Preserving For Progress, the 2020 District of Columbia Historic Preservation Plan, is an informative guide to help District residents learn about local history and see how Washington's heritage is shaping the city's growth and renewal.  The plan sets out an ambitious but manageable agenda and suggests actions that city agencies, federal partners, cultural organizations, non-profits, and property owners can take to ensure that the city’s heritage remains a vital and valued part of our daily lives.

The 2020 plan is organized around five major themes:

1. Preservation should focus on the basics. Preservation should concentrate on what an informed person can understand as valuable.

2. We should build an understanding of history. Telling the story of our communities is the way to foster civic pride in accomplishments of the past.

3. Preservationists should work together. Partnerships are essential to draw on all available talents and resources, communicate effectively, and make progress toward common goals. 

4. We should celebrate our achievements. Our historic environment is in remarkable condition overall, and preservationists can take credit for decades of solid accomplishment.

5. Preservation should consider new possibilities. A changing city faces new challenges, but we can adapt our tools to be more effective in response.  

The 2020 plan supports the broad vision outlined in the District’s Comprehensive Plan, Growing an Inclusive City: From Vision to Reality, which serves as the framework document for all planning efforts in the city.  It also fulfills the District’s federal requirement for the Historic Preservation Officer to prepare and periodically update a state preservation plan.