THE MORNING RANT: Hampton Prescott Returns to Discuss the Importance of Architecture for Urban Renewal

In a post a couple of months ago I invited Hampton Prescott to contribute his thoughts about a subject that is important to me – “municipal conservatism.” Like me, Mr. Prescott understands the importance of conservatives working to not only gather votes in urban areas, but also working to make urban areas inhabitable again. Rudy Giuliani proved it can be done. Doing so will also have spillover benefits, including the construction of more housing, thus reducing overall housing costs by increasing supply.

As frustrating as the decline of urban areas is, we cannot simply wish their problems away, or completely walk away from them. They exist, even in red states. I appreciate conservatives who want to address the problem.

I am traveling right now, so I invited Mr. Prescott to provide a follow-up piece, this time focusing on the importance of architecture in the livability of cities. He kindly obliged. Read the whole thing, but here is a quote that captures the importance of the topic: ”Classical architecture isn’t nostalgia—it’s proven urban technology refined over the centuries. It restores dignity and desirability while delivering economic, social, and cultural returns.”

In an age of sterile glass boxes, “Tetris Chic” monstrosities, and sprawling suburban monotony, many cities feel like they’ve lost their soul. New construction often worsens the problem: out-of-scale, soulless structures that prioritize short-term cost-cutting over enduring appeal.

As I’ve noted before, the poor quality of contemporary architecture is an underrated driver of why urban spaces feel downtrodden. Lately, there’s growing lament in the discourse about the sterile, lifeless designs of restaurants, hotels, theme parks, and streetscapes. People crave vibrancy and a sense of being alive in a world where their senses are being dulled by overexposure to screens. This theory is further supported by studies consistently showing public preference for traditional/classical designs (often 70-84% in polls).

A return to classical principles—proportion, hierarchy, human scale, ornamentation, and just plain grandeur—offers more than aesthetic redemption. It provides a practical pathway to urban renewal and a massive arbitrage opportunity for developers who recognize the shift in tastes.

Postwar planning and modernist dogma treated cities as machines for efficiency rather than places for human flourishing. Tom Wolfe’s “From Bauhaus to our House” documents this superbly. Vast redevelopment schemes razed historic fabric for high-rises and highways, eroding the fine-grained, walkable streets and dignified buildings that once fostered community and pride. The result was predictable: ugly environments signal low value, deterring investment, accelerating blight, and inviting more utilitarian “solutions.”

Classical and traditional architecture counters this cycle. Timeless forms—properly proportioned columns, balanced facades, rhythmic streetscapes, and human-scaled detailing—create places people want to linger in, invest in, and maintain across generations. Historic districts with classical or traditional character consistently show higher desirability, better upkeep, stronger property values, and greater resilience. This is illustrated by the Polo Bar in New York—the hardest reservation in town—and classic hotels like The Breakers in Palm Beach, which command $2,000+ a night. These lifestyle assets benefit tremendously - from a financial as well as a cultural perspective - from spaces that uplift rather than demoralize.

To expand upon this point, restoring or emulating classical elements sparks broader renewal—increased foot traffic, tourism, private reinvestment, and community stewardship. Poor architecture fails Jane Jacobs’ “eyes on the street” test and erodes sense of place; context-ignoring modernist insertions often accelerate blight, even if it yielded its developer a healthy promote (though the end of QE has made this a much less frequent occurrence).

The Real Estate industry, writ large, is desperately looking for a new business model after the interest rate shock of 2022. While the major allocators are tying their capital up in data centers, traditional developers are generally at a loss for next steps considering today’s landscape—rising costs, regulatory complexity, shifting demographics, hybrid work, and pent-up demand for authentic places. These headwinds indicate an opportunity for a new approach that strongly favors classical strategies benefitting from the following:

1. Premium Pricing & Resilience: Traditionally inspired buildings often deliver higher rents, sales prices, occupancy rates, and tenant retention. Buyers and residents pay for craftsmanship and timelessness that resist obsolescence. In volatile markets, these assets hold value far better than the ubiquitous “Tetris Chic” designs.

2. Incentives & Leverage: Historic tax credits, downtown revitalization grants, and area-wide programs reduce risk. Bundling rehab with sympathetic new classical infill can pencil out financially while unlocking public support and faster approvals (time is money, and as any developer can tell you, NIMBY resistance can quickly kill the profitability on a project.)

3. Demographic Tailwinds: Growing preference for walkable, family-friendly, high-quality environments (neither sterile high-density nor car-dependent sprawl) aligns perfectly with classical urbanism. The massive popularity of Seaside in 30A illustrates this and the late, great Robert AM Stern’s designs in New York routinely achieving the highest per square foot sales in the market makes this hard to ignore.

4. Long-Term Economics: Upfront investment in high quality, aesthetically pleasing construction will often yield lower maintenance, superior durability, and elevated market perception—improving ROI.

5. First-Mover Advantage: Momentum is building—from cultural discourse to policy shifts to select developer projects. Those who move now will benefit from immense pricing power in their developments.

The growing family office sector, guided by smart incentives and conviction rather than overly-risk averse bureaucratic investment committees, can move faster and more effectively. These capital sources seem to be primely suited to capture this opportunity. In addition to the long-term compounding opportunities outlined above, being responsible for popular, new landmarks can serve as a massive halo effect (much needed in a world where economic populism is firmly on the rise).

Classical architecture isn’t nostalgia—it’s proven urban technology refined over millennia. It restores dignity and desirability while delivering economic, social, and cultural returns. In an era skeptical of failed modernist experiments, the timing is exceptional. Developers who deliver beauty aligned with human nature will reap substantial arbitrage as markets reward places worth caring about.

Build ugly and feed decline. Build beautifully and compound value for generations. The data, anecdotes, history, and shifting preferences all point the same direction.

Invest in places worth caring about.

Hampton Prescott can be found on Twitter/X at @HamptonPrezcott

[buck.throckmorton at protonmail dot com]

posted by Buck Throckmorton at 11:00 AM

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