'Good Design is Economic Development'

"A visitor, will...before reaching the city line, see several buildings that are absolute dreck and should never have been built. All of Hartford's major arterials have been invaded by these architectural zebra mussels....We need to bring back a sense of design integrity to these vital corridors. The city's starting to come back. There's a sense of momentum. But this time, let's pay attention to how the city will look. Let's get the design center going....Design centers are being used successfully in St. Paul, Baltimore, Chattanooga, Nashville and many other cities across the country. In his 1998 downtown plan for Hartford, planner Kenneth Greenberg recommended the Insurance City create a design center. As with so many of Greenberg's recommendations, it was a good idea that sat on the shelf....We need to do this. Good design is economic development, someone said."