diff --git a/config/environment.rb b/config/environment.rb
index e02d0396..9432cd4d 100644
--- a/config/environment.rb
+++ b/config/environment.rb
@@ -21,9 +21,6 @@ Rails::Initializer.run do |config|
 
   config.gem "highline"
   config.gem "RedCloth"
-  # Need to do rspec here and not in test.rb. Needed for rake to work which loads
-  # the rspec.task file
-  config.gem "rspec", :lib => false, :version => ">=1.2.2"
   config.gem 'datanoise-actionwebservice', :lib => 'actionwebservice'
 
   config.action_controller.use_accept_header = true
diff --git a/config/environments/test.rb b/config/environments/test.rb
index cb693c85..0903e82d 100644
--- a/config/environments/test.rb
+++ b/config/environments/test.rb
@@ -50,9 +50,7 @@ config.gem "flexmock"
 config.gem "ZenTest", :lib => "zentest", :version => ">=4.0.0"
 config.gem "hpricot"
 config.gem "hoe"
-
-# config.gem for rspec is in environment.rb. Needed for rake to work which loads
-# the rspec.task file
+config.gem "rspec", :lib => false, :version => ">= 1.2.2"
 config.gem "rspec-rails", :lib => false, :version => ">=1.2.2"
 config.gem "webrat", :lib => false, :version => ">=0.4.3"
 config.gem "cucumber", :lib => false, :version => ">=0.3.0"
diff --git a/lib/tasks/rspec.rake b/lib/tasks/rspec.rake
index 2a478a8b..dba3ffcc 100644
--- a/lib/tasks/rspec.rake
+++ b/lib/tasks/rspec.rake
@@ -1,12 +1,51 @@
-raise "To avoid rake task loading problems: run 'rake clobber' in vendor/plugins/rspec" if File.directory?(File.join(File.dirname(__FILE__), *%w[.. .. vendor plugins rspec pkg]))
-raise "To avoid rake task loading problems: run 'rake clobber' in vendor/plugins/rspec-rails" if File.directory?(File.join(File.dirname(__FILE__), *%w[.. .. vendor plugins rspec-rails pkg]))
+gem 'test-unit', '1.2.3' if RUBY_VERSION.to_f >= 1.9
+rspec_gem_dir = nil
+Dir["#{RAILS_ROOT}/vendor/gems/*"].each do |subdir|
+  rspec_gem_dir = subdir if subdir.gsub("#{RAILS_ROOT}/vendor/gems/","") =~ /^(\w+-)?rspec-(\d+)/ && File.exist?("#{subdir}/lib/spec/rake/spectask.rb")
+end
+rspec_plugin_dir = File.expand_path(File.dirname(__FILE__) + '/../../vendor/plugins/rspec')
 
-# In rails 1.2, plugins aren't available in the path until they're loaded.
-# Check to see if the rspec plugin is installed first and require
-# it if it is.  If not, use the gem version.
-rspec_base = File.expand_path(File.dirname(__FILE__) + '/../../vendor/plugins/rspec/lib')
-$LOAD_PATH.unshift(rspec_base) if File.exist?(rspec_base)
-require 'spec/rake/spectask'
+if rspec_gem_dir && (test ?d, rspec_plugin_dir)
+  raise "\n#{'*'*50}\nYou have rspec installed in both vendor/gems and vendor/plugins\nPlease pick one and dispose of the other.\n#{'*'*50}\n\n"
+end
+
+if rspec_gem_dir
+  $LOAD_PATH.unshift("#{rspec_gem_dir}/lib")
+elsif File.exist?(rspec_plugin_dir)
+  $LOAD_PATH.unshift("#{rspec_plugin_dir}/lib")
+end
+
+# Don't load rspec if running "rake gems:*"
+unless ARGV.any? {|a| a =~ /^gems/}
+
+begin
+  require 'spec/rake/spectask'
+rescue MissingSourceFile
+  module Spec
+    module Rake
+      class SpecTask
+        def initialize(name)
+          task name do
+            # if rspec-rails is a configured gem, this will output helpful material and exit ...
+            require File.expand_path(File.join(File.dirname(__FILE__),"..","..","config","environment"))
+
+            # ... otherwise, do this:
+            raise <<-MSG
+
+#{"*" * 80}
+*  You are trying to run an rspec rake task defined in
+*  #{__FILE__},
+*  but rspec can not be found in vendor/gems, vendor/plugins or system gems.
+#{"*" * 80}
+MSG
+          end
+        end
+      end
+    end
+  end
+end
+
+Rake.application.instance_variable_get('@tasks').delete('default')
 
