Now more than ever Americans realize change is possible, that we can act together to set this country on a new course that better responds to today¹s realities. The current economic crisis, instability in the Middle East, the wave of foreclosures and increasing evidence of climate change all suggest it is not our parents' reality anymore. The American Dream is alive and well but it is evolving, and we must push forward with an agenda that keeps America competitive and makes us all more financially secure. If the single-family home in the suburbs was the American Dream of yore, the new American Dream also includes lofts, townhomes, live-work spaces and apartments in walkable, mixed-use neighborhoods near high-quality transit ­­-- neighborhoods that will go a long way toward setting America on the path to fiscal and environmental sustainability and security. America has become more diverse and we must build and retrofit our cities and our suburbs to keep up with this new reality. At Reconnecting America we believe we can provide affordable, convenient, healthy lifestyles for Americans of all ages and incomes in diverse and human-scaled communities. Reconnecting America is well-positioned and working hard to make this 21st Century American Dream a reality.

At Rail~Volution 2008, October 26-30 in San Francisco, Reconnecting America CEO Shelley Poticha gave a talk on Creating Communities in the Era of Climate Change.

Everybody’s been talking about rising gas prices, our dependence on foreign oil, and how burning fossil fuels hurts the environment – and our bank accounts. But here’s something we rarely hear about: It’s the way that we’re planning and building our communities that’s forcing us to consume more and more oil, robbing us of our precious time, and making life in America unaffordable.

It’s time to rethink the way we use the land around us. We need more options, and not just the ones you’ve been hearing about on the news. Wind, solar energy and biofuels are all important to our future, but they won’t shorten the distances Americans have to travel to get home from work at night, or decrease the traffic that chokes our highways.

Next time you’re stuck going 20 mph in the fast lane, waiting forever to get through a traffic light, or trying to find your way out of a giant concrete parking structure, remember that it doesn’t have to be this way. It’s time for America to rediscover the human scale. It’s time to build communities for people, not cars.”

This is the script of "The Human Scale," Reconnecting America’s first video about the role of walkable, transit-oriented, mixed-use neighborhoods in addressing the enormous challenges Americans face today. This country’s national transportation policy has barely changed since the 1950s, when gas was 20 cents a gallon. The world today is a very different one and it demands a 21st century transportation policy. Reconnecting America is a core partner in the Transportation For America campaign, www.t4america.org.

CNT’s new Housing + Transportation Affordability Index interactive mapping tool has just launched; the new website - http://htaindex.cnt.org - will enable planners, policy-makers, housing and transit advocates, and individuals to calculate the true costs of housing and transportation in cities across the United States.