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President Obama faces a new problem this year: America as a whole is improving, but most cities are getting left behind.

Sixty percent of U.S. cities have not recovered to their pre-recession levels, according to the Brookings Institution's new MetroMonitor report, which ranks the economic health of 300 cities in the world.

America is a tale of two economies: cities focused on tech and energy are thriving while some regions, like the so-called Rustbelt, continue to lag behind.

Related: America's Most Innovative Cities

"Some parts of the country are high-flying, they're doing great," says Joe Parilla, one of the authors of the Brookings report. "Other parts probably feel like they're, if not in a recession, they still feel like they're not recovering."

Austin, Houston and Raleigh -- energy and tech focused cities -- topped the list of fastest growing metro areas in 2014, according to Brookings. Those cities have an average unemployment rate of 4.3%, well below the national 5.6%.

They are doing so well that they actually beat out Beijing, Mumbai and Shanghai in economic health last year if you take into account both GDP and employment gains.

Related: Still waiting for a pay raise? You're not alone

The other America: Meanwhile, several U.S. cities located near the Great Lakes ranked in the bottom 50 cities worldwide for growth. Cleveland, Syracuse and Dayton had either flat or negative growth in 2014, according to Brookings.

Syracuse was the lowest ranked American city: it placed just above Caracas, Venezuela, where food shortages and sky-high inflation are provoking violent protests.

These "Struggle City" economies relied heavily on manufacturing jobs in the past and were severely hit with large layoffs during the recession. Now they're trying to reform their economies, but their populations are dwindling, which challenges the value of their housing markets, Parilla says.

"A lot of these places that were so reliant on manufacturing are struggling to retool that part of their economy to compete in the 21st century," Parilla says.

Brookings uses growth in employment and gross domestic product per capita, a broad measure of economic activity divided by a city's population, to rank cities.

The report also reinforces the trend that wage growth remains flat while the economy adds jobs. Almost all U.S. cities on Brookings' list had more employment growth than GDP per capita gains between 2013 and 2014.

Look at Raleigh, one of the nation's fastest growing cities: its job growth increased four times more than its GDP per capita growth last year. Brookings assigns a status to every city it ranks, and Raleigh's status may serve as a microcosm to the national sentiment: "partially recovered."

CNNMoney (New York) First published January 22, 2015: 8:17 AM ET

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Struggle City: Most U.S. cities haven't recovered yet

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Sixty percent of U.S. cities have not recovered to their pre-recession levels, according to the Brookings Institution's new MetroMonitor report, which ranks the economic health of 300 cities in the world. America is a tale of two economies: cities focused on tech and energy are thriving while some regions, like the so-called Rustbelt, continue to lag behind.

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The recession in Los Angeles was different from the recession in Detroit, which was different from the recession in Oklahoma City. But not in the way you might think. As the "Average Earnings Per Job in 2011" map shows, income tends to be higher in the Northeast, in the mid-Atlantic region, and in states with major cities. Tracking change in earnings over the course of the recession, however, produces a very different map ("Growth in Average Earnings Per Job, 2007-2011")-one in which rural regions in the middle of the country experienced a surge in income even as wealthier states watched wages stagnate.

Many of the industries that were hit hardest by the recession-finance, information, and construction, for example-are prevalent in higher-earning states, while many of those that grew in spite of the downturn are clustered in lower-earning states. The result is that the average paycheck in Nebraska, while lower than that in New York, is growing much more quickly.

Central to this transformation is America's natural-resources boom. Over the past 10 years, new drilling technologies have cracked previously inaccessible reserves of shale oil and gas in North Dakota, West Virginia, and other states. So as the recession descended on the rest of the country, these states saw employment and wages mushroom, not just for rig workers but for waitresses, truck drivers, real-estate agents, and everyone else who keeps a thriving economy thriving.

Nicole Allan is a former senior editor at The Atlantic.

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Where the Recession Hit Us Hardest: An Interactive Map

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The recession in Los Angeles was different from the recession in Detroit, which was different from the recession in Oklahoma City. But not in the way you might think. As the "Average Earnings Per Job in 2011" map shows, income tends to be higher in the Northeast, in the mid-Atlantic region, and in states with major cities.

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11. Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA
> Post-recession chg. concentrated poverty rate: 9 percentage points
> Concentrated poverty rate: 13%
> Poor population: 763,891
> Post-recession chg. extremely poor neighborhoods: 31
> Poverty rate: 18.0%

The Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario metro region was more severely affected by the recession than most of the country. The poverty rate rose from 13.3% in 2009 to 18.0% - one of the highest poverty rates among major metropolitan areas. As poverty intensified, it also became more concentrated.

While the region is one of the largest U.S. metros by area, extreme poverty - defined as a 40% poverty rate or greater in a neighborhood - is limited to a fraction of the total geographic area, primarily around the more urban areas of Riverside and San Bernardino.

10. North Port-Sarasota-Bradenton, FL
> Post-recession chg. concentrated poverty rate: 9 percentage points
> Concentrated poverty rate: 12%
> Poor population: 94,428
> Post-recession chg. extremely poor neighborhoods: 4
> Poverty rate: 13.2%

While there was a general increase in concentrated poverty across most large U.S. urban areas, the increase was particularly dramatic in the North Port-Sarasota-Bradenton metropolitan area on the Gulf Coast of Florida.

The area's Hispanic population, in particular, has struggled with a severe increase in concentrated poverty. In the few years leading up to and during the recession, an estimated 4% of the North Port-Sarasota-Bradenton area's poor Hispanic residents lived in extremely impoverished neighborhoods. Now, 26% of the poor Hispanic population live in extremely impoverished neighborhoods. This was the largest increase in concentrated extreme poverty among the demographic of any major metropolitan area.

