any american recognizes that we are suffering from a long period of underinvestment in our basic infrastructure now, you're right to say that recovery act had a substantial package of investments. a lot of that is still in the pipeline. but this is a long-term need. we're not going to catch up in just a few months or a few years. what the president has proposed is to accelerate some future investments, to add to that pipeline of future commitments so we're doing more sooner to strengthen infrastructure and improve our long-term growth prospects and get americans back to work more quickly. >> the average guy wants to know why is it taking so long? how come we're not really seeing the momentum that one would expect at this moment in the cycle of recovery? >> this was a terribly savage recession. and because people were so scared about the consequences of financial crisis, they cut savagely. we are still living with the scars and the damage of that basic crisis. and recovery by deaf scissionfi always going to be harder. it's going to take us a while to dig out of this. we've been growing for more

it's an area that's seen underinvestment. kind of a... little bit different area of market st. than the area more to the east or further west. so the idea of looking at redevelopment in that area is to see if you stimulate or can enhance investment in that part of the city. carolyn: there's been lots and lots of different plans over the years over how to redevelop mid-market, and what to do and stuff, but none of them have ever come into reality. so hopefully this is the plan that will make mid-market, and therefore make all of market street, the street that it should be. chris: there's a disagreement between a group largely backed by the property owners and the developers themselves, who want to minimize the amount of concessions being asked for by the city in exchange for this enhanced local investment, and a group more supported by the residents of the area, who are looking for enhanced benefits given to them by developers which include higher affordable housing in the area of developments along mid-market. charles: they oughta take redevelopment plans and sit on them for ab

we've been underinvesting in what we have. >> reporter: the problem with bridges became impossible toe in 2007 when the i 35 bridge collapsed in minneapolis. 13 people died. mike sweeney began rowing to work in vermont last october when engineers became so alarmed after an underwater inspection of the pilings holding up that bridge... >> we have a vertical crack. >> reporter: ...that they closed it with just ten minutes' warning. no lives were lost but life hasn't been the same since. >> 80% of my business came across that bridge. >> reporter: lisa owns what is used to be known as the bridge restaurant-- until she decided to change the name-- on the vermont side of lake champlain. on a snowy day last december, she watched them blow up that bridge. ( explosion ) >> wow! >> reporter: it wasn't worth saving. now the only way across is either by ferry or a 90-minute drive. a new bridge will cost at least $70 million. and spending money is part of the solution. china spends 7% of its g.d.p. on infrastructure. india: 5%. but the united states spends less than 2% and engineers think the u.s.

one place where we significantly underinvested was in parental engagement.n great parental programs. $270 million. we're partnering closely with an epa doing great work. where participants step up, when parents and teachers partner, i promise you great things are going to happen for our nation's young people. >> that's easier said than done. this is a real dilemma. there are neighborhoods where you have a single parent. that parent is probably working two jobs. they're disconnected from the daily school. there's a little school here in new york. they're thinking of keeping the library open until 6:00 at night to make it a community center of some kind. but they have to go through a lot of hoops to get that done. >> they shouldn't have to. that's hugely important. one thing i was most proud of us is we had 150 schools that were community centers opened 12, 13, 14 hours a day. the idea of schools being opened six hours a day, five days a week, nine months a year, that was based on a different calendar. none of our children work in the fields. our schools have