MUSIC  (GEOFFREY) PARKS CAN OFFER  RELIEF FROM THE GRITTY CITY... THAT WAS THE WHOLE POINT OF CENTRAL PARK IS TO FORGET THAT YOU WERE IN THE CITY.
(GEOFFREY) THEY CAN GIVE US  PLACES TO GATHER...
PLACES TO BE SOCIAL!
TO BE CULTURAL!
(GEOFFREY) THEY CAN  EVEN TEACH US  WHAT THIS COUNTRY  IS ALL ABOUT...
THE PARK REALLY BECOMES THE FOCUS FOR CREATING THE AMERICAN IDENTITY.
I'M GEOFFREY BAER.
IN THIS SHOW WE'LL TREK THROUGH TEN CITY PARKS THAT CHANGED AMERICA.
FROM TINY PUBLIC SQUARES...
THE SAVANNAH PLAN WAS REALLY UNPRECEDENTED.
(GEOFFREY) ...TO  PARK-LIKE CEMETERIES.
IT WASN'T JUST THE DEAD BODIES WHO WERE FEELING CROWDED.
(GEOFFREY) FROM THE  "VENICE OF TEXAS"... SEE THAT DOORWAY RIGHT THERE, THAT SPANISH DOORWAY?
OH, LOOK AT THAT!
(GEOFFREY) TO A FREEWAY  IN SEATTLE... FREEWAY PARK.
WHOEVER THOUGHT OF A FREEWAY AND A PARK TOGETHER?!
BUT THERE IT WAS!
WE'LL VISIT PARKS BUILT IN UNUSUAL PLACES.
MOST PEOPLE THAT KNEW ABOUT IT ACTUALLY WANTED TO TEAR IT DOWN.
(GEOFFREY) AND PARKS THAT  SERVED UNEXPECTED PURPOSES.
A PLACE TO COME AND BATHE, TO JUST BE ABLE TO CLEAN YOUR BODY.
(GEOFFREY) PARKS THAT CONSERVED  OUR PRECIOUS RESOURCES.
YOU HAVE TO HAVE WATER FOR A CITY TO FUNCTION.
(GEOFFREY) AND THAT  PRESERVED PIECES OF OUR PAST.
THESE ARE OUR GREAT FEATS OF THE 20TH CENTURY.
WHY ERASE THEM?
FIND OUT WHICH GREAT GREEN SPACES MADE THE LIST...  ...OF "10 PARKS  THAT CHANGED AMERICA."
MUSIC AND FUNDER CREDITS  (GEOFFREY) NOW, LET'S VISIT 10 CITY PARKS THAT CHANGED AMERICA,  IN CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER.
STARTING WITH A COLONIAL TOWN THAT WAS GREEN FROM THE GET-GO...  AT A TIME WHEN MOST  OF EUROPE'S GREEN SPACES  WERE THE PRIVATE PLAYGROUNDS  OF THE UPPER CRUST...  SAVANNAH BUILT SIX  PUBLIC SQUARES.
EUROPE COULD HAVE ALL ITS OLD CULTURE AND ITS OLD BUILDINGS AND ALL OF THAT STUFF; WE HAD WILDERNESS AND NATURE AND BOUNTY.
THESE OPEN SPACES LIKE SAVANNAH REALLY EMPHASIZED THAT THAT WAS WHAT WAS GOING TO MAKE US ENTIRELY DIFFERENT.
(GEOFFREY) THE SQUARES WERE  PART OF THE UTOPIAN VISION OF A FORMER BRITISH POLITICIAN.
JAMES OGLETHORPE LED  A SHIP OF POOR LABORERS  AND TRADESMEN OUT  OF ENGLAND IN 1732  TO FORM AN  EGALITARIAN COLONY.
IN GEORGIA, SLAVERY WAS BANNED,  INDIAN PROPERTY RESPECTED,  AND EVERY FAMILY GOT  A PIECE OF LAND.
GEORGIA WAS CONCEIVED FROM THE BEGINNING AS A CHARITABLE COLONY THAT GAVE AN OPPORTUNITY TO PEOPLE WHO WERE BEING PERSECUTED, EITHER FOR THEIR RELIGIOUS BELIEFS OR FOR BE DEBTORS IN ENGLISH PRISONS.
THAT THEY HAD A SECOND CHANCE.
(GEOFFREY) THIS  IDEALISTIC VISION  WASN'T JUST WRITTEN INTO LAW,  IT WAS STITCHED INTO THE URBAN FABRIC OF GEORGIA'S FIRST CITY.
OGLETHORPE DESIGNED SAVANNAH  AS A SERIES OF EQUALLY-SIZED  NEIGHBORHOODS CALLED "WARDS".
EACH INCLUDED EQUAL SPACE  FOR CIVIC BUILDINGS... AND HOUSING ON IDENTICAL LOTS...  AND AT THE CENTER OF EACH WARD  WAS THAT PUBLIC SQUARE.
SO EVERYBODY WAS NEAR A GREEN SPACE?
YES, EVERY TWO BLOCKS IN WHICHEVER DIRECTION YOU WALK, YOU'RE GOING TO ENCOUNTER ANOTHER SQUARE.
(GEOFFREY) TOWN SQUARES  WERE NOTHING NEW,  BUT JAMES OGLETHORPE  TRANSFORMED THEM  INTO SOMETHING  DISTINCTLY AMERICAN:  COMMUNITY GATHERING PLACES,  OPEN TO EVERYONE.