9. Syracuse, NY
> Post-recession chg. concentrated poverty rate: 10 percentage points
> Concentrated poverty rate: 32%
> Poor population: 94,210
> Post-recession chg. extremely poor neighborhoods: 7
> Poverty rate: 15.4%

Many of the areas with highly concentrated extreme poverty tend to have very high poverty rates. Syracuse, New York, however, is an exception. While the metro's poverty rate of 15.4% is only 45th highest among the 100 largest metropolitan areas, its concentrated poverty is the fourth highest in the country. Further, the concentration worsened significantly in the past few years.

As is the case nationwide with extreme concentrated poverty, poor nonwhites are much more likely to live in extremely impoverished neighborhoods than poor whites. Of the black and Hispanic poor people living in the Syracuse metropolitan area 58% live in very poor neighborhoods, while only 17% of poor whites live in isolated poverty.

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11 Cities Hit Hardest by Extreme Poverty

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11. Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA > Post-recession chg. concentrated poverty rate: 9 percentage points > Concentrated poverty rate: 13% > Poor population: 763,891 > Post-recession chg. extremely poor neighborhoods: 31 > Poverty rate: 18.0% The Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario metro region was more severely affected by the recession than most of the country.

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A new farm-to-table restaurant selling locally sourced pork and seasonally appropriate vegetables moves into a rehabbed insane asylum. A famous director renovates an 80-year-old theater in the heart of downtown. Coffee shops, breweries and more restaurants pop up and begin serving all their drinks in mason jars. Popularity soars and the rents rise.

Sound familiar? It's not Pittsburgh or Brooklyn or Detroit. The affordable housing crunch and fire-breathing NIMBYism often associated with America's rapidly gentrifying cities has reached our resort towns - from the Rocky Mountains to Northern Michigan. Small towns, they're just like us!

Traverse City, Michigan, with its waterways and nearby ski slopes, is experiencing such a boom. Portland, Maine, a funky town and artists' haven, is mired in an affordable housing debate that has pitted longtime residents against developers trying to foster smart growth. And Breckenridge, Colorado, has morphed from a town filled with ski bums and bartenders to a destination where the jet set flock to their million-dollar second homes. The rise of telecommuting, the retirement of upper-middle-class baby boomers downsizing into more manageable homes near city centers, and the urban preference of millennials has quickly turned these dream towns into dream cities.

"A lot of people are looking to both downsize and retain the ability to live a somewhat urban lifestyle, but not have to do it in an expensive or congested place like it is in a downtown of a large city," Stockton Williams, executive director of the Urban Land Institute's Terwilliger Center for Housing, says. "It makes sense that people now want to live in a quieter, perhaps quainter place, and still want to have that kind of lifestyle."

Resort towns rely heavily on the service industry, from hotel workers and chairlift operators to cooks and cleaning staff. For years, cities like Portland and Breckenridge and Traverse City were desirable, offbeat towns with affordable rents and ample housing stock. And though these towns vary in size, topography and character, the question remains the same: What happens when the affordable backwoods dream town turns into an urban destination?

Big-City Conflicts in a Small Town

A view of the bay and half the pay. Traverse City residents have repeated this mantra - a reference to the Grand Traverse Bay, the slice of Lake Michigan the city sits on, and the largely dismal pay scale - for decades. It was a small town where you could buy a home either on the lake or near it on a teacher's salary. Now, that's a pipe dream.

Traverse City only has 15,042 people. But the larger region, Grand Traverse County (which is effectively Traverse City), hit 90,782 in 2014. That's up 16.9 percent from the year 2000. During that same period, the state of Michigan's population declined by .3 percent. Though that's a minuscule statewide population decline, it illustrates the growing popularity of the region. Only 12 percent of people who work in Traverse City live in the city proper.

I would know. I grew up there, on Old Mission Peninsula, a small finger of land that juts out between East and West Grand Traverse Bay. When I moved away in the fall of 2003, it was a region sprinkled with wineries and dominated by cherry farms. (The city calls itself the Cherry Capital of the World.) It was, my parents repeatedly told me, a nice place to grow up. And they're right! The region's resources - the Caribbean-blue waters of Lake Michigan were a five-minute walk from my high school, and endless miles of trails and secret bonfire pits dot unmarked county roads - provided the best backyard an adolescent could ask for.

These days, celebrity chef Mario Batali owns a second home on the lake and Michael Moore has hosted a film festival in the city every summer for a decade. In 2013, a restaurateur couple from Brooklyn - who, in a bizarre twist, I worked for when I first moved to New York back in 2007 - opened The Little Fleet, an open-air bar in downtown Traverse City with a rotating cast of excellent food trucks in the parking lot. There appear to be more breweries than public schools.

For me, a 30-something who lives in Brooklyn, all this change has made Traverse City even more fun to visit in the summer. ("Of course we all like to tie one on downtown," Jim Carruthers, the city's mayor, told me when we discussed how to balance the burgeoning downtown with the region's actual needs.) The city's profile has grown as magazines and national TV shows have descended onto the shores of Lake Michigan. But the meteoric growth has alienated some residents who liked it better when Traverse City was a sleepy beach town.

Now, longtime residents and council members are squaring off against a proposed 9-story development on the edge of the bustling downtown. The tower, dubbed RiverWest, would create 162 new units (64 - or 40 percent - of which would be affordable) and roughly 25,000 square feet of ground-floor retail space that likely would be gobbled up in a heartbeat. The affordable units are intended for people earning wages on par with the service industry - $10 to $15 an hour, developers said - and will be priced from $557 to $784 monthly.

