Earlier this year, the Obama administration made a critical change in the way it would fund public transportation. In a break with the Bush Administration, it scrutinized new projects based on whether they increased the "livability" of local communities. In the San Francisco Bay Area, this resulted in the quick, and shocking loss of funding for a proposed train line to the Oakland Airport. 

It's been almost two weeks since the 7.0 earthquake struck Haiti and the government has formally called an end to the search and rescue efforts. The focus of relief will soon shift from treating the wounded survivors to embarking on the long slog of rebuilding a collapsed city. We get an update on the overall situation there and then we examine how other cities dealt with reconstruction challenges after a disaster like this.