Connecticut has the highest per capita income in the country, according to information from the latest U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis.* We’ve always been bullish about Connecticut’s place in the hierarchy of states, borne out by the study CTC&G conducted last spring that revealed CTC&G readers exhibit 4 to 9 times greater purchasing patterns in the home and design markets than the nation’s affluents. ■ Our real-estate columnist, Diane di Costanzo, also has good news to report. The National Association of Realtors says that both sales volume and home prices were trending upward at the end of 2010, momentum that experts expect to carry over into spring. She notes that luxury markets performed especially well: In New Canaan, for instance, the number of home closings in December matched the homes-closed stat for December 2007, a time when real estate was, if not booming, then at the very least holding it’s own. And overall in 2010, New Canaan enjoyed a 40 percent increase in closings as compared to 2009, the largest year-over-year percent-age increase since the 1990s. As for the spring selling season, it’s closer than you may think: Brokers say it starts the weekend after Super Bowl Sunday—whatever the weather. ■ Another reminder that spring is around the corner: The call for entries has gone out for Cottages & Gardens’ 5th Annual Innovation in Design Awards (see page 81), where top Connecticut and Westchester architects and designers have the opportunity to showcase their projects. Judged by leaders in the design industry, their projects are featured in the competition, at the awards banquet (set for May 24), on our website cottages-gardens.com, in our special IDA issue and also win our coveted award! A percentage of ticket sales from the awards dinner and all proceeds from the raffle benefit Yale School of Architecture’s charity: Neighborhood Housing Services of New Haven. ■ We can’t wait to see what wonderful projects will be presented this year.