Last year the planning commission approved the development, on what has been a glorified parking lot for as long as anyone can remember, but there's a wrinkle: Developers had to apply for a special land use permit for the 9-story plan, which exceeds the 60 feet the city's zoning code allows. City commissioners approved the permit, but in late December local residents filed an appeal, putting the project on hold until the local courts hear the case.

"The problem here is twofold. One, they're putting 10 pounds of shit in a 5-pound box," says Grant Parsons, the attorney representing Save Our Downtown, the group that filed the appeal. "They're crowding us out. Number two, they're doing it at taxpayer expense. These developers are gaming the tax incentive system to make their money and these guys are what the judge called corporate welfare."

The infighting that has long characterized development in America's urban centers, from the Lower East Side to the Mission District, is now at the forefront of growing small towns like Traverse City and Portland, Maine. These small towns are no strangers to debate - you could even argue that small towns are more combative and catty - but they've traded arguments over proposed stoplights and school millages for fights about bike lanes and glassy apartment buildings.

The RiverWest saga began in 2011 when Michigan's economic development agency granted the project a Brownfield Michigan Business Tax Credit worth up to $5.6 million and contingent upon receiving a certificate of occupancy before March 2021 as well as $2.4 million in tax increment financing (TIF) support from Traverse City's downtown development authority.

City Commissioner Gary Howe says that those opponents who say the project will be a drain on public coffers aren't considering the new tax revenue the development will deliver to the city.

"This isn't corporate welfare. That language has no basis and appears to be being used intentionally to create an emotional response and rally the troops as if it is part of some large political machine," Howe says. "What is currently a private surface parking lot at a per acre taxable value of $7,800, will, at very conservative estimates, become a property with a per acre value of $141,000 the year after it is built, or about $250,000 in tax revenue."

So while the proposed development is tangled up in courts - both sides expect a decision by spring - residents of this small town continue to debate the future. The constant refrain from opposition is a desire to maintain the "small-town character" and "resort-town charm." And, as one might expect, the supporters of the development and increased density skew young.

"Fortunately, it's been healthy for the most part. Unfortunately, there's been a division between the young professionals and the retirees and the baby boomers who are against this," Carruthers says. "So much of this has been blown out of proportion due to the under-30ish crowd and service workers who want to live in the core and ditch the car."

Downtown Traverse City is quaint - a friend who grew up in Detroit once told me it reminded him of Pleasantville - a roughly one-mile strip populated by bars, retail and restaurants. And while RiverWest has become a lightning rod, it wouldn't even be the tallest building downtown. The 125-foot Park Place hotel, built in 1930, is nearly 30 feet taller than the proposed 96-foot RiverWest. And a 10-story low-income housing development is adjacent to the proposed site.

There's certainly a market for more rental units. Already, rents are spiking in the city and for the first time in recent memory, people are voicing urgent concerns about affordability. A 2014 market analysis from LandUseUSA found that, in an aggressive scenario, there is a maximum annual potential for 452 new owner-occupied units and 2,462 new renter-occupied units over five years. That's nearly 2,300 owner-occupied homes and 12,310 rental units over a five-year period.

The city isn't coming close to that.

"Every study done over the past five years has told us we need to diversify our housing stock and we're just now beginning to feel the pain of inaction," says Bradley Matson, a 30-year-old Traverse City native and the organizer of Think TC, a local community organization.

This is all eerily familiar to the residents of Portland, Maine, where apartment vacancy rates are hovering around zero and the average market rent for a two-bedroom has increased by 40 percent over the past five years. According to Zillow, Portland's median rent rose 17.4 percent from May 2014 to May 2015.

"We have a rental housing crisis in Portland," says Dana Totman, president and CEO of the affordable housing group Avesta Housing. "The price of rent is not aligned with our traditional rental households and it appears the problem is getting worse."

The median household income of renters in the Portland region was $30,601 in 2014, down from nearly $35,000 in 2010. But, according to a report from the Portland Press Herald, the average two-bedroom apartment in Portland was renting for $1,560 in 2015 (nearly 20 percent more than 2014). Rent-burdened Americans, according to HUD, include households that spend more than 30 percent of their income on housing; anything over 50 percent is considered severe rent burdened. Factoring in that median income, anything more than about $1,250 a month for many Portland households is beyond severe rent burdened, which falls well under what the red-hot Portland rental market demands.

And, much like Traverse City, the region is in the middle of a protracted battle over a proposed development that would alter the fabric of the region. A development that some policymakers and advocates feel would at least help alleviate some of the current housing crunch.

CPB2, a group of local developers, wants to convert a 10-acre parcel of land on the city's eastern waterfront into a new neighborhood. They plan to renovate old industrial brick warehouses into lofts with ground-floor commercial space and turn the mostly dormant piece of land into a stylish destination. The developers' vision sounds like the romantic ideal of a European village - think Moveable Feast-era Hemingway with cafes, bars, artisanal shops and art galleries - one block from the Atlantic. They want to build urban amenities not unlike those found in that other Portland (with the exception of mass transit) and drop it on the picturesque coast of Maine.

58 Fore Street would have roughly 400 total residential units as currently proposed. Developers estimate that it would probably be an even split between rentals and owner-occupied units. Ten percent of the units would be affordable, in accordance with the city's inclusionary zoning ordinance.

Portland has long been a magnet for artists. But, with the rise of telecommuting, more millennials and young families have flocked to the southeast coast of Maine. "Work tends to be far more portable than it used to be," Jonathan Culley, a Portland developer, says. "You could live anywhere doing what you're doing. People are coming to Portland and bringing their work with them. We see a lot of that."

It has drastically changed the vibe and face of the city, which boasts a population of 66,666 (the greater metro area totals nearly 524,000). The vision for 58 Fore Street is a reflection of that. The city has always had a bustling downtown with good restaurants and art galleries, but now a younger generation is seeking more density in a city that lacks it.

