Chicago is known as the Windy City for a reason that has nothing to do with Mother Nature's ability to accelerate the speed of an air mass in the atmosphere. The city received the moniker due to the "hot air" that local politicians were known to spew, like when they made lofty promises—kept or unfulfilled.

The Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) clearly needed assistance to position properties for failsafe expansion, as well as to help it cope with the complex environmental review process necessary to comply with strict California State regulations for school cleanup. Read how the systematically went about the site selection process.

In golf parlance, it was the ultimate "difficult shot." Ball sits underneath a full-grown tree with water 100 yards out, bunkers guarding a green that sits 250 yards away. A group of public and private stakeholders in Benton Harbor, Mich., knocked the shot into the hole