THAT'S A REALLY IMPORTANT MOVE, THAT THERE'S A PLACE AT THE CENTER OF A COMMUNITY WHERE WE CAN ALL COME TOGETHER.
THIS IDEA THAT EVERY COMMUNITY NEEDED ITS PARK.
(GEOFFREY) REMEMBER, AT THE TIME, A VISIT TO A EUROPEAN PARK  WAS OFTEN AN  INVITATION-ONLY AFFAIR.
YOU'RE THERE AT THE BENEFICENCE OF THE ROYALTY OR THE WEALTHY FAMILY OR THE POPE.
AT ANY ONE POINT IF YOU'RE NOT BEHAVING PROPERLY THEY CAN ASK YOU TO LEAVE.
(GEOFFREY) SAVANNAH'S  PUBLIC SQUARES  SERVED SOME HIGHLY  PRACTICAL PURPOSES.
CITIZENS COULD COLLECT  CLEAN WATER...
SO EVERY SQUARE HAD A PUMP IN IT.
(GEOFFREY) BAKE THEIR BREAD...
THE BREAD OVEN WAS IN THE SQUARE.
(GEOFFREY) ATTEND  PUBLIC MEETINGS...
THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE WAS READ IN BOTH THIS SQUARE AND IN REYNOLDS SQUARE.
(GEOFFREY) AND THE SQUARES  SERVED MILITARY FUNCTIONS TOO.
(ROBIN) SOLDIERS OR LIVESTOCK  COULD BE QUARTERED  DURING A SIEGE.
(GEOFFREY) BUT SAVANNAH'S  CITIZENS ALSO USED THE SQUARES  IN WAYS MORE FAMILIAR  TO TODAY'S PARK-GOERS.
THEY WERE ALSO JUST PLACES  TO ENJOY THE OUTDOORS.
ABSOLUTELY, WHERE PEOPLE COULD COME OUT AND DO PROMENADING... (GEOFFREY) STROLLING... (ROBIN) YES, STROLLING, AND PICNICKING.
THE TREES PROVIDED SHADE.
PLACES OF RECREATION.
(GEOFFREY) OGLETHORPE'S  EGALITARIAN VISION DID NOT  ENTIRELY TURN OUT AS PLANNED.
GEORGIA REVERSED ITS  SLAVERY BAN IN 1750.
AND SOON A HIERARCHY DEVELOPED.
THE WEALTHY BUILT  IMPRESSIVE HOMES  FRONTING THE CENTRAL SQUARES,  WHILE THE POOR WERE  RELEGATED TO THE EDGES.
LIKE ALL UTOPIAS, IT'S IDEAL ON PAPER.
(GEOFFREY) AND YET OGLETHORPE'S  REMARKABLE CITY PLAN  STILL OFFERED UNPRECEDENTED  ACCESS TO GREEN SPACE...  AS THE CITY GREW THE NUMBER  OF SQUARES GREW WITH IT.
TODAY THERE ARE 22.
THEY'RE A GIFT TO THE  PEOPLE OF SAVANNAH...  FROM THE COLONISTS WHO TAUGHT AMERICA THE VALUE OF OPEN SPACE.
(THAISA) AMERICA SEEMED TO OFFER  THIS WHOLE NEW OPPORTUNITY.
SO-CALLED "UNTOUCHED  WILDERNESS," IT'S NATURE, IT'S THE LANDSCAPE THAT MAKES US DIFFERENT AND SO OUR CITIES GREW UP AND OVER THE NEXT COUPLE OF HUNDRED YEARS KEPT PUTTING PARKS IN VARIOUS WAYS INTO THE CITY.
(GEOFFREY) IT WASN'T FOUNDED  ON HIGH IDEALS.
FAIRMOUNT PARK WAS CREATED  TO SAVE A RESOURCE  WE CAN'T LIVE WITHOUT.
(THAISA) YOU HAVE TO HAVE WATER FOR A CITY TO FUNCTION.
(GEOFFREY) THIS CITY IS  SURROUNDED BY WATER.
PHILADELPHIA'S LUCKY.
THEY HAVE TWO MAJOR RIVERS.
(GEOFFREY) AND YET AFTER  THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION,  THERE WAS HARDLY  A DROP TO DRINK.
MOST PEOPLE EITHER DRANK FROM  THE FILTHY DELAWARE RIVER, OR GATHERED RAINWATER IN BARRELS  AND CRUDELY-DUG TRENCHES.
THIS WORRIED A FOUNDING FATHER.
BEN FRANKLIN IS THE ONE THAT BELIEVES THAT THE CITY SHOULD HAVE A CLEAN WATER SUPPLY.
(GEOFFREY) AND  PHILADELPHIA DID PROVE  THE PERFECT BREEDING GROUND  FOR MOSQUITOS CARRYING  YELLOW FEVER...
THOUGH SCIENCE HADN'T  QUITE FIGURED THAT OUT YET.
WHAT THEY THOUGHT WAS THAT IT WAS BEING CAUSED BY STAGNANT POOLS OF WATER AND MIASMAS COMING OUT OF THOSE STAGNANT POOLS.
THE MIASMAS?
MIASMAS, GASSES.
(GEOFFREY) THE DISEASE CLAIMED  THOUSANDS OF LIVES IN 1793,  AND NEARLY HALF OF THE  CITY'S POPULATION FLED.
SO THE QUESTION ON THEIR TABLE WAS, HOW DO WE GET CLEAN WATER TO THE PEOPLE OF THE CITY?
