● "I think South Congress is really interesting because it was developed from the ground up. It was not imposed by a city planner. In fact, the merchants there and the residents, I understand, have resisted city efforts to put light rail down the middle of the street. So it's interesting because it was home grown, it's been wildly successful, it's a place that honors historic architecture by reusing existing buildings for new uses, it's a place that reminds people that coming downtown is a great thing. You can't believe how many American cities have nothing going on downtown because people have abandoned them for malls in the suburbs. And South Congress is in diametric opposition to that. There you have this thriving area with a lot of street traffic and with small, locally owned stores. There is not a huge big box store in the middle of it, partly probably because parking is so tough. So it's a great example of what future American cities actually might look like and how they integrate the towers downtown with a small neighborhood."

● "I think if you look at the places Americans want to go when they're visiting cities, they go to places with historic texture, where the fabric of the city is enhanced by its history. So let's just take a couple of examples. When in New York people go to Greenwich Village, they may only go for a restaurant, and it's not necessarily [to] admire the architecture, but they're drawn to a place that has a vibrant sense of activity and life and a sense of history. It's the same thing in Washington [D.C.]. People go to DuPont Circle to go to restaurants, or they go up to Capitol Hill to enjoy the parks and the areas. And that experience is so different than going to the Time Warner Center in New York City where it's a beautiful building, and you can go to Whole Foods in the basement, but you could be anywhere. It doesn't give you any sense of place.

● "So if you're a small town someplace else in Texas, do you have a main street that is in striking distance of the highway? Is it a place that people can get to? Does it have a beautiful natural landscape, which is going to draw people on the weekend? Are there historic things nearby that would get people to your community? A tremendous number of Americans who are going on vacations say that they go to visit historic sites, or places of historic interest. What you in your community may be used to--the abandoned cotton mill or the industrial site where they used to make steel wire--to you it seems like an eyesore and something you've always been used to. For a visitor it could be a very compelling place to visit, a place they could learn something about."