THE BUTTERFLY EFFECT?

One of the fascinating things about the situation in Detroit is the consideration of ideas that will help transform the city out of it's current blight. Here is an article on one such attempt by an artist collective. The idea is to install 1000 painted "butterfly's" across the city in an effort to stem rampant graffiti and brighten up abandoned buildings.   http://detnews.com/article/20100522/OPINION03/5220353/1460/OPINION0307/1+000+artist-painted+butterflies+to+help+fight+Detroit+blight

The artist dubs it the "papillion effect" and sees it as a metaphor for Detroit coming out of it's current urban decay and rising up. The interesting question is would this project be produced or even considered in other urban areas? Would there not be community meetings and bureaucratic hurdles to overcome in getting the project OK'd? Additionally what are the social implications of "band-aid" solutions to the visual landscape? How is it perceived by the citizens and how should it be perceived. It's a noble idea and can the energy and critical mass that it hopes to achieve spark additional project based ideas that address deeper issues?

Here is an article from the NY times that takes a more broad stroke approach.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/21/opinion/21herbert.html?_r=1