(GEOFFREY) THE ANSWER WOULD BE  A REVOLUTIONARY  NEW KIND OF PARK...  ON THE BUCOLIC BANKS OF  PHILADELPHIA'S OTHER RIVER.
THE CITY WOULD NOW DRAW  ITS DRINKING WATER  FROM THE SCHUYLKILL RIVER,  WITH A STATE-OF-THE-ART  WATERWORKS.
ITS STEAM-POWERED PUMPS MOVED  WATER UP TO A RESERVOIR  ON WHAT WAS KNOWN AS  THE "FAIR MOUNTE"--  IT'S NOW HOME TO THE  CITY'S ART MUSEUM.
AND WHY?
WHY DID THEY BUILD IT HERE?
IT'S A HIGHER ELEVATION THAN THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA ITSELF.
GRAVITY IS ACTUALLY WHAT ALLOWS WATER TO GO INTO THE SERIES OF PIPES SPREAD THROUGHOUT THE CENTER CITY.
KIND OF BRILLIANT, RIGHT?
(ROB) YEAH!
REALLY BRILLIANT!
OF COURSE THE QUALITY  OF THE CITY'S DRINKING WATER  NOW HINGED ON THE PRESERVATION OF THE SCHUYLKILL.
SO CITY LEADERS TOOK  AN UNPRECEDENTED STEP:  THEY TURNED THE PRIVATE WATERFRONT INTO PUBLIC PARKLAND.
(ROB) IT IS VERY UNPRECEDENTED.
THIS IS A CAPITALIST COUNTRY  THAT ENCOURAGES INDUSTRY AND BUSINESS AND DEVELOPMENT.
(GEOFFREY) KEEP IN MIND,  WATERFRONTS AROUND THE WORLD  HAD TYPICALLY BEEN GOBBLED UP  BY PRIVATE INTERESTS.
IF YOU LOOK TO EUROPE, ALL THE WATERFRONTS, THAT'S WHERE BUSINESS WENT ON.
(GEOFFREY) BUT IN PHILADELPHIA,  THEY KICKED OUT THE INDUSTRY,  AND ADDED THE PROPERTY  TO FAIRMOUNT PARK.
THEY ACQUIRED ELEGANT  RIVERFRONT ESTATES  AND PRESERVED THEM  AS PART OF THE PARK.
AND WHEN POLLUTION FROM  A DISTANT TRIBUTARY  THREATENED THE RIVER,  THEY ADDED ACRES OF  UPSTREAM WILDERNESS.
BY 1867 IT WAS UP TO ABOUT THREE THOUSAND ACRES ALONG THE RIVER TO TRY AND PROTECT IT.
(GEOFFREY) BUT AS THE PARK  CONTINUED TO SPREAD...
MILES FROM THE WATERWORKS...
IT SEEMED CITY LEADERS WEREN'T JUST CONCERNED WITH CLEAN WATER.
THEY WERE ENSURING  ACCESS TO FRESH AIR.
(THAISA) PEOPLE KNEW  THAT DIRTIER PLACES  SEEMED TO HAVE MORE ILLNESS.
FRESH AIR SEEMED TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE.
(GEOFFREY) AS SMOKESTACKS SPROUTED ACROSS AMERICAN CITIES,  THIS NEW IDEA WOULD CATCH ON,  THAT A PARK COULD SERVE  AS THE "LUNGS OF THE CITY."
SO IF YOU CREATED A GREEN LUNG YOU WOULD ACTUALLY HAVE CLEANER AIR AND A HEALTHIER CITY AND THAT YOU'D GET PEOPLE OUTSIDE.
(GEOFFREY) WITH FAIRMOUNT PARK,  PHILADELPHIA WAS OFFERING A  NEW MODEL FOR AMERICAN PARKS.
IN WHICH A CITY WOULD  PRIORITIZE PUBLIC HEALTH  OVER PRIVATE INDUSTRY...  AND PRESERVE ITS WATERFRONT  FOR ITS PEOPLE.
FAIRMOUNT PARK WAS DOING, IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY WHAT A LOT OF CITIES ARE TRYING TO DO IN THE LATE TWENTIETH CENTURY AND INTO THE TWENTY FIRST CENTURY.
REMOVE THE BARRIERS FOR PEOPLE TO GET TO THE WATER.
(GEOFFREY) IT WAS  ONE OF AMERICA'S  MOST POPULAR TOURIST  DESTINATIONS.
VISITORS CAME TO STROLL, PICNIC,  AND PAY THEIR LAST RESPECT  THIS WASN'T JUST A  PLACE TO BURY PEOPLE.
IT WAS A PARK.
A PUBLIC PARK!
ABSOLUTELY, PART OF THE THINKING WAS THAT THIS WOULD BE A PLACE FOR THE LIVING.
(GEOFFREY) BEFORE MOUNT AUBURN,  MOST BURIAL GROUNDS IN  THE EARLY 19TH CENTURY  WERE OVERCROWDED  AND UNSANITARY.
THEY WERE PLACES THAT WERE PRETTY DISMAL.
SOMETIMES YOU'D GET PLACES THAT IN FACT HAD LAYERS OF PEOPLE BURIED ON TOP OF EACH OTHER.
(GEOFFREY) IN BOSTON  A CHORUS OF CRITICS  WARNED THESE GRAVEYARDS  WERE SPREADING DISEASE...  AND TAKING UP  PRECIOUS REAL ESTATE,  IN A CITY THAT WAS BOOMING.