A referendum opposing 58 Fore Street on the basis that it would block some residents' view of the coast was shot down last November. Development in America's biggest cities has produced some upsetting arguments, pitting current residents against new faces and market forces. But it can feel more personal in small towns, where you are likely to run into your development foe at the grocery store and even more likely to see them at parent-teacher conferences, or when you take out your trash.

"I was very surprised at how unpleasant the whole experience was," says James Brady, one of the developers behind 58 Fore Street. "It was unfortunate the way it ended up that way because I think it's good for people to be neighborly and respectful of each other and it wasn't always that way."

"Development ... can feel more personal in small towns, where you are likely to run into your development foe at the grocery store and even more likely to see them at parent-teacher conferences, or when you take out your trash."

And, as political arguments are wont to do these days, it spilled over onto Facebook. Soul of Portland, the opposition group composed of mostly longtime residents afraid of losing their views of the ocean, took some heat. "It's deliciously ironic that a bunch of yuppie NIMBYs so concerned with their scenic views of beauty would leave trash from their failed campaign littering the neighborhoods they claimed to want to protect," one commenter vented, posting a photo of a wayward yard sign. "Thanks for the scenic view of slacktivist hypocrisy, you lazy-ass litterbugs."

Soul of Portland, who, in various op-eds in local papers have maintained they are not anti-development, did not reply to multiple requests for comment.

As more people decide they want the open space and charm of a small town without having to sacrifice the hip restaurants, decent espresso and lively streets of a bigger city, the affordability that made places like Traverse City a dream town in the first place has begun to fade. Urbanization has been good for business - more hotels and bars mean more jobs - but now these former backwoods gems are starting to grapple with the same issues facing urban centers around the world. How do you foster smart growth in a city center without pushing the workforce to the fringes?

The Breckenridge Model

Just as in Brooklyn or Detroit, the bigger and more pressing issue is not necessarily more density but the type of density. Specifically: the rise of the luxury condo.

"The fear right now is that it's all going to be higher-end condos and higher-end apartment buildings," says Portland developer Drew Sigfridson, echoing the concerns coming out of these much larger cities. "And that it's going to force out people that have lower incomes."

The luxury condo market in downtown Traverse City is downright bonkers. As of January, $74.7 million worth of downtown condos are on the market, up from $18 million in April. That's over $50 million in luxury apartments flooding the market in eight months. And people are buying them - 83 condos sold in 2015, up from 67 in 2014. The average price has risen from $240,597 in 2014 to $401,156 in early 2016, according to Andrew Koons, a local real estate broker at Coldwell Banker Schmidt Realtors.

"High-end condos are all the rage in Traverse City," says the gregarious Carruthers, who served as city commissioner for eight years before he was elected mayor in November. "I don't get it. I wouldn't pay a million dollars for a condo downtown."

As developers fight to build more pricey condos - though it's worth reiterating here that RiverWest would have 64 affordable units - the real issue of affordability for these towns' service industry workers is pushed aside. The same way that lower-income New Yorkers are consistently priced deeper and deeper into the outer boroughs, residents of Traverse City, Portland and Breckenridge are moving farther and farther from where they work and racking up hefty gas bills - and plenty of carbon emissions - as a result.

And the demand for affordable housing close to town is very real. In late January, a new affordable housing complex with 72 units and a separate complex with 112 rehabbed units opened a short drive from the city center. Both filled up at a record pace and have waiting lists "going out at least a year," according to City Commissioner Brian Haas.

"If you really think about it, affordable housing policies are meant to help people get out of poverty," Howe says. "You don't help people get out of poverty by putting them 20 miles south of the core area of services, and you don't help them get out of poverty when you put them in places where everyone around them is in the same predicament. You integrate them."

This is where Traverse City and Portland could take a page out of Breckenridge's playbook.

In 1988, lawmakers in Breckenridge sensing a looming affordability crisis implemented a deed-restricted workforce housing program (occupants must work in Breckenridge) that has created 838 affordable units - 473 owner occupied, 365 rentals - since its inception. That might seem like an insignificant number of units, but with a population of roughly 4,800 in Breckenridge proper and 28,296 in surrounding Summit County the program houses an estimated 24 percent of the city's local workforce, according to Laurie Best, Breckenridge's long-range planner. And though it might be a small town, there are 76 restaurants and bars, 203 shops, and 494 hotels, inns and bed-and-breakfasts. Simply put: The city relies almost exclusively on the service industry.

"We need about 6,500 employees," Best says. "Deed restrictions are one way to ensure that [affordable] housing is available to the local workforce. I am a perfect example. I live in a market-rate home because I built my house in 1989 and was therefore able to afford my home. When I leave the community my house will not be affordable to the next local planner. So, where does that next town planner live? Our hope is that the units we are building will help us replace the market units we are losing and we can stay even."

Breckenridge is in the process of building an additional 167 deed-restricted rental units. "Even with these additional units we'll be short of what we need by 400 to 600 units and that gap will continue to grow as the market price of homes continues to rise and we continue to lose the market-rate units that have been historically occupied by local workforce to retirees, second homeowners and short-term rentals," Best says. "I think the gap will always exist but at least we can try to offset that."

The affordable housing program is a boon for local residents, but Breckenridge is still facing a housing crunch. "This rental crisis just hit us all of a sudden," Breckenridge Town Manager Tim Gagen says. "We've never had a winter quite like this where people are talking about living in cars because they can't find a rental unit."

Breckenridge native and restaurant worker Jenna Sheely felt it firsthand. After growing up in Summit County, she moved away for college and then lived in Crested Butte shortly after graduation. She moved back to Breckenridge four years ago with her boyfriend. When they started looking at both renting and buying last spring, they were overwhelmed - everything, it seemed, was over budget.

