  We study signatures of superconductivity in a 2--leg "checkerboard" Hubbard
ladder model, defined as a one--dimensional (period 2) array of square
plaquettes with an intra-plaquette hopping $t$ and inter-plaquette hopping
$t'$, using the density matrix renormalization group method. The highest
pairing scale (characterized by the spin gap or the pair binding energy,
extrapolated to the thermodynamic limit) is found for doping levels close to
half filling, $U\approx 6t$ and $t'/t \approx 0.6$. Other forms of modulated
hopping parameters, with periods of either 1 or 3 lattice constants, are also
found to enhance pairing relative to the uniform two--leg ladder, although to a
lesser degree. A calculation of the phase stiffness of the ladder reveals that
in the regime with the strongest pairing, the energy scale associated with
phase ordering is comparable to the pairing scale.
