I've seen in NEO recently a lot of awareness about the importance of innovative urban planning and design for a better community - make it New Urban, sustainable, green, and even Dutch (see notes from the recent Dutch design conference here), and that is all very important. I believe this comment was from a student at the Kent Urban Design Collaborative, which is driving great awareness, as is CSU. Walking down E 4th Street (an innovative street design) and seeing its evolving potential shows design can drive development. I think for many years this message was lost - great design opportunities were lost - and the region has suffered.  I'm hopeful all the talk of us designing/planning better (e.g. bringing the Dutch back to collaborate with us on our urban planning) quickly leads to a better community (e.g. East Bank flats, lakefront and University Circle plans that are better than anything seen here to date).  The way individuals can influence that is to attend planning meetings and voice your opinions... who likes the designs you've seen for the East Bank Flats? Comment here.