"We couldn't find anything in our price range," she says. "It would have been over $1,500 [a month], if anything was available. Then we started looking to buy and that was totally unreasonable. Just buying rundown old houses for at least $500,000 and above."

Then, they hit the equivalent of the Breckenridge Powerball: A deed-restricted home came up for sale.

"We actually got really lucky," she says. "We got on the list for deed-restricted housing and one opened up and we bought it. So now we own a deed-restricted house. It makes a huge difference because if we didn't get chosen we probably would have had to go back to the same multiple roommates situation."

The exact origins of deed-restricted workforce housing in America are unclear. They date back as far as Colonial times and popped up in the '70s and '80s from Maryland to Massachusetts to California. The specific rules vary from city to city, but the standards are the same: You must be employed locally to inhabit one of these homes (some of them have income caps).

Deed restriction has been most effective and most prevalent in mountain towns. Park City, Utah, has an ambitious deed-restricted housing program that will expand from 497 units to 621 over the next five years. Aspen, Boulder and Vail all have varying amounts and types of deed-restricted housing stock for their local workforce.

"I do think we could say for certain that they [deed restrictions] are more widely used and they've had more impact in mountain towns than anywhere else," Williams from ULI says. "It does seem to be a particularly effective way to try to maintain affordability."

Facing Change

When I asked Mayor Carruthers if there was a willingness in Traverse City to explore policy tools - like, say, deed restriction - in an effort to address some of the affordable housing woes, he did not mince words. "Honestly, I don't think TC has gotten to the point of Breckenridge and other mountain resort towns," he says. "We have affordable housing in the area, 10 to 15 minutes drive from downtown."

My sister's experience says otherwise. She teaches in one of Traverse City's public elementary schools, and when she was trying to find a reasonably affordable home downtown - or anywhere within "10 to 15 minutes" - the search was a nonstarter. Teachers and bartenders and hotel workers are all in the same boat. "To buy a house is almost impossible for somebody who's working in the service industry," Gary Jonas, who owns The Little Fleet with his wife, Allison, says. "To rent a place, the rents are just skyrocketing downtown. What's happening is a lot of people are moving to the outskirts of downtown, which makes the commute a bit more difficult."

There is no denying that Traverse City hasn't reached the height of Breckenridge yet. But Breckenridge implemented its deed-restricted housing program in 1988. And, nearly 30 years later, they're still struggling to house their workforce. Lawmakers in Traverse City point to an accessory dwelling unit (ADU) ordinance passed last spring, which allows single-family homes to build "granny flats" - essentially a small carriage house or apartment - as a help, but that's capped at 10 per neighborhood annually, which is not even close to meeting the city's demands.

"At some point, the housing market will get so difficult for the workforce that due to the economic competitiveness, we suffer. The workers will be taking such long commutes, employers will be having to pay higher wages to offset the cost of that," Williams says. "And [deed restriction] absolutely can be modeled for other places where these kinds of problems have been playing out."

Laurie Best says Breckenridge was experiencing similar growing pains and fears when it ramped up deed restriction way back in 1978. "The community was experiencing considerable change and evaluating what we wanted to be when we grew up. Failure to act was not an option, so yes, the community supported progressive policies to address affordable workforce housing to support the local economy and to retain the real town character of the community," she wrote in an email.

And when I asked her if she felt like Breckenridge was smart to implement the deed restricted policy years ago given the current climate she did not hesitate. "Yes, the earlier the better. Very difficult to rebuild community once workforce and families have left."

As Portland and Traverse City watch developments that could boost their respective city's dearth of rental housing stock play out in court, residents and developers alike will continue to fight for what they believe in. And the consensus is simple: People, right or wrong, are often afraid of change.

"There has always been, and I suspect there will always be, opposition of some type when you are proposing something new," Erik Falconer, one of the developers behind RiverWest says. But cities and towns, no matter their size or economies, are dynamic entities; without movement, they die.

Matson, a vocal supporter for smart growth in Traverse City, has witnessed the venomous debate about change firsthand. One thing he noticed? It's no different than any other city - big or small. "Opponents to change use the argument of 'maintaining area character' to oppose projects in every growing city," he says. "The argument can be effective because it elicits fear of the unknown without providing any measurable standard. It is without substance."

But it's clear that, like New York and Chicago and Los Angeles, America's small towns are facing an affordability crisis. Everyone - developers, lawmakers and opposition - can agree on that. In the meantime, they'll continue to battle over the future of their city (before they run into their dissenters at the farmers market). Nine stories might seem small in a big city, but it's a massive and irrevocable change to a small town.

"If they came in tomorrow and said they want to build five stories of affordable housing, I would support every attempt, every effort that they made to do that," Parsons, who has been a longtime advocate for the city's poor and working class, says. "My group is also saying, 'Dammit, this is Custer's Last Stand!' Because, he who wins this issue, he or she who loses this issue, loses it in perpetuity."

Every time I return to Traverse City something has changed. A new bar, freshly painted bike lanes, a boutique hotel, my favorite secret beach spot somehow discovered and suspiciously crowded. And in the nine years I've lived in New York, more and more coastal elites have begun to casually mention my hometown. Traverse City! Batali summers there, right? Delta even offers direct flights from LaGuardia during the summer.

With that popularity, increased population and a burgeoning economy comes a civic responsibility to the current and future residents. You can't stop the growth. Traverse City is no longer a small town - that ship sailed more than a decade ago. Now, residents and lawmakers have to work together toward some semblance of a solution and plan going forward, whether it's fostering more density within the height limits of the zoning code or a robust deed-restricted housing program. There's no silver bullet, but something has to give. Because the current long-range "plans" aren't going to address the problems they're facing now, let alone in 10 years. The city simply can't afford to take growth development by development, protracted public battle by protracted public battle - that would only lead to the kind of erratic growth and community fissure opponents most fear, ruining the small-town character and resort-style charm that brought people there in the first place.

