most american cities accumulating an unending spare tire at suburban straw, its urban growth boundary. while most cities didn't give a whit about bicycling, portland made a think about a $300 million investment over 20 years. people were shocked when i tell them 25 years ago for it and did not look much different in terms of how many bikers they were uninterested in the cost of one cloverleaf. one half of a cloverleaf. a highly cloverleaf cost twice as much is your entire break in investment over the past 20 years and is the result portlanders bicycle 15 times as much as the rest of the country. decisions were made that cost on to peak in 1996. as a result you all drive 20% less than the rest of america in equivalents i cities, which translates into four miles or about 10 minutes a day. joe cortright versus four miles into 1.5% of gdp and translate 11 minutes into another 2% of gdp. 2.5% is now not been thrown away and shipped to other places because of those decisions you've made. portland is known for having the most roof racks in america, independent bookstores, strip clubs in amer

this is not the next great book on american cities. that book is not needed. an intellectual revolution is no longer necessary. what characterizes discussions on cities these days is not a wrongheaded essay lack of awareness about what needs to be done, but rather a complete disconnect between the awareness and the action of those responsible for the physical form of our communities. we've known for three decades how to make livable cities after forgetting for for coming it was somehow not been able to get off. jane jacobs who wrote in 1961 over the planners by 1980, the planners have yet to win over the city. and you're all interrupt myself to say it's another natural occurrence at the very cities that it places like powells, were invited to give talks are precisely the cities that do not need this book. and it is the places that don't have pedestrian culture, the intellectual community that supported if a site paulos, it is those places that, you know, that's not who i'm writing the book for. and we'll talk about this in as an minute as they continue to prolo

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rebuilding a great american city with a simple bowl of soup and a lot of good ideas. "nightly news" begins now. >>> from nbc news world headquarters in new york, this is "nbc nightly news" with brian williams. >> good evening, i'm kate snow in tonight for brian. after weeks of negotiations and last-minute hold-ups over the fiscal cliff, congress late last night finally passed an agreement on taxes and spending. in a moment, we'll tell you what that legislation means for every american. but it's what the house did not do last night that caused an uproar today. lawmakers left before considering a bill to help victims of superstorm sandy, and that had republicans from hard-hit states taking aim at leaders of their own party. nbc's kelly o'donnell is at her post on capitol hill once again tonight. kelly, good evening. >> reporter: good evening, kate. so the house had not taken any kind of vote on a new year's day in nearly 60 years. and when they did so, they got that tax deal done, but only minutes later, a new controversy popped up, over government spending. and it spre

and it served as a prototype for many american cities, including pittsburgh and new york. man: new york city went to philadelphia and said, "you know, we're thinking of developing a hudson river water supply -- what do you suggest we do?" and they said, "we've had "a lot of problems on the schuylkill. "don't go to the hudson river. go to the upland and work by gravity." and that's what new york city did. they first went to the hudson highlands, but 150 years later, it went to the delaware highlands. and really diverted the water that normally went to philadelphia to new york city. i don't think they anticipated that. narrator: the majority of new york city's drinking water comes from watersheds in upstate new york. a watershed is the area of land where water from rain or snow melt drains downhill into a body of water. mountains act as a funnel to feed rivers and lakes. and in this case, reservoirs. in the new york city system, water is collected and stored in 19 reservoirs, which can hold more than a year's supply -- over 580 billion gallons of water. almost all of the syst

. >>> the dark cloud hanging over a big american city. doctors say the air is so bad, it's the equivalent of forcing every resident to become a heavy smoker. >>> and seeing red. a push by republicans to change the way we elect a president. if these had been the rules across the map in november, we would have president romney. >>> also, a big night for the biggest blockbuster of all-time. "nightly news" begins now. >>> from nbc news world headquarters in new york, this is "nbc nightly news" with brian williams. >>> good evening. the evidence is now unmistakable. aspects of the u.s. economy after a long and difficult period of darkness appear to be getting more robust. and while there are lots of numbers out to prove the point of an improving economy, problem is, of course, it's hardly being felt by all americans. but first, the good news, and it's substantial. here are the stock indexes at closing time today. all three closed up. stocks, by the way, are nearing an all-time high on wall street. on the housing front, u.s. builders started wo