PEOPLE FELT CROWDED...
IT WASN'T JUST THE DEAD BODIES WHO WERE FEELING CROWDED.
(GEOFFREY) AMONG THOSE CRITICS  WAS DOCTOR JACOB BIGELOW  OF HARVARD.
HE REALLY, REALLY MISSED LIVING IN THE COUNTRYSIDE WHERE HE HAD GROWN UP, AND HE THOUGHT THAT CITIES WERE BECOMING TOO CROWDED; TOO POLLUTED, AND NEEDED A GOOD DOSE OF NATURE.
(GEOFFREY) A MAN OF SCIENCE  WHO'D RAILED AGAINST THE  PRACTICE OF BLOODLETTING, BIGELOW PUBLISHED SEMINAL WORKS  ABOUT BOTANY.
(AARON) AND HE'S KNOWN AS THE COINER OF THE WORD 'TECHNOLOGY.'
(GEOFFREY) DOCTOR BIGELOW  INVITED A DOZEN  PROMINENT FRIENDS  TO HIS HOME IN 1825...  TO DREAM UP A HEALTHIER  KIND OF BURIAL GROUND.
IT WOULD NOT ONLY  DIGNIFY THE DEAD  IN A SPACIOUS, SERENE SETTING.
BUT IT WOULD SERVE  THE LIVING AS A PARK,  WHERE URBANITES COULD ESCAPE THE CITY FOR THE GREAT OUTDOORS.
THEY WERE SPECIFICALLY THINKING OF THAT IDEA OF COMMON SPACE, WHERE ALL THE VILLAGERS COULD MINGLE IN A BEAUTIFUL, NATURAL SETTING.
AND IT REALLY MEANT EVERYBODY: IT MEANT COMMONERS; THE WORKERS FROM THE LOCAL MILLS COULD COME AND RELAX ON SUNDAY, THEIR DAY OFF.
(GEOFFREY) DR. BIGELOW'S  RADICAL NEW CONCEPT  WOULD BE CALLED A  RURAL 'CEMETERY.'
(AARON) IT WAS A NEW WORD  TO REFER TO A PLACE  WHERE PEOPLE WERE BURIED.
(GEOFFREY) WHILE MANY VISITORS  MAY HAVE THOUGHT MOUNT AUBURN  WAS A SLICE OF NATURE  RIGHT OUTSIDE THE CITY,  THIS WAS A  CAREFULLY-CRAFTED ILLUSION.
THIS PIECE OF PARADISE  HAD BEEN DESIGNED  BY HENRY DEARBORN,  THE PRESIDENT  OF THE MASSACHUSETTS  HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY.
HE WAS PRACTICING A CRAFT  THAT WOULD SOON BECOME KNOWN  AS "LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE."
(THAISA) MOUNT AUBURN'S IMPORTANT BECAUSE IT ESTABLISHES  THE ROLE OF DESIGN OF A  NATURAL LOOKING LANDSCAPE.
(GEOFFREY) DEARBORN SHAPED  PONDS AND MEADOWS,  AND STRATEGICALLY PLANTED  FLOWERS AND TREES--  ALWAYS WITH AN EYE TOWARD  THE SITE'S NATURAL TOPOGRAPHY.
AND HE LAID OUT THE CEMETERY'S  MEANDERING PATHS.
THAT'S REALLY IMPORTANT AS DISTINCT FROM THE GRIDS THAT ARE BEING LAID DOWN IN CITIES.
AND HERE THE WHOLE POINT IS ACTUALLY TO BE IN TOUCH WITH THE CONTOURS OF THE LAND AND TO GET LOST IN THE LANDSCAPE.
(GEOFFREY) THIS WAS NO FORMAL,  FRENCH GARDEN.
DEARBORN DESIGNED IT IN THE  ENGLISH LANDSCAPE STYLE.
THESE NATURAL-LOOKING GARDENS--  SOMETIMES RUGGED...  OTHER TIMES PASTORAL--  LOOKED LIKE ARISTOCRATIC  ENGLISH ESTATES.
IT'S BASICALLY THE KIND OF LANDSCAPE THAT YOU CAN IMAGINE SHEPHERDS WALKING THROUGH WITH THEIR FLOCK.
OH MY GOSH, THERE'S A TURKEY WALKING THROUGH THE CEMETERY.
(GEOFFREY) HEY, ALRIGHT.
THIS NATURALISTIC  BURIAL GROUND  WOULD SOON INSPIRE  THE CONSTRUCTION  OF OTHER 'RURAL CEMETERIES'  ACROSS THE COUNTRY.
PEOPLE CAME HERE AND LOVED IT AND IMMEDIATELY SAID, "WE NEED ONE OF THESE FOR OUR CITY".
(GEOFFREY) AND MOUNT AUBURN  CEMETERY WOULD HELP INTRODUCE  THE ENGLISH LANDSCAPE STYLE  TO AMERICA,  A STYLE THAT WOULD BECOME  STANDARD IN AMERICAN PARKS.
MOUNT AUBURN ESTABLISHED A DIFFERENT VOCABULARY.
THIS WAS A LANDSCAPE OF CURVILINEAR PATHS AND ROCK OUT CROPPINGS AND TREE GROVES.
IT'S MORE NATURAL, AND THAT'S WHAT WE THINK PARKS ARE SUPPOSED TO BE.
