If there's a positive from the recession, it's been the fact that U.S. households are lowering their debts and getting their finances back in order. What hasn't changed is that the majority of a family's income still goes to covering housing costs, and the affordability of where you live doesn't always equal the amount you pay in rent or on your mortgage -- it's often times higher, meaning the cost of housing is even more of a majority.

The national credit crisis is hitting the housing market again, this time resulting in bankruptcy -- for builders.

On Saturday, December 27, Phoenix, Tempe and Mesa, Arizona welcomed passengers aboard their brand-new light rail system. The 20-mile, $1.4 billion dollar rail system is a first for the state; until now, Phoenix had been the largest U.S. city without public trains.

There are critical infrastructure decisions that need to be made in the American Southwest if it both wants to continue to expand and be able to support its current population. In the third segment of a five part series on infrastructure in the U.S., NewsHour Senior Correspondent Ray Suarez reports with Blueprint America on how the suburbs of Arizona grow with no boundaries.