One of the things Alex Florez likes about his job in downtown New London is his commute.

He lives two flights up from the Minuteman Press printing shop on State Street, where he works. He almost never drives a car anymore.

If he needs something like milk, he scoots down the stairs.

Some nights he can wander out when a favorite band is playing nearby, while his wife, Lee Ann, stays home with their 2-year-old daughter, Felicity. They swap when Lee Ann's favorite band is playing.

There was a time when I put faith in the big projects that were going to power downtown redevelopment, like the proposed arts magnet high school combined with the Garde Arts Center, or the National Coast Guard Museum.

But I have come to believe that big projects are not the answer. It will be the incremental change brought by enterprising new downtown residents who will drive the successful downtown development upon which the future of the city depends.

After all, the downtown arts school project, which even had state funding, collapsed with barely a contrary breeze blowing by.

The Coast Guard Museum would be great. But honestly, I lost faith it will happen when a somber promise in January of $13 million in new fundraising this year delivered only $500,000 by the middle of June.

That's a huge miss. This has been going on for years. To put it in Coast Guard terms, it's a ship close to foundering.

At this rate I think we are more likely to get a Trump hotel in Fort Trumbull than a National Coast Guard Museum downtown.

I hope I'm wrong about that.

But in the end, it is the slow but remarkable change of having more people living downtown, some working here, many patronizing businesses, that will make the heart of the city come alive the way older generations of residents remember it.

The good news here is that some big forces are at work to help New London.

The cultural winds lately are blowing in a way to help urban areas more than suburbs.

No doubt this general trend is driving many young people out of Connecticut altogether and toward bigger cities. And yet for those who stay or come for some other reason, even little cities are more appealing to a younger generation than the suburbs were to their parents.

That's where another big force in New London comes in.

Electric Boat is on a hiring spree not seen since the Cold War, with new job creation out on the horizon as far as a Coast Guard watch officer can see.

A lot of those new hires are young people who might be inclined to choose to make downtown New London home.

You already can see some smart development money responding to that, with two big new projects for the outskirts of downtown on the drawing boards. The real estate market for downtown buildings suitable for new apartments is hot.

One recent Electric Boat hire who has been talking up life downtown is 23-year-old James Hudgins, who says he has been "selling it like crazy" to coworkers.

Hudgins, who is also a hip hop musician, says downtown living suits him perfectly.

He says he can walk to work but usually takes the shuttle Electric Boat runs between the downtown parking garage and its offices at Fort Trumbull.

"I love it here," he said.

That's what New London needs a lot more of, what it will grow on.

This is the opinion of David Collins.

d.collins@theday.com