(GEOFFREY) AS IMMIGRANTS  FLOODED NEW YORK, CENTRAL PARK OFFERED ITS DIVERSE PEOPLE A PATCH OF COMMON GROUND.
CENTRAL PARK WAS BUILT WITH THE WHOLE IDEA THAT PEOPLE WOULD COME TOGETHER AND MIX FROM ALL DIFFERENT WALKS OF LIFE.
AND THEY'LL ALL LEARN THAT WE'RE ALL THE SAME.
(GEOFFREY) THIS IS EXACTLY  WHAT NEW YORK NEEDED.
IT HAD BECOME THE LARGEST CITY  IN THE WESTERN HEMISPHERE  BY THE MID-19TH CENTURY.
AND MORE THAN HALF OF ITS  CITIZENS WERE FOREIGN BORN.
IMMIGRANTS CRAMMED INTO AREAS  LIKE THE LOWER EAST SIDE--  SAID TO BE THE MOST DENSELY  POPULATED NEIGHBORHOOD  IN THE WORLD.
I CAN'T IMAGINE WHAT IT WAS LIKE TO LIVE IN A 19TH CENTURY CITY WITH THE RISE OF INDUSTRIALIZATION, THE TENEMENT.
I THINK THE CITY AT THAT TIME IS A PRETTY HARD, HARD PLACE TO BE AT.
(GEOFFREY) CENTRAL PARK  WAS CONCEIVED  AS A MUCH-NEEDED REFUGE.
THAT WAS THE WHOLE POINT OF CENTRAL PARK IS TO FORGET COMPLETELY AND UTTERLY THAT YOU WERE IN A CITY.
(GEOFFREY) THE PARK WOULD MAKE ITS DESIGNERS INTO CELEBRITIES.
WHILE CALVERT VAUX WAS ALREADY  AN ACCOMPLISHED ARCHITECT,  WHO HAD DESIGNED THE  WHITE HOUSE GROUNDS...  FREDERICK LAW OLMSTED  HAD NEVER DESIGNED ANYTHING.
THE MAN WHO WOULD  SOON BE CALLED  "THE FATHER OF AMERICAN  LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE,"  HAD TRIED HIS HAND AT  FARMING AND JOURNALISM.
OLMSTED LOVED PUBLIC PARKS.
HE LOVED LANDSCAPE.
BUT DID HE SEE HIMSELF AS WORKING IN IT?
NO.
(GEOFFREY) BUT IN HIS TRAVELS,  OLMSTED HAD WITNESSED  THE POWER OF PARKS  TO BRING PEOPLE TOGETHER.
AT BIRKENHEAD PARK--  ENGLAND'S FIRST FULLY  PUBLIC GREEN SPACE--  OLMSTED FELT CLASS  DISTINCTIONS MELT AWAY.
AND THROUGH HIS EXPERIENCES, HE SEES THAT MAYBE IT CAN BE THE TRUE DEMOCRATIC SPACE, WHERE PEOPLE CAN COME TOGETHER, DIFFERENT BACKGROUNDS IN LIFE AND ACTUALLY SEE EACH OTHER AS THE SAME.
(GEOFFREY) OLMSTED AND VAUX  WON A COMPETITION TO DESIGN CENTRAL PARK IN 1858,  WITH A PLAN THAT TRANSFORMED  THE SWAMPY, ROCKY SITE... NOT A VERY ATTRACTIVE PIECE OF LAND.
(GEOFFREY) ...INTO A SERIES  OF NATURAL-LOOKING SCENES  IN THAT ENGLISH  LANDSCAPE TRADITION.
OLMSTED AND VAUX'S DESIGN WAS A WORK OF ART.
AND THEY REARRANGED THE LANDSCAPE IN A FAR MORE RADICAL WAY THAN MOST OTHER ENTRIES INTO THE COMPETITION.
(GEOFFREY) BEFORE CENTRAL PARK  COULD BE BUILT,  THE CITY REMOVED A VILLAGE  OF AFRICAN-AMERICANS  WHO HAD INHABITED THE SITE.
THEN THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE  PARK TOOK MORE THAN A DECADE,  AND THE LABOR OF 20,000 MEN.
(SARA) THE SWAMPS  HAVE BEEN FILLED IN.
EVERYTHING WAS PLANTED.
DYNAMITE WASN'T INVENTED YET AND THEY HAD TO BLAST OUT ALL OF THESE ROCK OUT CROPS SO THEY HAD TO DO IT WITH GUN POWDER.
(GEOFFREY) OLMSTED AND  VAUX DESIGNED THE PARK  FOR CALMING ACTIVITIES,  LIKE SLOW CARRIAGE RIDES,  OR SIMPLY STROLLING--  THE TRAFFIC WAS SEPARATED  BY A REVOLUTIONARY SYSTEM  OF BRIDGES AND UNDERPASSES.
SPORTS WERE STRONGLY  DISCOURAGED HERE.
THE IDEA WAS TO BE IN NATURE, TO JUST WALK, SMELL A FLOWER, AND GET THE MENTAL REFRESHMENT AND THE PSYCHOLOGICAL RELEASE THAT YOU NEED TO GET AWAY FROM THE HUSTLE AND BUSTLE OF THE CITY.
(GEOFFREY) CURVING PATHS  GUIDED VISITORS  THROUGH A SERIES OF QUIET,  CAREFULLY-COMPOSED VIEWS.
(SARA) THEY WANTED YOU  TO GO FROM SCENE TO SCENE.