it was twice named an all-american city. day, it is the largest city in america to ever file for bankruptcy. it's fighting against unemployment rate that exceeds 14%, foreclosure rate that ranks sixth worst in the u.s. soaring crime that makes it the most dangerous city in california behind oakland. could what happen here happen in your hometown? >> he was mayor of stockton from 2009 to december of 2012. her entire term was dealing with the crisis. >> it was an accumulation of bad choices and bad actions. unknowingly council gave cadillac benefits, cadillac salaries to employees at the time there was money. secondly there was council and mayor that wanted to build great infrastructure and they sold lots of bonds at high interest rates. then fact there was no reserve. the city didn't have a savings account. to put the kabash on it was the collapse of the economy and housing market. that really was the nail in the coffin. we don't want any other city in california or nationally to have to go through the ang stt st and heartbrea

we feel like we're the underdog american city.nything positive about detroit, everyone really rallies around that. >> with y did you also show the run down areas? >> that's the reality. i don't want to just display an image that's realistic. there's the downtown area, industrial, and the abandoned areas are beautiful. >> your students pry think you're pretty cool. >> when the video came out, they put it on their facebooks and it was cool to see. i love my students and it's great when they ramly around something i'm a part of. >>> it's a proposal video, and that's dad over there cleaning a shotgun. what happens next? does she say yes? >> still to come, raised on the road. >> you can tell he is pounding on his car. >> find out what happens when the driver decides time to peace out. >>> get your pen and paper ready, w ao >>> two russian dash cam videos in a little fender bender. he pulls over, and then the driver of the car hit pulls over in front of him and says -- >> what is he worried about. that is the junkiest car. >> he is not

according to city officials she is the first african-american woman to be elected to city wide officekland. >>> this week marks a milestone for san jose as it first arab-american city councilman is in office. he grew up in san jose. he says he's honor today represent district 10 which includes almaden and blossom valleys. >> i'm hoping that many more of americans are encouraged by these results and -- and do want to get involved in -- in city politics because, you know, after -- after 9/11, a lot of the a rab-american community kind of got scare and had went inside that you are shils. >> his top priorties are public safety and refinancing. san jose short-term loans into long-term loans. >>> police are searching for a man they say try today lure children into his van twice last year. most recent incident happened december 30th on monterey road. an 11-year-old girl said a man in his 50s waved her over and offered her a rise. in both case, the man was driving a forest green mini van. >>> the state has gin the green light to a plan to install a red light camera at one of san francisco's m

there may be no other american city like new orleans. it is a place you can enjoy a of steel drummer and steps away a jazz combo. stroll through the french market, and you will encounter the magic of this guitar-violin to row. and you're also likely to meet command who calls himself a catfish. -- to meet the man who calls himself catfish. he is the greater at the bistro. he can tell you about the other thing that makes this town you need. questar six things they come to see. john goliath, beans and rice, -- jambalayah beans and rice. but this is a new orleans sandwich, and it comes loaded with cold meat and solid. >> if you have room, you can chase that with pecan praline. is among the many merchants happy to see fans come to town. it is what the good times roll. >> we are ready to come on down. >> that is the message. they want the world to gather. new orleans says they are ready to show off. >> we are both hungry. have a good time. speaking of food, we learned of maryland senators have wagered a bet with california's senators and the m

it was twice named an all-american city. largest city in america to ever file for bankruptcy, fighting against an umunemployment rate that exceeds 14% and a foreclosure rate that is sixth worse in the u.s. and soaring crime that make its the second most dangerous city in california, behind oakland so what happened here? why could what happened here happen in your home town? the mayor of stockton from 2009 until december of 2012. her entire term was spent dealing with this crisis. >> it was an accumulation of bad, bad choices and bad actions, unknowingly councils gave cadillac benefit, cadillac salaries to employees at the time when there was money. secondly, there was... counc and i will a mayor who wanted to build great infracentral america and sold bonds -- lots of bonds at pretty high interest rates. there was no reserve. they didn't have a saving account to speak of. and of course, to put the cabosh on it was the collapse of the economy. and the housing market here. that is what really was the nail in our coffins. we don