 spec_prereq = File.exist?(File.join(RAILS_ROOT, 'config', 'database.yml')) ? "db:test:prepare" : :noop
 task :noop do
@@ -31,33 +70,33 @@ namespace :spec do
       IO.readlines("#{RAILS_ROOT}/spec/rcov.opts").map {|l| l.chomp.split " "}.flatten
     end
   end
-  
+
   desc "Print Specdoc for all specs (excluding plugin specs)"
   Spec::Rake::SpecTask.new(:doc) do |t|
     t.spec_opts = ["--format", "specdoc", "--dry-run"]
     t.spec_files = FileList['spec/**/*_spec.rb']
   end
 
-  desc "Print Specdoc for all plugin specs"
+  desc "Print Specdoc for all plugin examples"
   Spec::Rake::SpecTask.new(:plugin_doc) do |t|
     t.spec_opts = ["--format", "specdoc", "--dry-run"]
     t.spec_files = FileList['vendor/plugins/**/spec/**/*_spec.rb'].exclude('vendor/plugins/rspec/*')
   end
 
-  [:models, :controllers, :views, :helpers, :lib].each do |sub|
-    desc "Run the specs under spec/#{sub}"
+  [:models, :controllers, :views, :helpers, :lib, :integration].each do |sub|
+    desc "Run the code examples in spec/#{sub}"
     Spec::Rake::SpecTask.new(sub => spec_prereq) do |t|
       t.spec_opts = ['--options', "\"#{RAILS_ROOT}/spec/spec.opts\""]
       t.spec_files = FileList["spec/#{sub}/**/*_spec.rb"]
     end
   end
-  
-  desc "Run the specs under vendor/plugins (except RSpec's own)"
+
+  desc "Run the code examples in vendor/plugins (except RSpec's own)"
   Spec::Rake::SpecTask.new(:plugins => spec_prereq) do |t|
     t.spec_opts = ['--options', "\"#{RAILS_ROOT}/spec/spec.opts\""]
     t.spec_files = FileList['vendor/plugins/**/spec/**/*_spec.rb'].exclude('vendor/plugins/rspec/*').exclude("vendor/plugins/rspec-rails/*")
   end
-  
+
   namespace :plugins do
     desc "Runs the examples for rspec_on_rails"
     Spec::Rake::SpecTask.new(:rspec_on_rails) do |t|
@@ -74,59 +113,32 @@ namespace :spec do
     ::STATS_DIRECTORIES << %w(Controller\ specs spec/controllers) if File.exist?('spec/controllers')
     ::STATS_DIRECTORIES << %w(Helper\ specs spec/helpers) if File.exist?('spec/helpers')
     ::STATS_DIRECTORIES << %w(Library\ specs spec/lib) if File.exist?('spec/lib')
+    ::STATS_DIRECTORIES << %w(Routing\ specs spec/routing) if File.exist?('spec/routing')
+    ::STATS_DIRECTORIES << %w(Integration\ specs spec/integration) if File.exist?('spec/integration')
     ::CodeStatistics::TEST_TYPES << "Model specs" if File.exist?('spec/models')
     ::CodeStatistics::TEST_TYPES << "View specs" if File.exist?('spec/views')
     ::CodeStatistics::TEST_TYPES << "Controller specs" if File.exist?('spec/controllers')
     ::CodeStatistics::TEST_TYPES << "Helper specs" if File.exist?('spec/helpers')
     ::CodeStatistics::TEST_TYPES << "Library specs" if File.exist?('spec/lib')
-    ::STATS_DIRECTORIES.delete_if {|a| a[0] =~ /test/}
+    ::CodeStatistics::TEST_TYPES << "Routing specs" if File.exist?('spec/routing')
+    ::CodeStatistics::TEST_TYPES << "Integration specs" if File.exist?('spec/integration')
   end
 
