Broadband is the great infrastructure challenge of the early 21st century. Broadband is a foundation for economic growth, job creation, global competitiveness and a better way of life. The number of Americans who have broadband at home has grown from 8 million in 2000 to nearly 200 million last year. But. 100 million Americans do not have broadband at home. In early 2009, Congress directed the FCC to develop a National Broadband Plan to ensure that every American has ¿access to broadband capability.¿ This plan must also include a strategy for achieving affordability and maximizing use of broadband. The plan presented here ensures that the entire broadband ecosystem ¿ networks, devices, content and applications¿ is healthy. Illus.

This is the Federal Highway Administration's (FHWA's) annual report. It explains what FHWA does and how it works to create and maintain the best transportation system in the world. For more than 100 years, the FHWA has concentrated on building and repairing the highway infrastructure. In the last decade of the 20th century, FHWA's role expanded dramatically and is now reflected in five strategic goals: Safety, Mobility, Productivity, Human and Natural Environment, and National Security. The report begins with opening words by Kenneth R. Wykle, Federal Highway Administrator, continues with a brief historical perspective and comments on the status of FHWA at the beginning of the 21st century. The five goals are then examined individually and their accomplishments enumerated. Concluding sections provide information on FHWA's reorganization in 1999, FHWA's financial statement, and a directory of FHWA Headquarters, Resource Centers, Division Offices, and Federal Lands Highway Division Offices.

Connecting California is an innovative reader that illuminates the direct historical connections between the state of California and the United States. Featuring a selection of key documents, essays, and images from the past, the book illustrates California's cultural, political, and economic importance to the development of early and modern America. Literary and transnational themes are explored to create a comprehensive yet reader-friendly learning experience for students. The text progresses chronologically and includes an expansive array of source types designed to appeal to learners of all backgrounds and interests, with topics like food, dress, music, sports, and architecture included alongside more traditional subject matter. The second edition features streamlined information to make the text more accessible and approachable, as well as additional primary documents, and discussion around, California Indians, Spanish-to-Mexican rule, and the Fifteenth Amendment, which granted California voting rights to African Americans and Asian Americans. Appropriate for all levels of U.S. history study, Connecting California offers students a wide spectrum of resources that embody the unique eras, demographics, and geographies of both California and American history.

Connecting Canadians examines the role of community informatics, or community-based ICT initiatives, in this process of transition. The Community Research Alliance for Community Innovation and Networking (CRACIN) set out to study how civil society groups--in locations ranging from Vancouver to Labrador and from remote Northern communities to Toronto and Montréal--sought to enable local communities to develop on their own terms within the broader context of federal and provincial policies and programs. Drawing on diverse theoretical perspectives, from sociology to library and information sciences to women's studies, the essays not only document specific local initiatives but analyze the overall trajectory of the government's vision of a digitally inclusive Canada.

In metropolitan areas across the country, you can hear the laments over the loss of green space to new subdivisions and strip malls. But some city residents have taken unprecedented measures to protect their open land, and a growing movement seeks not only to preserve these lands but to link them in green corridors. Many land-use and urban planning professionals, along with landscape architects and environmental advocates, have joined in efforts to preserve natural areas. MetroGreen answers their call for a deeper exploration of the latest thinking and newest practices in this growing conservation field. In ten case studies of U.S. and Canadian cities paired for comparative analysis-Toronto and Chicago, Calgary and Denver, and Vancouver and Portland among them-Erickson looks closely at the motivations and objectives for connecting open spaces across metropolitan areas. She documents how open-space networks have been successfully created and protected, while also highlighting the critical human and ecological benefits of connectivity. MetroGreen's unique focus on several cities rather than a single urban area offers a perspective on the political, economic, cultural, and environmental conditions that affect open-space planning and the outcomes of its implementation.