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.

''Those who can, build,'' Robert Moses at one time said. ''Those who can't, criticize.'' From the Public Television archives at THIRTEEN/ WNET in New York, an hour long interview from 1977 with Robert Moses, the "master builder" of modern day New York City. But more than just New York, Moses set an example nationwide of how to build the American City of the 20th Century.

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.

Eric Rauchway, professor of history at the University of California, Davis, makes the case that movements to advance American infrastructure, since the beginning, have been brought on by times of national crisis. But, will the current American crisis -- the Great Recession -- advance infrastructure again?

Robert Fishman, University of Michigan professor, on the role that national planning has played in shaping America's development.

The city of Denver was first settled not by the lone frontiersman, but by a community that came together. Mayor John Hickenlooper, a candidate to succeed former Colorado Governor and current U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, had the same in mind when he expanded the metro region's light rail and mass transit system after he became mayor in 2003.

A map of what high-speed rail might look like in America -- but, it is a slow train coming.