Big Dig

  The Big Dig, also known as the Central Artery/Tunnel Project (CA/T), is a huge project for the underground construction in Boston, Massachusetts. 

  It is to reroute a main highway to a underground tunnel under the heart of Boston, so that it will reduce the noise and pollution from the high way. The original site of the high way will be turned into a green public community area.  The project is divided into fifty independent parts. It will dig down about 85 inches and the deepest dig would be 120 inches. When the project is finished, there will bee about 14 million cubic yards of earth dug out, which is more than enough to fill 14 sports stadiums.

  Here is a picture of the proposed Big Dig building:

  The construction first brought out in 1971. It started in 1991 and estimated to be done in five years. But it exceeded its budget too much and fell behind the schedule for years. The total cost will be about 15 billion dollars, about 6 times more than the first estimated budge 2.5 billion dollars.

  During the construction of this most expensive highway, there were a lot of problem. In 2001, there were thousands of leaks in the ceiling and wall fissures. The water damaged the steel construction and fireproofing systems. It caused 10 million dollars to repair.

  Here's a video that the former mass inspector general talks about the problems of the Big Dig:

http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=1807015n

Good city and bad city

Good city:
  I haven't been to many cities in America, but I did find Chicago a good city.

  It is located in the northwest of the Illinois, on the southwest coast of the Michigan Lake which is one of the Great Lakes. Such location gives it abundant water resource.
  Iis food supply comes from the Illinois agricultural industry. 80% of the land in Illionois is used for crop production, including corn, soy beans and wheat.
  Chicago has very good public transportation. It is the third largest inter-modal port in the world after Hong Kong and Singapore. Ships could go out and get in through Saint Lawrance River and Erie Canal-Hudson River. It has two international airports, O'Hare International Airport and Midway International Airport. Each one has around 30 minutes drive to the downtown area. It is not too close to the city that creates much noise, nor too far away that cause much inconvenience. The subway system and bus system in Chicago also makes it easy to travel around the city. It runs routinesly and the signs and station stops are clearly marked that even new comers to the city could easily find their way.
  The climate is very distinctive in each season. The average temperature in summer is 29°C to 17°C and 2°C to -11 °C in winter. There is a relatively big chance to encounter storms and blizzards in Chicago. But since it happens often, there are ways to not let such problems affect people's lives.

Bad city:
  There is no really bad city to me.If there are people living in that place, there must be something good that keeps them there. So it's only some relative bad aspects about the city that makes it bad. So to me, not having good public transportation and the tornado makes Macon a bad city to me.

  Macon is located in central Georgia. The closest international airport is Hartsfield Atlanta International Airport which is about two hours drive from Macon. Comparing with Chicago, it is very far away from the city. Since there is no public transportation like subway, it makes people hard to get there if they don't have a car. When traveling in the city, there is no clear signs about the route and time of the buses. The only way to connect with other places is driving through high ways. 
  The climate in Macon is warmer than Chicago. The average temperate ranges from 30°C to -1°C. The moste common natural disaters encountered in this area is tornado which could distroy much of the crops produced in Georgia such as peanuts, corns and soy beans. It would also destroy houses and basic constructions such as electricity supply, causing a lot of inconvenience to the people living in this area.