rent. 

 

In the case of Detroit properties, you can only lose as much as you put into the renovation of the building.  But I see losing difficult, because there are a lot of people in the city looking for a new place to rent that is at least half decent, no matter what part of the city.

 

As an architecture major, I'll tell you it doesn't help a whole lot if you are renovating/restoring smaller properties.  On a larger scale yes, but I know you don't intend on fixing up some large apartment building.  Take some construction classes, and get a contractors license.  You also need to put in some years at a construction job.  I don't think Zach is going to need to go before a comission for fixing up some vacant corner store, rowhouse, or detached home.  In the case of Detroit, he will secure the property through the city, and his credentials will be as a licensed contractor.  Finish up your degree in Criminal Justice, while at the same time taking classes in construction offered by your university. 

 

I plan on doing the same thing as you, but I took the long and difficult road by getting my bachelors and masters in architecture, and I'm not sure how much they will be put to use for what I intend to do.

Even more than Detroit, and at the other end of Lake Erie industrial & urban decline, Buffalo is a historic city of great (but unheralded) architectural distinction largely unmarred by unsightly modernity and parking lots. It's a city that should have a future if we as a nation come to our senses and value a return to urban density. This from today's NY Times:

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/16/arts/design/16ouro.html?_r=1&ref=arts&oref=slogin

 

November 16, 2008

Architecture

Saving Buffalo’s Untold Beauty

By NICOLAI OUROUSSOFF

 

BUFFALO

 

ONE of the most cynical clichés in architecture is that poverty is good for preservation. The poor don’t bulldoze historic neighborhoods to make way for fancy new high-rises.

 

...

Even more than Detroit, and at the other end of Lake Erie industrial & urban decline, Buffalo is a historic city of great (but unheralded) architectural distinction largely unmarred by unsightly modernity and parking lots. It's a city that should have a future if we as a nation come to our senses and value a return to urban density. This from today's NY Times:

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/16/arts/design/16ouro.html?_r=1&ref=arts&oref=slogin

 

November 16, 2008

Architecture

Saving Buffalo’s Untold Beauty

By NICOLAI OUROUSSOFF

 

good article. everyone should read this.

The article seemed to be more about the collection of works by famous architects and not so much about the city as a whole (though it does mention the grain elevators).

 

 

^ True, but that lays the groundwork for a lot of other goals. and, of course, the stuff about Olmstead and the boulevards gets to the layout and design of the city.