laguerre-wilkinson, "cbs news," miami. >> axelrod: coming up, a surprising second life for the guns in one american city>> axelrod: finally tonight, with 90 murders record in their city last year, the people of newark new jersey are all too familiar with the toll of gun violence. now the city is trying a new approach to get guns off the streets, with an unexpected surprise this week. here is john bentley. >> reporter: this is just a fracktion of the guns that came off the streets. newark's police director sam demaio is convinced that the more guns he can round up, the lower crime will be. >> the gun violence is the number one thing we're battling every day. >> reporter: last year the newark police collected more than 850 guns, second highest amount they ever brought in. once they got the guns off the street they had another problem: what to do with all of them? >> i had to create something that people who will never walk these streets could identify with. >> reporter: that's where jewelry designer jessica mindich stepped in. she is transforming the guns and shell casings into bracelets made from melted-

eventually spread across the entire hemisphere it's a stark warning of what we might expect in american cities. but there's another threat from iceland's volcanoes. 45 miles west of laki is hekla. at almost 5,000 feet hekla's distinctive cone towers above the landscape. she's one of iceland's most active volcanoes, erupting over 20 times in the last thousand years. hekla last erupted in 2000 and recently her eruptions have been mild. but thor's discovered a place that shows just how explosive she can be. and with hekla it's all about ash. the snow-covered mountain in the background there is the hekla volcano itself. and here in the foreground this light-colored layer there at the top was erupted from hekla 3,000 years ago. narrator: these ash layers tell thor a great deal about hekla's explosive past. thordarson: the reason why we spend our time studying these ash layers is that we can get information about the nature of the eruption, its intensity, its explosive power, and how widely it affected the environment. narrator: he's discovered one particular eruption from hekla 3,000 years ago whic

one thing that plagues american cities is the maintenance budget for maintaining public streets and public right of ways. we know very well that you have very high taxes and you have very high parking fees. could you talk about who and how you maintain your infrastructure and the streets? is that just a given, you decide to build something and somebody maintains it, or is there an agreement with another department to maintain it? >> the authorities in amsterdam, the infrastructure and transport department and municipalities, they financed it, they planned it, they build it, construct it, and they maintain it. i think that is the logical route. and is paid by the community's -- and is paid by the communit ies, and also from the state department. [inaudible] >> in the netherlands, if a road is really bad they will fix it. >> ok, there is a question in the back. >> our director of public works was in the back. he has a real problem here. maintenance is a huge bill. we do not have the wherewithal to maintain what we have. putting in new facilities increases the cost. then when you bring in dif

this is a unique american city. the old french quarter was saved, never was destroyed, never torn down. a lot of cities in america tore down their waterfront areas in the old neighborhoods in the late 1800s, early 1900s. new orleans saved the french quarter. this is the truly unique an area this big this old this beautiful in america. people level all around us, all above us. -- people living all around us, all above us. the french settled almost 300 years ago. every street in the buick ray in the french quarter has three names, english, french and spanish. you have to love the mixture of the people. it's a big city but it's a small town. very friendly. you love the music, the food. whatever you want, it's available there. you just go out and get it. here you go, gus. you never know who you're going to bump into when you're up here. >> that's right. we were just going for a friendly carriage ride and did you see who we ran into, frank? >> well, we heard from him a little bit earlier. i guess george lucas right? >> ge

they're taking this tour of six american cities where they have robots and actors in two one hp act playse real robots doing dialog for humans. >> that must be boring for the humans. >> i don't have a problem with this. i have a problem when the robot is -- now we're just a robot play. that would be stupid. >> clearly i did not convert you in this. >> you're never going to convert. >> you did not convert us, gale. >> we're never too old to pretend we're all kids again. that's what these guys are doing to the next level. we've seen this before. big time trike drifting. these guys have overgrown big wheels out there. the way they're going down this hill and sliding back and forth and doing these tricks, it's almost like they're dancing kind of. and they're on an active road here with cars going up while they're going down. >> that's a little nerve-racking. some of the guys are not wearing helmets. >> you see three people on one of these trikes. i like this video, because we get to see the inspiration for the big grown up adult trikes. the big wheel or kind of a big wheel that a little kid o

