Discuss “Design Zone breathes new life into Lawrenceville”

When Mark Mentzer moved his painting studio into the heart of Lawrenceville’s dilapidated business district 13 years ago, even his neighbors thought he was crazy. Crime was constant. Lots were vacant. And his circa-1890 two-story building was close to being condemned. During that first year, a business owner from across the street came over one day and shook his head at Mentzer with a mix of shock and admiration: “You’ve got some real guts moving in here.”

But Mentzer -- a Carnegie Mellon professor in the School of Design and one of the first in the 90-plus artists, architects, artisans, and crafters that now populate Lawrenceville’s Design Zone -- saw potential in the area that went beyond its cracked sidewalks and boarded-up windows....