   namespace :db do
     namespace :fixtures do
-      desc "Load fixtures (from spec/fixtures) into the current environment's database.  Load specific fixtures using FIXTURES=x,y"
+      desc "Load fixtures (from spec/fixtures) into the current environment's database.  Load specific fixtures using FIXTURES=x,y. Load from subdirectory in test/fixtures using FIXTURES_DIR=z."
       task :load => :environment do
+        ActiveRecord::Base.establish_connection(Rails.env)
+        base_dir = File.join(Rails.root, 'spec', 'fixtures')
+        fixtures_dir = ENV['FIXTURES_DIR'] ? File.join(base_dir, ENV['FIXTURES_DIR']) : base_dir
+
         require 'active_record/fixtures'
-        ActiveRecord::Base.establish_connection(RAILS_ENV.to_sym)
-        (ENV['FIXTURES'] ? ENV['FIXTURES'].split(/,/) : Dir.glob(File.join(RAILS_ROOT, 'spec', 'fixtures', '*.{yml,csv}'))).each do |fixture_file|
-          Fixtures.create_fixtures('spec/fixtures', File.basename(fixture_file, '.*'))
+        (ENV['FIXTURES'] ? ENV['FIXTURES'].split(/,/).map {|f| File.join(fixtures_dir, f) } : Dir.glob(File.join(fixtures_dir, '*.{yml,csv}'))).each do |fixture_file|
+          Fixtures.create_fixtures(File.dirname(fixture_file), File.basename(fixture_file, '.*'))
         end
       end
     end
   end
-
-  namespace :server do
-    daemonized_server_pid = File.expand_path("spec_server.pid", RAILS_ROOT + "/tmp")
-
-    desc "start spec_server."
-    task :start do
-      if File.exist?(daemonized_server_pid)
-        $stderr.puts "spec_server is already running."
-      else
-        $stderr.puts "Starting up spec server."
-        system("ruby", "script/spec_server", "--daemon", "--pid", daemonized_server_pid)
-      end
-    end
-
-    desc "stop spec_server."
-    task :stop do
-      unless File.exist?(daemonized_server_pid)
-        $stderr.puts "No server running."
-      else
-        $stderr.puts "Shutting down spec_server."
-        system("kill", "-s", "TERM", File.read(daemonized_server_pid).strip) && 
-        File.delete(daemonized_server_pid)
-      end
-    end
-
-    desc "reload spec_server."
-    task :restart do
-      unless File.exist?(daemonized_server_pid)
-        $stderr.puts "No server running."
-      else
-        $stderr.puts "Reloading down spec_server."
-        system("kill", "-s", "USR2", File.read(daemonized_server_pid).strip)
-      end
-    end
-  end
+end
+
 end
diff --git a/script/autospec b/script/autospec
index 82a314f1..837bbd7f 100755
--- a/script/autospec
+++ b/script/autospec
@@ -1,4 +1,6 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env ruby
+gem 'test-unit', '1.2.3' if RUBY_VERSION.to_f >= 1.9
 ENV['RSPEC'] = 'true'     # allows autotest to discover rspec
 ENV['AUTOTEST'] = 'true'  # allows autotest to run w/ color on linux
-system (RUBY_PLATFORM =~ /mswin|mingw/ ? 'autotest.bat' : 'autotest'), *ARGV
\ No newline at end of file
+system((RUBY_PLATFORM =~ /mswin|mingw/ ? 'autotest.bat' : 'autotest'), *ARGV) ||
+  $stderr.puts("Unable to find autotest.  Please install ZenTest or fix your PATH")
diff --git a/script/spec b/script/spec
index c54cba1b..46fdbe6e 100755
--- a/script/spec
+++ b/script/spec
@@ -1,5 +1,10 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env ruby
-$LOAD_PATH.unshift(File.expand_path(File.dirname(__FILE__) + "/../vendor/plugins/rspec/lib"))
-require 'rubygems'
-require 'spec'
-exit ::Spec::Runner::CommandLine.run(::Spec::Runner::OptionParser.parse(ARGV, STDERR, STDOUT))
+if ARGV.any? {|arg| %w[--drb -X --generate-options -G --help -h --version -v].include?(arg)}
+  require 'rubygems' unless ENV['NO_RUBYGEMS']
+else
+  gem 'test-unit', '1.2.3' if RUBY_VERSION.to_f >= 1.9
+  ENV["RAILS_ENV"] ||= 'test'
+  require File.expand_path(File.dirname(__FILE__) + "/../config/environment") unless defined?(RAILS_ROOT)
+end
+require 'spec/autorun'
+exit ::Spec::Runner::CommandLine.run
diff --git a/spec/rcov.opts b/spec/rcov.opts
index baf694c9..274ed51a 100644
--- a/spec/rcov.opts
+++ b/spec/rcov.opts
@@ -1,2 +1,2 @@
---exclude "spec/*,gems/*" 
+--exclude "spec/*,gems/*"
 --rails
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/spec/spec_helper.rb b/spec/spec_helper.rb
index fdf7e12c..e83f9daa 100644
--- a/spec/spec_helper.rb
+++ b/spec/spec_helper.rb
@@ -1,36 +1,14 @@
 # This file is copied to ~/spec when you run 'ruby script/generate rspec'
 # from the project root directory.
-ENV["RAILS_ENV"] = "test"
-require File.expand_path(File.dirname(__FILE__) + "/../config/environment")
-require 'spec'
+ENV["RAILS_ENV"] ||= 'test'
+require File.expand_path(File.join(File.dirname(__FILE__),'..','config','environment'))
+require 'spec/autorun'
 require 'spec/rails'
 require 'skinny_spec'
 
