An old factory town in Iowa eyes 'green' future, improved livability -- making good on the President's stimulus plan one year later.

The transportation bill -- the massive legislation authorizing and funding the country’s roads and mass-transit infrastructure (from highways to bus lanes to railways to bike lanes) -- expires every six years. That, however, does not mean a new bill is passed every six-years. It’s Washington, D.C., after all. Come along with Blueprint America correspondent Miles O'Brien as he talks to people on Capitol Hill about how the transportation bill becomes a law.

The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) announced on Wednesday the winning projects to be funded under their Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) grant program, which was created to oversee the dispersal of $1.5 billion included in the stimulus plan a year ago. In other words, a bureaucracy within a bureaucracy. While the DOT's function is to oversee the flow of transportation dollars from Washington, the TIGER program's function is to do it better (as it relates to stimulus funding and as it relates to finally using an acronym that is also Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood's nickname).

Blueprint America: Beyond the Motor City examines how Detroit, a symbol of America’s diminishing status in the world, may come to represent the future of transportation and progress in America.

An op-ed forum to discuss Blueprint America: Beyond the Motor City. Use the below reactions and interpretations of the documentary from various transportation and Detroit-interested groups as a starting point to add your thoughts in the comment section at the bottom of the page.

High-speed rail in California, in addition to connecting the state's major cities, will link some 20 smaller cities to the industries and economies of those larger centers. And as train stops were determined, no one wanted to be passed by. Blueprint America followed Mayor Jesus Gamboa as he lobbied the California High-Speed Rail Authority for a train stop for the city of Visalia.

In documenting the Great Rescission, not many images are used more than those of a broken down Detroit. A city hit even harder by the financial struggles of the big three automobile companies, it has emptied -- built for 2 million people, it now has half that number. Nearly one-third of the land is unused, and some 80,000 homes are vacant. Still, one local couple sees potential. They are building the 'Power House'.

A national high-speed rail plan was put forward by President Barack Obama in April 2009, just months after he set aside $8 billion in stimulus funds to begin such an undertaking. At the end of January this year, the White House selected 13 passenger rail corridors in 31 states to receive stimulus funding. High-speed rail projects in California, Florida and Illinois were the big winners.

Spain has been able to leverage funds for its infrastructure -- especially high-speed rail -- to an amount the United States cannot currently match. Norman Anderson, President and CEO of CG/LA Infrastructure (a Washington, D.C. based consulting group), explains how Spain has been able to finance its infrastructure build out, and what America has to learn.