Stimulate US: Louisville gets housing, other projects, gussied up for the Derby

You know the saying: For want of a nail, the kingdom was lost.

It comes from a rhyme, where someone doesn't have a nail and can't fit a horse with a shoe (yeah, this wasn't exactly written yesterday), and because there was no horse, no rider went into battle, and the kingdom crumbles into a heap.

Well, after talking to Chris Poynter, the deputy director of the mayor's office in Louisville, Kentucky, I started thinking of that children's rhyme -- but in reverse. If you have a nail, you can build a city. Metaphorically speaking, of course.

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act that was passed February 17, 2009, is putting $4 billion into money for public housing, and I had read that Louisville had just announced some housing construction projects, and we at WalletPop have been curious about where the money's going. So I contacted the Louisville Metro Housing Authority and wound up talking to Poynter.