REALLY NO DIFFERENT THAN  WHEN YOU GO TO A MUSEUM  AND YOU ADMIRE A BEAUTIFUL  SCENE, YOU TAKE A FEW STEPS,  YOU SEE AN ENTIRELY  DIFFERENT SCENE.
(GEOFFREY) THESE LANDSCAPES  WERE WHAT DESIGNERS  CALLED "PICTURESQUE."
THIS POPULAR APPROACH TRIED  TO CAPTURE THE IRREGULARITY  OF THE NATURAL WORLD IN  PICTURE-PERFECT VIEWS.
PUTTING THE LANDSCAPE IN THE PERFECT COMPOSITION -- FOREGROUND, MIDDLE GROUND, BACKGROUND.
AND AS YOU MOVE THROUGH THE SCENERY, IT CAN OPEN AND UNFOLD.
(GEOFFREY) OLMSTED AND VAUX  PAINTED A VARIETY OF PICTURES.
THE "SHEEP MEADOW"  ALLOWED NEW YORKERS  TO EXPERIENCE THE WIDE-OPEN  VISTAS OF A PASTURE.
AND THERE WERE REAL SHEEP.
YES, THERE WERE REAL SHEEP AND A REAL SHEPHERD.
THE SHEEP CUT THE GRASS, AND THEY FERTILIZED IT AS WELL.
(GEOFFREY) OTHER LANDSCAPES  WERE DESIGNED TO LOOK WILD  LIKE "THE RAMBLE."
(SARA) A PLACE WHERE  YOU WOULD REALLY FEEL  LIKE YOU WERE DEEP IN NATURE.
(GEOFFREY) OLMSTED THOUGHT  THESE LANDSCAPES  WOULD HAVE A CIVILIZING EFFECT  ON THE POOR.
SOME HOPED IMMIGRANTS  MIGHT EVEN BE AMERICANIZED.
BECAUSE THE IDEA WAS IF YOU WERE REALLY AN AMERICAN, YOU HAD TO BE ABLE TO TOUCH AMERICAN SOIL TO KNOW THE TREES AND LEARN ABOUT THE AMERICAN LANDSCAPE.
(GEOFFREY) ELSEWHERE, OLMSTED  AND VAUX DESIGNED FORMAL,  SYMMETRICAL SPACES,  LIKE "THE MALL"...  ...AND "BETHESDA TERRACE."
ONLY ACCESSIBLE BY FOOT,  THESE SPOTS FORCED THE WEALTHY OUT OF THEIR CARRIAGES,  BRINGING THE SOCIAL CLASSES  FACE-TO-FACE.
YOU COULD WATCH HOW OTHER PEOPLE BEHAVED.
YOU COULD WATCH HOW PEOPLE, FOR EXAMPLE, THAT MIGHT WEAR NICER CLOTHES SO YOU COULD WATCH THEM.
YOU COULD WATCH THEIR POSTURE.
THE IDEA THAT IF YOU SORT OF RUB SHOULDERS YOU WOULD ALL LEARN FROM EACH OTHER.
(GEOFFREY) IT WAS LIKE NO OTHER  PARK AMERICA HAD SEEN.
AND IT MADE  FREDERICK LAW OLMSTED  THE MOST SOUGHT AFTER LANDSCAPE ARCHITECT OF HIS DAY.
EVERYBODY IN AMERICA WANTED OLMSTED TO DESIGN A PARK FOR THEM.
(GEOFFREY) SOON OTHER  LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTS WERE BUILDING SIMILAR SO-CALLED  "PLEASURE GROUNDS"  ACROSS THE COUNTRY.
IF YOU WANTED TO BE MODERN CITY, A CITY OF THE CENTURY THEN YOU HAD TO HAVE A PUBLIC PARK.
AND THIS PUBLIC PARK HAD TO BE ACCESSIBLE TO EVERYBODY, IT HAD TO BE A BIG ENOUGH SCALE THAT SPOKE OF YOUR ASPIRATIONS.
AND IT CELEBRATED THE AMERICAN LANDSCAPE IN THE MIDDLE OF THESE DEVELOPING CITIES.
(GEOFFREY) WE'RE VISITING 10 CITY PARKS THAT CHANGED AMERICA,  IN CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER.
NEXT IS A SYSTEM OF PARKS... THAT OFFERED MORE THAN FRESH AIR... A LOT OF PEOPLE COULDN'T SPEAK ENGLISH, SO HERE WAS AN OPPORTUNITY FOR PEOPLE TO HAVE ENGLISH LESSONS, AMERICAN CIVICS CLASSES.
VOCATIONAL TRAINING.
THERE WERE ALL KINDS OF MEETINGS AND CLUBS AND CLASSES.
(GEOFFREY) THESE PARKS  GAVE NEW IMMIGRANTS  THE HELP THEY  DESPERATELY NEEDED.
(BACHRACH) THERE WAS SUCH A DIRE NEED FOR CLEAN AND HEALTHY BREATHING SPACE IN THESE NEIGHBORHOODS.
(GEOFFREY) IN THE YEARS  SINCE CENTRAL PARK OPENED,  CHICAGO HAD FOLLOWED  NEW YORK'S LEAD IN BUILDING "PLEASURE GROUNDS."
TWO WERE DESIGNED BY  FREDERICK LAW OLMSTED HIMSELF.
BUT THESE KINDS OF PARKS  SIMPLY WEREN'T SERVING  THE WORKING CLASS.