one american city has now declared a full-on flu emergency as deaths from the illness increase and hospitals up. early detection. big new hope tonight in the fight against ovarian cancer. the deadliest form for women. there has been a big development. >>> rules of the road. how far can police officers go when they pull you over? the story could have a big impact for allf us on the road. >>> and fallen stars. lance armstrong set to open up to oprah as the hall of fame door is shut on some baseball greats tainted by the steroid controversy. "nightly news" begins now. >>> from nbc news world headquarters in new york, this is "nbc nightly news" with brian williams. >> good evening. we begin tonight with this flu outbreak across 41 states in this country now. and at this time last week, it

ninety's in particular where the swiss banks even set up huge massive offices in the middle of american cities and when they did so it looked to us as if they were really risking everything small when they go and they're a very very tiny bunch going to decide to actually it's just not worth the risk even being a bank because they've crossed swords with the i.r.s. they've obviously had one too many toothpaste tubes diamonds or whatever other traffic methods they were using and the swiss banks it's the news that everybody you know and it's becoming for many many years which is you have to play fair in a global environment and you can take money from people in the public but you can't just expect a lot of those people to evade tax yeah and i think as well read in the last five years aside there's been a lot of rules and regulations that have come into play and it's really come to a halt now at the moment and you think that this is just the tip of the ice i do think that there's more to come in terms of swiss banks and skeletons coming out. i think really most of the skeletons are all of the close

have a better shot at than, say, other places where large distances have to be traversed in most american cities to kind of get to the places you want to get. here in san francisco, we have been blessed by the geometry where our trips are short where 40 years ago we realized that this was the way we will have to kind of meet our future. the iron call part of that is at the same time europe also discovered that and they made strides to towards actually implementing these alternative choices, we have found it very difficult to kind of wean ourselves from the convenience of being able to. i say it is still convenient to drive. as long as the alternatives are not just as convenient, we won't be able to make our case about our travel modes as contribution to the detriment of the environment or to the detriment of our health as we all know the sun is by date getting madder at us and angle grier at us and we are getting fat. we got to do something about it. this is the time to do it. we have the best opportunity here with these four guests from the german marshall fund and i was hoping that supervisor

and choosing the succession the mayor that followed him as the first openly gay mayor of a large american city. david cicilline nei that is now in congress and the mayor that followed him in the city's hispanic mayor reflecting that population. i compare him to huey long in the sense that they're both incredibly charismatic figures. they were both petitions beloved and in spite of their flaws and the corruption that went on in the administration they had a populist evangelical fervor that spoke to their ability and he was seen as a potential to become a potential presidential candidate and as of the issue since it seems he was seen as somebody that could be a national figure in washington. and in this pivotal moment in a career in the 1970's, he was in his first term as the mayor and there was a seat that opened up in rhode island, and he thought about whether he should run or not and he wound up being outmaneuvered by john who went out to the legendary senate career, and a lot of people think the was a turning point because if he'd gotten out of providence the ultimately to lead him down and

but some americans cities like san francisco are pushing hard to make databases easier to read in a common computer language. expect more of that in the future. >>> all right. "fortune" has a new list this week of best places to work. google topped it. number one in many ways. no surprise that google got tops. what is a surprise, how few silicon valley companies actually hit the top 20. so you've got google at number one. it's number six where you see the next one, hometown hero net app, number one last year. dream works animation on the peninsula gets 12th. and sales force 19th. so that's four out of the top twenty. if you're milwaukee, marla, that sounds like a great statistic. but we're used to dominating the top 20. so only four this year. >> not bad, though. overall. >>> thank you, scott. the san francisco giants' world series trophies from 2010 and 2012 have taken flight. the two are in the air right now making their way to the big apple where the team originally started. our own bob redell got a sneak peek inside the virgin american flight before takeoff. >> reporter: of all the pas

with the flu at epidemic levels, already in some american cities and now with the media coverage of it having a predictable effe.

