Some understand mid-century, neighborhood-scale preservation to be a reaction to the destructive impacts of urban renewal. In Washington, D.C., however, neighborhood-scale preservation predated urban renewal. This article investigates the factors that influenced the implementation of both practices in the early 1950s, shedding light on later decisions in other cities, when the strategies were more commonly combined. A focus on the contrasting fates of alley dwellings in Georgetown and Southwest demonstrates that the built environment mattered little on its own; the scale of building conditions, geographies of race, and prevalence of private investment dictated the differential implementation of these planning approaches.

一些人认为，本世纪中叶，社区规模的保护是对城市更新的破坏性影响的一种反应。但是，在华盛顿特区，社区规模的保护要早于城市更新。本文研究了在1950年代初影响这两种做法实施的因素，从而阐明了在其他城市更普遍地采用战略时后来在其他城市中做出的决策。着眼于乔治敦和西南地区巷道住宅的对比命运，可以看出，建筑环境本身并不重要。建筑条件的规模，种族地域和私人投资的普遍程度决定了这些规划方法的不同实施。