-module LuckySneaks
-  module ModelSpecHelpers
-    module ExampleGroupLevelMethods
-      def it_should_validate_length_of(attribute, options={})
-        maximum = options[:maximum] || (options[:within] || []).last   || false
-        minimum = options[:minimum] || (options[:within] || []).first  || false
-        raise ArgumentError unless maximum || minimum
-
-        it "should not be valid if #{attribute} length is more than #{maximum}" do
-          instance.send "#{attribute}=", 'x'*(maximum+1)
-          instance.errors_on(attribute).should include(
-            options[:message_too_long] || I18n.t('activerecord.errors.messages.too_long', :count => maximum)
-          )
-        end if maximum
-
-        it "should not be valid if #{attribute} length is less than #{minimum}" do
-          instance.send "#{attribute}=", 'x'*(minimum-1)
-          instance.errors_on(attribute).should include(
-            options[:message_to_short] || I18n.t('activerecord.errors.messages.too_short', :count => minimum)
-          )
-        end if minimum
-      end
-    end
-  end
-end
+# Requires supporting files with custom matchers and macros, etc,
+# in ./support/ and its subdirectories.
+Dir[File.expand_path(File.join(File.dirname(__FILE__),'support','**','*.rb'))].each {|f| require f}
 
 Spec::Runner.configure do |config|
   # If you're not using ActiveRecord you should remove these
@@ -69,6 +47,6 @@ Spec::Runner.configure do |config|
   # config.mock_with :rr
   #
   # == Notes
-  # 
-  # For more information take a look at Spec::Example::Configuration and Spec::Runner
+  #
+  # For more information take a look at Spec::Runner::Configuration and Spec::Runner
 end
diff --git a/spec/support/should_validate_length_of.rb b/spec/support/should_validate_length_of.rb
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..ae7b5a1a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/spec/support/should_validate_length_of.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,25 @@
+module LuckySneaks
+  module ModelSpecHelpers
+    module ExampleGroupLevelMethods
+      def it_should_validate_length_of(attribute, options={})
+        maximum = options[:maximum] || (options[:within] || []).last   || false
+        minimum = options[:minimum] || (options[:within] || []).first  || false
+        raise ArgumentError unless maximum || minimum
+
+        it "should not be valid if #{attribute} length is more than #{maximum}" do
+          instance.send "#{attribute}=", 'x'*(maximum+1)
+          instance.errors_on(attribute).should include(
+            options[:message_too_long] || I18n.t('activerecord.errors.messages.too_long', :count => maximum)
+          )
+        end if maximum
+
+        it "should not be valid if #{attribute} length is less than #{minimum}" do
+          instance.send "#{attribute}=", 'x'*(minimum-1)
+          instance.errors_on(attribute).should include(
+            options[:message_to_short] || I18n.t('activerecord.errors.messages.too_short', :count => minimum)
+          )
+        end if minimum
+      end
+    end
+  end
+end