About partners for livable

L’Anse aux Meadows in Newfoundland
 
At L’Anse aux Meadows, a spot on the northernmost tip 
of Newfoundland, and the site of the first and only Viking 
settlement in the New World, a lead interpreter from the 
Canadian Parks Service greets visitors by interpreting 
what life was like in the most isolated and desolate place, 
particularly when it was “iced-in” for five months at a 
time. His reciting what the living conditions were like for 
the people at the time is much more galvanizing than 
the monologue on who the Vikings were and what they 
looked like.
For more information, visit www.pc.gc.ca.

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Cultural Heritage Tourism
sense of attachment among residents that can 
hold big rewards. 
In New York City, the relatively new Tenement 
Museum is an example of how communities can 
look within to preserve, showcase, and interpret 
the history and heritage that they have right in 
their midst. Located in the Lower East Side of 
Manhattan, which was once the gateway for the 
throngs of immigrants entering America, but then 
became a neighborhood that fell into degradation, 
the Tenement Museum has preserved and re-
created an entire apartment building with the 
goal of sharing the stories of new Americans. Six 
apartments in the building on Orchard Street have 
been fully restored, and tour guides lead visitors 
on a historical journey that follows the true 
stories of families that once lived in the building 
For more information about the Lower East Side 
Tenement Museum visit www.tenement.org.
In a big way, technology is making it ever easier 
for communities to creatively interpret their 
heritage landmarks, and generate interest and enthusiasm from locals and visitors alike. Smart phone apps 
in particular allow the grounds and edifices of heritage sites to speak to visitors. They can lead people on 
customized walking tours of cultural destinations, and allow endless opportunities for creative interaction 
with heritage and culture in any city or town. One example of a community that has creatively leveraged 
the interpretive power of technology tools is Toronto, with a recent project to use Twitter as a way to 
engage with visitors to the city.
In Houston, creative interpretation has thrived with a project called Hear Our Houston, sponsored by 
the local public arts organization, Project Row Houses. Hear Our Houston is a public generated audio 
walking tour project in which people design their own walking tours and give a definition of what values 
they find and what they want others to discover. It encourages participants to explore and document 
places that they find meaningful or interesting—places that had importance in the past, or perhaps which 
will become important in the future. Listeners are encouraged to record their own walking tours and add 
them to the publicly available collection that can be downloaded online at www.hearourhouston.com.
The Tenement Museum, shown here on 2011, is located at 97 Orchard St. in 
New York City, NY. The museum, built in 1863, tells the stories of immigrants 
who lived there. Photo credit: Daniel M. Silva.

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Cultural Heritage Tourism
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