Preserving historic buildings is often a losing financial bet, and I say that after watching my own city spend millions renovating a 1920s theater that now sits half-empty most weekends. The nostalgic argument for keeping every old facade ignores that these structures eat up property tax revenue and block denser housing, which we desperately need. Some landmarks matter, sure, but we should stop treating every aging brick building as untouchable and start asking whether the money could serve more residents.