Select the correct text in the passage. Which sentence best refines the author's claim about protecting historically significant architecture?
Architecture
Over the past several years, it has become increasingly common for big-name developers to tear down Victorian, Craftsman, and Colonial
buildings. This destruction is often performed with the thought that it is the property that holds the true value, not the structure that sits on it.
Likewise, homeowners have begun to value their property's location over the house they have spent many years living in. Little regard is given to
the painstaking details and craftsmanship that went into these buildings, nor the innate beauty of hand-carved woodwork and ornamentation.
"Out with the old, in with the new" has resulted in people no longer appreciating the history and artistic integrity of our country's oldest
buildings and failing to realize that once "the new" is brought in, "the old" is lost to us forever.
It is bad enough that developers and private citizens are blind to the beauty around them; what is worse is that local governments refuse to
step in and prevent this destruction. Cities and towns need to stand up to large developers that flash money around in the name of progress.
Rather than allowing developers to tear down old buildings simply to put up new ones, local governments could enact ordinances to preserve
their area's architecture. If an old building is unusable or unsafe as it is, the structure could be restored instead of demolished; not only would
this save one-of-a-kind architecture, it is also an extremely environmentally-conscience concept because less building material is used and
wasted.
In addition, local governments could prevent homeowners from tearing down their homes if the buildings are of a historic nature. Town
officials could easily draw up legislation to preserve all bjdings erected before a certain date, which would effectively prevent anyone from
destroying historic architecture or buying property with express intent of rebuilding on the land.
If local governments take more of an interest in their towns' character and history right now, our culture will be preserved for many
generations to come.
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