An "East Knoxville model" of Historic Preservation?

If Knoxville can adopt and build on ideas from other municipalities, perhaps others will someday point to an "East Knoxville model" of historic preservation as the example to follow. For now, other municipalities offer insights into the possibilities:

Mobile creates grant for historic home maintenance (http://blog.al.com/live/2011/05/mobile_creates_grant_for_histo.html)
Historic Homeowner maintenance fund was set up with Community Development Block Grant funds eligible participants can get up to $15,000 for roof replacement, new paint, window replacement and other exterior repairs 

Historic "Shotgun" style homes in Mobile, Alabama

Multnomah County offers incentives for homeowners to house homeless in backyards(http://www.oregonlive.com/portland/index.ssf/2017/03/multnomah_county_wants_to_ince.html)
A $300,000 Accessory Structure fund was set up to build tiny houses in people's backyards and rent them out to families with children now living on the street.

• The homeowners pay nothing for the construction. 
• They become landlords and maintain the units for five years. 
• After 5 years, homeowners can do whatever they want with the accessory structure. 
• If the homeowners break the contract before then, they pay the cost of construction. 

Portland Accessory Dwelling Unit Loan Program (https://www.portlandoregon.gov/phb/article/661995)

The Portland Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU) Loan Program is a pilot program created by Portland Housing Bureau (PHB) and Prosper Portland. It is strategy for helping low-income, long time community homeowners retain their homes, preventing further displacement of vulnerable community members by creating a fully permitted ADU in an existing basement over 500 square feet.

Cleveland, Ohio and Durham, North Carolina have historic preservation programs that support longtime residents:

Cleveland's "Heritage Home" program 

(http://www.heritagehomeprogram.org/)
If your home is 50 years old or older and is located in a participating city, you can receive technical assistance and may qualify for a low-interest rehabilitation loan. The loan can be used for numerous interior and exterior projects that make your home more comfortable, while preserving architectural character.

More: http://www.heritagehomeprogram.org/howitworks.php

Durham's Preservation Equity Project 

(http://preservationdurham.org/index.php/preservation-equity-project/)
By providing free and impartial technical assistance (contractor vetting, materials selection, design), matched with a low-interest loan from Self-Help Credit Union, the Preservation Equity Project helps homeowners with homes 50 years or older:

• Retain homes, the primary source of wealth in America, in working-class and minority families. 
• Empowers older residents to age in place, by making accessibility modifications like ramps, door pulls, flooring, etc. Saving the family years of senior care costs. 
• Retain the fabric of the neighborhoods, keeping smaller, older homes in place, and keeping families connected to their homeplace. 
• Rehabilitate their properties to make them safe and comfortable, while increasing their equity and family wealth.

There is no reason why Knoxville cannot rise to the challenge to protect the people and places that form the foundation of its historic center city neighborhoods with working-class roots.

Open ended delay lacking defined, tangible goals or engaged, active leadership from the City Administration and City Council directed at resolving Park City National Historic District's local historic zoning overlay issue will not create the outcome that community activists widely agree is needed: slowing a tide of rapid change.