and one major american city has declared this a public health emergency. abc's linsey davis is on the front lines for us tonight. >> reporter: in boston today, the major sounded the alarm. >> today i am declaring a public health emergency in the city of boston. >> reporter: at mass general hospital, there are now 24-hour waits to be admitted. and when you do get in, doctors and nurses will be wearing protective masks. >> what's really been a problem is the increase in volume. we are seeing unpress dancedent volume. >> reporter: it's not just boston. one pennsylvania hospital is so inundated with the flu, they've set up a special tent outside the emergency room to deal with those patients. and in minnesota, where they've already had almost 1,000 confirmed cases of the flu, they're trying everything to stop the spread. >> please, we employ you to stay home when you are sick. >> reporter: for up to five days, you may be infected and contagious without a single symptom. on day one of your symptoms, the very first sign, your fever will spike, as high at 104, ev

economists who study prices across 20 american cities tonight revealing they see the biggest increase year to year in more than six years. home values up 5.5%. barbara corcoran founded the largest real estate company in new york. >> we haven't seen this in probably seven years. >> reporter: so, what has buyers lining up? in some cases, outbidding one another? those historically low interest rates, still at lows not seen since the early 1970s. >> hi, abc. >> hi, david. >> reporter: we first met this family in ann arbor, michigan, when they bought their new home. the reason they went for it? not surprising. >> the mortgage rates are so low, it was just the best time. it was a steal. >> reporter: ten months in a row now of housing prices going up. up most in phoenix, nearly 23%. this home in scottsdale, arizona, a realtor telling us late today, had her client listed it a year ago, $275,000. she waited until now, and sold it after three days on the market. the price? $365,000. nearly $100,000 more than the value last year. also on the seller's side, there just aren't many houses out there

with the flu at epidemic levels, already in some american cities and now with the media coverage of it, it's all having a predictable effect. while it's late in the game, people are streaming in to get flu shots, hoping to avoid a very serious illness. the kind that has overwhelmed even some hospitals. one doctor in minnesota where there have been 27 deaths due to the flu said today the spread of this virus this winter is pretty much unparalleled. some places are running out of inokay legislations. others are dealing with the sick. in a moment, what the doctor says about what to do if this strikes. but we begin with a doctor who has visited three hospitals in the flu zone over just the last three days. we have two reports to start off with tonight, beginning with dr. nan nancy snyderman at the hospital of the university of pennsylvania in philadelphia tonight. nancy, good evening. >> good evening, brian. state by state the number of cases of influenza and influenza related deaths continue to tick upward. in the state of pennsylvania, more than 20 people have been killed by this virus,

one american city has now declared a full-on flu emergency as deaths from the illness increase and hospitals try to keep up. early detection. big new hope tonight in the fight against ovarian cancer. the deadliest form for women. there has been a big development. >>> rules of the road. how far can police officers go when they pull you over? the story could have a big impact for all of us on the road. >>> and fallen stars. lance armstrong set to open up to oprah as the hall of fame door is shut on some baseball greats tainted by the steroid controversy. "nightly news" begins now. >>> from nbc news world headquarters in new york, this is "nbc nightly news" with brian williams. >> good evening. we begin tonight with this flu outbreak across 41 states in this country now. and at this time last week, it sadly had claimed 18 lives. well, tonight in just the space of a week's time, 18 deaths have now been reported, just today in one state, in massachusetts. where the city of boston has now declared a public health emergency, and it's now a big front in the spread of this flu during this already mea

. >> in the travel industry we're looking always for this hot new american city.ortland, oregon, has had that crown for many years. pittsburgh may steal the crown. >> pittsburgh is the newport land. >> yes. it has its own mini silicon valley. it has growing restaurants, microbreweries. again, affordable. definitely worth a look. >> overseas travel, marsailles, france. >> second biggest city in france, east coast. there's a new museum. celebrations starting on january 12th. and much, much cheaper than paris. not a cheap city by any means. if you want a taste of france and fantastic seafood try marseille. >> also croatia, you say, is a sought after travel destination. >> joining the eu in 2013. another good reason to go. over 1,200 islands. definitely go inland to the national park which has 16 interlinking lakes and waterfalls, great for treking and boating. >> sounds beautiful. if you want to go south, go to central america. you also think nicaragua will become more competitive. i heard it's like the new eco tourist place to go, right? >> new coasta costa rica. it