I recognize there are two sides to the story. There are still places in Northern Virginia that are more than three miles from a mall and -- difficult as it is to imagine -- half a mile from the nearest 7-11. I've not yet seen a "Fight the Mall Shortage, Pave a Battlefield" bumper sticker, but it's probably only a matter of time.
Gettysburg, and the other places you mention, are living, breathing communities of Americans. To expect them to maintain their surroundings as a perpetual museum is unrealistic.
Even the place you admire in France isn’t really kept...it’s a working farm, not an archaeological preserve.
Yes, I like preserving old things and places. However, I respect the rights of the people who actually live there and own it. I really appreciate the Codori family of Gettysburg for keeping that old barn with the cannonball hole in it...but I have no room to squawk if they decide to fix it or raze it.
Bests to you and yours.