Alex Pearlstein

While students at Thomas Jefferson High in Arlington, Virginia outperform many of their U.S. counterparts, it's not because the school has superior infrastructure. Mold, bugs and falling ceilings are common.

While New Orleans' economy struggles to return to its pre-storm levels, cities such as Mobile, Alabama are reaping the benefits of renewed economic vigor.

Though the central city's numerous building cranes and new developments fueled population-gain assumptions, new government and regional estimates seem to confirm that intown Atlanta is experiencing a continuing renaissance.

Travelers are increasingly out of luck as bed and breakfast inns across the country revert back to being private homes.

In "DISASTER: Hurricane Katrina and the Failure of Homeland Security," authors Christopher Cooper and Robert Block shed light on the series of actions that led to the government's woeful response to the catastrophe.