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Survey: Lower Makefield residents overwhelmingly support historic preservation
Summary
A 154-response community survey found 90% of respondents were local and showed broad support for historic preservation in Lower Makefield Township, with respondents linking preservation to community identity and favoring grant-seeking over cutting other services.
Dennis Steadman, chair of the Patterson Farm Master Plan Implementation Committee, opened the meeting on community engagement and turned the presentation over to Ron Schmidt, who presented the Historic Commission's community value assessment.
"The initial the survey had a 154 responses, and the majority, 90%, were from Lower Makefield Township," Ron Schmidt said, summarizing the sample and geographic reach of the results. Schmidt reported that 62% of respondents said preservation is more important than other amenities and that combined support for government investment in maintaining historic sites reached 94%.
Schmidt said respondents view preservation as central to the township's identity and cultural character and that residents prioritized protecting architecturally significant structures, sites tied to documented historic events and the character of historic streetscapes. He also noted that support for increased preservation funding softens if that funding would reduce budgets for parks, pools or the library.
The committee discussed how to use the survey to guide outreach: the recommendations include pursuing grants and partnerships (rather than relying only on municipal budgets) and framing preservation as a community asset that bolsters neighborhood pride. Schmidt pointed to a finding that residents value the farmstead even if they do not visit it daily, supporting outreach and education to convert broad support into targeted backing for projects and grant applications.