THEY TENDED TO BE IN MIDDLE AND UPPER MIDDLE CLASS NEIGHBORHOODS THEY WERE NOT HERE WHERE PEOPLE WORKING CLASS PEOPLE COULD EASILY ACCESS THEM.
SURE YOU COULD TAKE A STREET CAR, BUT A STREET CAR COST A NICKEL.
THAT'S A LOT OF MONEY WHEN YOU'RE MAKING FOURTEEN AND A HALF CENTS AN HOUR.
(GEOFFREY) PLUS, OLMSTED'S HOPE THAT THE POOR COULD BE UPLIFTED  BY SIMPLY BREATHING FRESH AIR  AND RUBBING SHOULDERS  WITH THE RICH,  IGNORED NEW IMMIGRANTS'  VERY REAL NEEDS.
PEOPLE HAD REALLY NO ACCESS TO ANY KIND OF BATHING.
THEY HAD NO RUNNING WATER, THEY HAD VERY LITTLE IN THE WAY OF ANY KIND OF HEALTHCARE.
EVEN FRESH MILK WAS A TERRIBLE CONCERN.
(GEOFFREY) A PROGRESSIVE  PARK SUPERINTENDENT  NAMED J. FRANK FOSTER  ARGUED THAT PUBLIC PARKS  WERE THE BEST PLACES  TO ADDRESS THESE PROBLEMS.
THIS BECOMES A PROGRESSIVE ISSUE AND THE PROGRESSIVES BELIEVED IN GOVERNMENT.
THEY BELIEVED THAT GOVERNMENT WAS THE ANSWER TO A LOT OF SOCIAL PROBLEMS.
(GEOFFREY) INSTEAD OF ASKING  CHICAGO'S TENEMENT-DWELLERS  TO TRAVEL TO ONE  CENTRALLY-LOCATED PARK,  FOSTER CREATED AN  ENTIRE SYSTEM OF PARKS,  WHERE THEY WERE NEEDED MOST.
THE IDEA WAS YOU WOULD BRING PARKS TO THE PEOPLE RATHER THAN HAVE PEOPLE GO TO THE PARKS.
(GEOFFREY) THEY WERE DESIGNED  BY A FAMILIAR NAME.
JOHN OLMSTED AND  FREDERICK LAW OLMSTED, JR  TOOK A DIFFERENT APPROACH  FROM THEIR FAMOUS FATHER.
INSTEAD OF SPRAWLING,  NATURAL-LOOKING LANDSCAPES, DESIGNED FOR A GENTLE STROLL...
THESE TINY PARKS WERE JAM-PACKED  WITH POOLS, GYMS,  AND BALL FIELDS;  WHERE IMMIGRANTS COULD GET  A HEALTHY DOSE OF EXERCISE.
NOT ONLY TO PROVIDE RECREATION FOR THEM, BUT TO MAKE THEM MORE AMERICAN.
THE IDEA THAT BASEBALL WOULD MAKE PEOPLE MORE AMERICAN.
(GEOFFREY) AND WHILE  FREDERICK LAW OLMSTED  WAS HESITANT TO PUT ANY  BUILDINGS IN CENTRAL PARK,  HERE THERE WAS A BUILDING  IN EVERY PARK.
(BACHRACH) J. FRANK FOSTER  FELT VERY STRONGLY  THAT THE NEW PARKS HAD TO BE  USED ALL YEAR ROUND.
CHICAGO IS A VERY COLD CITY, AND IN ORDER TO DO THIS THERE HAD TO BE A NEW TYPE OF BUILDING, WHICH WAS CALLED THE FIELD HOUSE.
(GEOFFREY) IN THE "FIELD HOUSE,"  THE WORKING POOR COULD  GET FREE HEALTH CARE...  (BACHRACH) DOCTORS AND NURSES WOULD COME AND DO IMMUNIZATIONS.
(GEOFFREY) ENJOY A HOT MEAL  IN THE LUNCH ROOM...  (BACHRACH) HOME COOKED FOOD.
(GEOFFREY) TAKE CLASSES...  (BACHRACH) A LOT  OF CRAFT CLASSES,  KITE MAKING, WOODWORKING.
(GEOFFREY) PERFORM ON A STAGE...  (BACHRACH) A LOT  OF VERY PATRIOTIC  AMERICAN KINDS OF PLAYS.
(GEOFFREY) AND FOR THOSE  WHOSE TENEMENTS  LACKED RUNNING WATER...  (DOMINIC) YOU COULD  TAKE A SHOWER HERE.
YOU COULD GET A TOWEL  AND A BAR OF SOAP.
WORKING SIXTEEN HOURS OR TWELVE HOURS A DAY IN A PACKINGHOUSE, YOU SMELL, OKAY?
SO AT LEAST ONCE A WEEK YOU WANT TO TAKE A SHOWER.
(GEOFFREY) THE OLMSTED BROTHERS  ALSO INCLUDED AN INNOVATION  THAT WOULD FOREVER CHANGE THE  LIVES OF AMERICAN CHILDREN.
PLAYGROUNDS WERE BUILT AS  PART OF A NATIONAL MOVEMENT TO GIVE CITY KIDS A SAFE HAVEN.
WHERE WERE THEY PLAYING BEFORE THERE WERE PLAYGROUNDS?
(BACHRACH) IN THE STREET.
WHEN THE CHILDREN WERE PLAYING IN THE STREET THEY WERE OFTEN PLAYING IN HEAPS OF GARBAGE.
