There are always disagreements concerning whether or not historic districts are good for a community.  As in most things, there are no hard and fast rules.   Each community has its own standards in terms of zoning regulations, ranging from the almost non-existent, as in Houston, to the stringent.  In Orangetown, there are two legislated historic districts, one in Tappan, and the other in Palisades.  After the "vinyl wars" of some years ago, the code regulating building and exterior changes in these districts was changed.  Now, work done on structures built before 1918 are held to a higher standard of historic accuracy than structures built after that date.  For example, buildings erected o or after 1918 could be sided with modern materials, such as vinyl siding.  The question that is beginning to be raised is whether or not individual older structures outside of a designated historic district  in Orangetown should receive the same kind of protection as those within the districts.  When the topic of historic designation is raised, I always ask people to look at Main Street in Tappan- it has never looked better, and I seriously doubt that we would have the same results if there had been no historic designation.