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Small-Town America Is Facing Big-City Problems

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A new farm-to-table restaurant selling locally sourced pork and seasonally appropriate vegetables moves into a rehabbed insane asylum. A famous director renovates an 80-year-old theater in the heart of downtown. Coffee shops, breweries and more restaurants pop up and begin serving all their drinks in mason jars. Popularity soars and the rents rise.

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In the early 20th century, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation devised plans for a massive dam on the Arizona-Nevada border to tame the Colorado River and provide water and hydroelectric power for the developing Southwest. Construction within the strict timeframe proved an immense challenge, as the crew bored into carbon monoxide-choked tunnels and dangled from heights of 800 feet to clear canyon walls. The largest dam in the world at the time of its completion in 1935, this National Historic Landmark stores enough water in Lake Mead to irrigate 2 million acres and serves as a popular tourist destination.

At the turn of the 20th century, farmers sought to divert the Colorado River to budding Southwestern communities via a series of canals. When the Colorado broke through the canals in 1905, creating the inland Salton Sea, the job of controlling the raging river fell to the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation.

Bureau director Arthur Powell Davis in 1922 outlined a plan before Congress for a multipurpose dam in Black Canyon, located on the Arizona- Nevada border. Named the Boulder Canyon project, after the original proposed site, the dam would not only control flooding and irrigation, it would generate and sell hydroelectric power to recoup its costs. Still, the proposed $165 million price tag concerned some lawmakers, while representatives of six of the seven states in the river drainage area-Colorado, Wyoming, Utah, New Mexico, Arizona and Nevada -worried that the water would primarily go to California.

Secretary of Commerce Herbert Hoover brokered the 1922 Colorado River Compact to divide the water proportionally among the seven states, but the legal wrangling continued until outgoing President Calvin Coolidge authorized the Boulder Canyon Project in December 1928. In honor of the new president's contributions, Secretary of the Interior Ray L. Wilbur announced the structure would be called Hoover Dam at a 1930 dedication ceremony, though the name didn't become official until 1947.

As the Great Depression unfolded, hopeful laborers descended on Las Vegas and set up camp in the surrounding desert for the chance to work on the project. Those who were hired eventually moved to Boulder City, a community specifically built six miles from the work site to house its employees. Meanwhile, the U.S. government set about finding a contractor to build the proposed 60-story arch dam. The contract was awarded in March 1931 to Six Companies, a group of construction firms that had pooled its resources to meet the steep $5 million performance bond.

The first difficult step of construction involved blasting the canyon walls to create four diversion tunnels for the water. Facing strict time deadlines, workers toiled in 140-degree tunnels choked with carbon monoxide and dust, conditions that prompted a six-day strike in August 1931. When two of the tunnels were complete, the excavated rock was used to form a temporary coffer dam that successfully rechanneled the river's path in November 1932.

The second step involved the clearing of the walls that would contain the dam. Suspended from heights of up to 800 feet above the canyon floor, high scalers wielded 44-pound jackhammers and metal poles to knock loose material, a treacherous task that resulted in casualties from falling workers, equipment and rocks.

Meanwhile, the dried riverbed allowed for construction to begin on the powerplant, four intake towers and the dam itself. Cement was mixed on site and hoisted across the canyon on one of five 20-ton cableways, a fresh bucket capable of reaching the crews below every 78 seconds. Offsetting the heat generated by cooling concrete, nearly 600 miles of pipe loops were embedded to circulate water through the poured blocks, with workers continually spraying the concrete to keep it moist.

As the dam rose, block by block, from the canyon floor, the visual renderings of architect Gordon Kaufmann took form. Electing to emphasize the imposing mass of the structure, Kaufmann kept the smooth, curved face free of adornment. The powerplant was given a futuristic touch with horizontal aluminum fins for windows, while its interior was designed to pay homage to Native American cultures.

With the body of water that would become Lake Mead already beginning to swell behind the dam, the final block of concrete was poured and topped off at 726 feet above the canyon floor in 1935. On September 30, a crowd of 20,000 people watched President Franklin Roosevelt commemorate the magnificent structure's completion. Approximately 5 million barrels of cement and 45 million pounds of reinforcement steel had gone into what was then the tallest dam in the world, its 6.6 million tons of concrete enough to pave a road from San Francisco to New York City. Altogether, some 21,000 workers contributed to its construction.

Hoover Dam fulfilled the goal of disseminating the one-wild Colorado River through the parched Southwest landscape, fueling the development of such major cities as Los Angeles, Las Vegas and Phoenix. Capable of irrigating 2 million acres, its 17 turbines generate enough electricity to power 1.3 million homes. The dam was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1985 and one of America's Seven Modern Civil Engineering Wonders in 1994. It receives some 7 million visitors annually, while Lake Mead, the world's largest reservoir, hosts another 10 million as a popular recreation area.

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In the early 20th century, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation devised plans for a massive dam on the Arizona-Nevada border to tame the Colorado River and provide water and hydroelectric power for the developing Southwest. Construction within the strict timeframe proved an immense challenge, as the crew bored into carbon monoxide-choked tunnels and dangled from heights of 800 feet to clear canyon walls.

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I love to take road trips - so it probably doesn't surprise you that I've also enjoyed driving over some of most the famous bridges in the United States.

I'm lucky to live near one of the most famous bridges in the world (the Sunshine Skyway Bridge in Florida, which I talk about below), and I often include a trek over it during my leisurely Sunday drives.

There are also a few other bridges that I've had the privilege of driving over - and several others that I've not been able to cross yet but hope to someday.

