Many children have learning problems stemming from premature birth or their mother's alcoholism or drug abuse, testified Freddie Morris, principal of Wish School in the North End, which has children from Stowe Village, the city's poorest housing project.

In Hartford's North End, near Stowe Village, a public housing project of squat, red-brick buildings where most of the city's 25 overdose cases occurred, residents said the word on the streets was that the drug "must be good."

Residents of Stowe Village, in the city's North End, and Charter Oak Terrace, in the South End, talk of being afraid to walk outside.

Most are clustered in the largely black and Puerto Rican neighborhoods of the North End, including the three projects Mr. Shipman wants to raze: Stowe Village, Nelton Court and Bellevue Square.

Events Through Jan. 3, the Helen Day Art Center, in Stowe Village, will hold its 18th annual Festival of the Christmas Trees, a display of Vermont evergreens decorated with hand-made ornaments.

Many of the town's inns and lodges are on the six-mile Mountain Road, which links Stowe Village to the ski area.

The rambling brick Green Mountain Inn, 1 Main Street, Stowe; (800) 253-7302, fax (802) 253-5096, puts guests in the center of Stowe Village, close to shops and restaurants.

Where to Eat Blue Moon Cafe, 35 School Street, (802) 253-7006, is a small, stylish restaurant tucked down a side street in Stowe Village.

We asked if they played Little League baseball, and they said they didn't because there was no Little League in their neighborhood, Stowe Village, which is one of the toughest sections in Hartford.

Luxury: The Green Mountain Inn, 18 Main Street; (800) 253-7302, fax (802) 253-5096, www.greenmountaininn.com, has 105 rooms, suites and town houses in seven buildings in the middle of Stowe Village.