Balancing Act: Preserving Historic Fabric and Enhancing Economic Vitality in Towns in the Metropolitan Periphery

Towns on the periphery of metropolitan areas face threats from metropolitan growth and the rise of Internet retail. They may be able to play new roles in the regional economy, e.g. as locations for tele-commuting, small-scale manufacturing, artisanal work, or residential development, but such new functions may threaten their historic fabric. This paper describes challenges historic downtowns in the metropolitan periphery perceive and their efforts to address them, as revealed through a national survey. Some towns are receiving new economic activities, but only a small number of their surrounding regions appear to support both the economic vitality and historic physical fabric of these centres.