The following list of 10 U.S. bridges includes many that you have heard of and probably a few that you are less familiar with.

Chances are, you've crossed over 1 or 2 of these famous bridges yourself. You might want to add some of the others to your bucket list!

#1 - Brooklyn Bridge

The Brooklyn Bridge, which was completed in 1883 and connects Manhattan and Brooklyn by spanning the East River in New York City, is arguably one of the most famous bridges in the eastern United States.

The Brooklyn Bridge is one of the oldest suspension bridges in America. It measures 5,988 feet long, and its longest span is 1,595 feet.

Little-known facts about the Brooklyn Bridge:

#2 - George Washington Bridge

Another New York City bridge that is a must-see for all road travelers, the George Washington Bridge spans the Hudson River and connects New Jersey and the borough of Manhattan.

This bridge has a total length of 4,757 feet and a maximum single span of 3,609 feet.

Originally, when the double-decker suspension bridge opened in 1931, it had just 1 level. However, as the U.S. interstate system was being developed, a second level was added to the George Washington Bridge in 1962 - and the bridge became part of Interstate 95, which connects Florida to Maine.

The last time I traveled over this bridge (in 2000), the World Trade Center and Empire State Building could be seen peeking over the Manhattan skyline to the east and south. It's one of the most memorable U.S. bridges I've driven on.

The world's largest free-flying American flag, measuring 90 feet long by 60 feet wide, now hangs off the George Washington Bridge in honor of 9/11 - as seen here.

Little-known facts about the George Washington Bridge:

#3 - Delaware Memorial Bridge

Crossing the Delaware River and connecting Wilmington, Delaware to south New Jersey, the Delaware Memorial Bridge is another grand bridge that belongs to Interstate 95.

The Delaware Memorial Bridge was originally opened in 1951 as a single span, but in 1968 the current westbound span was completed.

This steel suspension bridge has a maximum span of 2,150 feet and is 10,796 feet long.

Each year, the Delaware Authority and Bay Authority Police escort approximately 450 drivers with acrophobia across this bridge.

Little-known facts about the Delaware Memorial Bridge:

#4 - Chesapeake Bay Bridge

The Chesapeake Bay Bridge was built in 1952. It's also called William Preston Lane, Jr. Memorial Bridge - in honor of the man who served as Maryland's governor when the bridge was originally dedicated.

This bridge connects the eastern and western shores of Maryland. It was expanded in 1973, when the current westbound span was constructed.

The Chesapeake Bay Bridge - which is roughly 5 miles long and 186 feet at its highest point - has long been considered one of the scariest bridges in the world. Why? When it storms there (and violent storms aren't uncommon in eastern Maryland), it can be nearly impossible to see any land when you're on top of the bridge! Thankfully, there is a Chesapeake Bay Bridge driving assistance service available for those with gephyrophobia (a fear of bridges).

Little-known facts about the Chesapeake Bay Bridge:

#5 - Golden Gate Bridge

If the Brooklyn Bridge is the most popular bridge on the East Coast, then the Golden Gate Bridge easily takes the top spot among the most famous bridges on the West Coast.

The Golden Gate Bridge was opened in 1937 and has been designated as one of the Wonders of the Modern World by the American Society of Civil Engineers.

The main span of the bridge measures an impressive 4,200 feet. It was the longest suspension bridge in the world until 1964 - when New York City's Verrazano-Narrows Bridge opened.

One irony that many people note about the Golden Gate Bridge is that, despite its name, the bridge isn't actually golden in color. It's called the Golden Gate Bridge because it spans the Golden Gate strait - which is a 1-mile wide channel between San Francisco Bay and the Pacific Ocean. For the record, the Golden Gate Bridge is painted in a color called International Orange.

Little-known facts about the Golden Gate Bridge:

#6 - Sunshine Skyway Bridge

It's convenient for me that one of the most famous bridges in the U.S. stands in my proverbial backyard: Tampa, Florida.

The current Sunshine Skyway Bridge was opened in 1987, but its construction was prompted by tragedy.

On May 9, 1980, the Summit Venture freighter crashed into the pylons of the old Sunshine Skyway Bridge - partly destroying the bridge and sending cars, trucks, and even a bus into Tampa Bay waters below. Sadly, 35 people died on that stormy, tragic day.

The newer Sunshine Skyway Bridge is a concrete cable-stayed bridge that is 29,040 feet long, has a 1,200-foot main span, and has been called one of the Top 10 bridges in the world.

Little-known facts about the Sunshine Skyway Bridge:

#7 - Seven Mile Bridge

Connecting peninsular Florida with the Florida Keys, the Seven Mile Bridge is an iconic structure that is heavily traveled by tourists who want to visit the Conch Republic.

The original Seven Mile Bridge was built during 1909-1912, but the span used by motorists today was finished in 1982.

Most of the original bridge is still intact and is largely used as a fishing pier, though it is disintegrating at a rate faster than the State of Florida can afford to maintain it.

Little-known facts about the Seven Mile Bridge:

#8 - Mackinac Bridge

Pronounced like "Mackinaw," the Mackinac Bridge was opened in 1957 and connects the Lower and Upper peninsulas of Michigan.

This phenomenal suspension bridge is more than 26,000 feet long and has a main span of 3,799 feet.

While several U.S. bridges in the Eastern Hemisphere have since eclipsed the Mackinac Bridge's anchor-to-anchor span distance, it still is the 3rd longest suspension bridge in the United States and 15th longest bridge in the world!

Like a handful of other famous bridges in America, the Mackinac Bridge Authority has a drivers assistance program available for those who are uncomfortable driving their car, motorcycle, bicycle, or snowmobile across the bridge.

