[sustainability]Growth spurtIt's a well-polished platitude that the Southern Nevada housing market's collapse is an opportunity to pause and decide what kind of community we really want to be. Hmm.

Welcome to the March Desert Companion. Our spring fashion and home design issue is sure to help you continue making a home in Southern Nevada - stylishly, economically and mindfully.

Ever wanted to take a peek behind the curtains of your developer's, designer's or decorator's home? With their magic, they turn the mushy domestic visions of the masses into art you can live in. What's it like when they unleash that power on their own dwellings? Stunning.

How one neighborhood got fired up, cleaned up andpowered up to become a tight-knit community - and how yours can do the same Sick of the perpetual garage sale or auto repair business going on at the house next door? Irked by the graffiti and dead lawns left on your street by the foreclosure crisis? You'll find inspiration in the story of the John S. Park neighborhood, to the south and east of Charleston and Las Vegas boulevards.

Habitat for Humanity's ultra-efficient new homes save families money - and may spark a new wave of green housing for allHabitat for Humanity helps put budget-strapped families into affordable homes - but that dream can suffer a few dents when those families later face $500 power bills in the notoriously hot Vegas summers.But now Habitat, a nonprofit that sells homes at-cost to families earning less than 80 percent of area median income, plans to help families save even more - with an ultra-sustainable house.

It sounds like a title out of a David Foster Wallace novel. In 2008, Michele Diener was hired as MGM International's Director of Corporate Sustainability Strategies.

Fresh from remaking a historic downtown hotel, design experts dish tips for sprucing up your own homeLast month, historic downtown hotel the El Cortez invited four Nevada design teams to each make over an outdated suite with a $20,000 budget. The results were spectacular, ranging from Urban Design Studio's mob-themed "The Big Sleep" (complete with pinstriped carpet and bullet casings in a dish), to Worth Group's "Rec Room" (boasting vintage cocktail bar and a classic black-and-white wall photo of '50s-era El Cortez).

This spring, the sumptuous '70's make a comeback -- this time with a modern touch A playful print gives a cheeky bent to a game of "Strangers at a Hotel." Nanette Lepore Boss-Zilla blouse in blush multi, $248 Nanette Lepore playing skirt in white, $298 Available at Nanette Lepore at Crystals in CityCenter [left] Pair bold patterns and bright colors with a dark solid suit, and you're set - and a little mobsterish in the best of ways.

This month, Tivoli Village opens - the first phase, anyway. It's a handsomely built, mixed-use development that could be Summerlin's answer to Town Square.

What's on the horizon for spring style? See our photo feature on page 32. Meanwhile, Wendy Albert has a few ideas too.