Little-known facts about the Mackinac Bridge:

#9 - Tacoma Narrows Bridge

Remember that old film of a bridge flailing in the wind and collapsing into the water? That was the Tacoma Narrows Bridge. It collapsed only 4 months after its July 1940 opening in Washington state.

Several engineering flaws led to the bridge's demise under 42 mph winds that rocked the road deck - which wasn't designed well enough for high-speed winds.

In 1950, a replacement bridge was constructed and now carries only westbound traffic. The eastbound span opened in 2007. Both main spans are 2,800 feet long and are the 5th longest suspension bridges in the United States.

Little-known facts about the Tacoma Narrows Bridge:

#10 - Ambassador Bridge

Feel like taking an international road trip? Why not jump aboard the Ambassador Bridge in Detroit, Michigan?

Opened in 1929, the Ambassador Bridge is a suspension bridge with a 1,850-foot-long main span. It actually takes those driving into the United States north.

Not only does the Ambassador Bridge make travel quicker between the United States and cities in eastern Canada (such as Toronto), but it is also a vital trade route between the United States and Canada.

More than 10,000 commercial vehicles cross this bridge on a typical weekday.

Little-known facts about the Ambassador Bridge:

Fun Facts About Other Famous Bridges

In addition to the famous U.S. bridges links I've included above, here are some good resources for a few more unique bridges in America (and beyond):

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10 Famous Bridges In The U.S. - Cool Facts & Trivia About The Highest, Longest, And Scariest U.S. Bridges... For Your Bucket List! | The Travel Guide

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I love to take road trips - so it probably doesn't surprise you that I've also enjoyed driving over some of most the famous bridges in the United States. I'm lucky to live near one of the most famous bridges in the world (the Sunshine Skyway Bridge in Florida, which I talk about below), and I often include a trek over it during my leisurely Sunday drives.

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Important landmarks you might want to mention as you drive through the states...

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Important landmarks you might want to mention as you drive through the states...

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The Famous Landmark You Must See in Each of the 50 States

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From coast to coast, the United States of America brims with diversity. Check out our picks for the top landmark from each of the 50 states, in order of statehood.

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The Famous Landmark You Must See in Each of the 50 States

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From coast to coast, the United States of America brims with diversity. Check out our picks for the top landmark from each of the 50 states, in order of statehood.

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Rich and Poor Cities in America

Some people may be worried about China overtaking the United States. Others still shudder at the once mighty, though now humbled, economy of Japan. Despite perceptions, the United States remains the wealthiest country in the world, with a healthy Gross Domestic Product of $14.9 trillion.

American Cities Facing Challenges

That doesn't mean that problems don't exist. The national unemployment rate is still high, although not as high as the 9.6 percent rate in 2010. Too many people are out of work or underemployed. This explains why the economic recovery feels so bad to so many people.

The picture is no better concerning home foreclosures. According to online foreclosure company RealtyTrac.com, the U.S. saw 2.8 million foreclosure filings last year. That's an all-time record. RealtyTrac's numbers this year suggest that, though the country won't set another record, the country will see far too many housing foreclosures in the years ahead.

And don't forget about bankruptcy filings. The American Bankruptcy Institute reports that the number of consumers filing for Chapter 7 and Chapter 13 bankruptcy protection continues to rise, although reaching the levels seen in 2005 remains unlikely.

So, yes, things are far from economically rosy in the United States.But here's an important fact: Things might be far better depending in which city you live.

San Jose Leads the Way

Certain U.S. cities remain gripped by poverty while others continue to attract multitudes of millionaires. Take a look at the differences between San Jose, Calif., and McAllen, Texas.

San Jose ranked as the wealthiest cityin the United States, boasting of a median household income of $76,354. Meanwhile, McAllen is the poorest, with a median household income of just $13,742. This compares to a national average income of around $50,000.

Of course, this doesn't tell the whole story. The cost of living in San Jose is higher than in McAllen. Homes are more expensive, private schools charge higher tuitions, and shopping centers know that they can charge their customers more for everything from winter coats to dog food to shoes.

San Jose might rank as the richest city in the country but that doesn't mean that the residents there are feeling good about the economy. California has been hit hard by falling housing prices, which has eliminated much of the wealth that many California homeowners once enjoyed. Californians may receive empathy from some, but for the others, apathy is more like it considering the value of the homes.

San Jose has a far higher median household income than the rest of the country, but it doesn't mean that the residents there aren't waiting just as anxiously for the national economy's recovery to finally show some stronger signs of life.

Millionaire Central

Even those with substantial net worth are struggling in today's dismal economy. They're losing money on their investments and their real estate holdings, and while the perception is that they have a lot, losses are losses, not matter the starting point. Where do millionaires reside? If you'd like the magic of millionaires to rub off on you, consider moving to New York City. New York, not surprisingly considering its huge population, is home to the most millionaires in the country. More than 667,000 people with net worth's exceeding 1 million dollars live in New York City. Los Angeles, although not in first place, welcomes more than 235,000. In the Midwest, Chicago leads the way, with more than 198,000 millionaires calling the Windy City home.

Unfortunately, chasing wealth across the United States doesn't mean that you, too, will become rich. You can live among the millionaires of New York City and Los Angeles and never learn a bit about making big money. Or you can set up shop in McAllen, Texas and make a small fortune.

What matters is your ideas, skills and drive to earn a hearty living.

Location, location, location? That only matters for real estate. So where will you go next? Click on the infographic and see what you can expect to earn there!

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Some people may be worried about China overtaking the United States. Others still shudder at the once mighty, though now humbled, economy of Japan. Despite perceptions, the United States remains the wealthiest country in the world, with a healthy Gross Domestic Product of $14.9 trillion. That doesn't mean that problems don't exist.