CAN YOU IMAGINE WHAT IT WAS LIKE FOR THESE CHILDREN?
KIDS WHO WERE WORKING.
A LOT OF THESE CHILDREN HAD TO WORK TO HELP THEIR FAMILIES.
IF THEY WERE LUCKY ENOUGH TO HAVE TIME OFF, THIS IS WHERE THEY WANTED TO COME, BECAUSE THIS WAS LIKE HEAVEN TO THEM.
(GEOFFREY) THE PLAYGROUNDS  WERE SUPERVISED  BY SO-CALLED "PLAY LEADERS."
(BACHRACH) THE THOUGHT  WAS THAT IF CHILDREN HAD  STRUCTURED RECREATION  THAT IT WOULD HELP THEM BECOME  GOOD UPSTANDING CITIZENS.
(GEOFFREY) CHICAGO'S  EXPERIMENTAL NEW PARKS  REDEFINED WHAT AN  AMERICAN PARK COULD BE.
AND SOON OTHER CITIES  WERE INSPIRED TO BUILD THEIR OWN SMALL PARKS,  FILLED WITH THE AMENITIES THE  WORKING CLASS NEEDED MOST.
(BACHRACH) A LOT OF OUR IDEAS ABOUT WHAT A PARK SHOULD BE ALL COME BACK FROM THIS MOVEMENT, WHICH REALLY BEGAN IN THE EARLY 20TH CENTURY IN CHICAGO.
(GEOFFREY) IT'S NOW A  SPANISH REVIVAL FANTASYLAND  IN THE HEART OF TEXAS.
THIS BEAUTIFUL NARROW TIGHT LITTLE CHANNEL THAT REMINDS YOU OF SOME EUROPEAN CITIES.
(GEOFFREY) BUT THIS WAS  ONCE AN INFAMOUS HAZARD.
THEY HAD THIS CATASTROPHIC FLOOD IN 1921 AND THEY KNEW THEY HAD TO DO SOMETHING WITH IT.
(GEOFFREY) THE SAN ANTONIO RIVER  HAD ALWAYS BEEN  PRONE TO FLOODING.
BUT THE GREAT FLOOD OF 1921  WAS BIBLICAL...
CLAIMING MORE THAN 50 LIVES.
(RADIO ANNOUNCER)  TORRENTIAL RAINS  IN THE DARK OF THE TEXAS NIGHT  BROUGHT HIGH WATERS AND HAVOC  ROARING INTO THE CITY  STREETS OF SAN ANTONIO.
(GEOFFREY) ONE PLANNER  PROPOSED A DRASTIC MEASURE  TO TAME THE RIVER.
(PETER) LET'S PAVE IT OVER.
BECAUSE THERE'S ELEVEN ACRES  OF DEVELOPABLE LAND THERE.
IT WOULD HAVE BEEN THE  MOST TERRIBLE MISTAKE.
(GEOFFREY) BUT A 27 YEAR OLD  ARCHITECT NAMED ROBERT HUGMAN  HAD ANOTHER IDEA...  ONE THAT WOULD DO MUCH MORE  THAN KEEP THE WATERS AT BAY.
WOULD YOU CALL HIM A VISIONARY?
ABSOLUTELY, A REAL VISIONARY AND A PERSON WHO ACTUALLY FELT THAT DESIGNING THE RIVER WALK WAS HIS MISSION IN LIFE.
(GEOFFREY) A PROUD SON  OF SAN ANTONIO, HUGMAN HAD LIVED IN NEW ORLEANS  AFTER ARCHITECTURE SCHOOL...  WHERE HE WAS BLOWN AWAY  BY THE UNIQUE FLAVOR  OF THE FRENCH QUARTER.
HE FELT IT OFFERED  VALUABLE LESSONS FOR THE FUTURE OF HIS HOMETOWN.
HE GOT A SENSE OF FRENCHNESS THAT HE THOUGHT HE COULD TRANSFER TO SAN ANTONIO AS A SENSE OF SPANISHNESS.
(GEOFFREY) SAN ANTONIO  HAD USED ITS RIVERFRONT  AS PARKLAND IN THE PAST.
BUT IT HAD BEEN A  TRADITIONAL, TREE-LINED PARK  THAT COMPLETELY IGNORED THE  CITY'S SPANISH HERITAGE.
SAN ANTONIO AT THAT TIME WAS TRYING TO BE MORE LIKE OTHER CITIES ELSEWHERE, IT WAS KIND OF A WEIRD PLACE.
(GEOFFREY) INSTEAD,  ROBERT HUGMAN  TRANSFORMED THE FLOOD-RAVAGED  BANKS OF THE SAN ANTONIO RIVER  INTO A SPANISH REVIVAL  PROMENADE.
21 BLOCKS OF FANCIFUL  WALKWAYS AND BRIDGES,  MADE OF THE SAME  NATIVE LIMESTONE  USED BY THE REGION'S  EARLY SPANISH SETTLERS.
HUGMAN TOOK ADVANTAGE OF  THE DRAMATIC CHANGE IN GRADE  BETWEEN THE STREET  AND THE RIVER,  TO REMOVE VISITORS  FROM THE BUSTLING CITY.
BECAUSE IT'S SHELTERED FROM  COLD WINTER WINDS DOWN HERE,  THEY COULD PLANT  TROPICAL TREES...
TRULY TRANSPORTING VISITORS  TO ANOTHER PLACE.
(LEWIS) AND TOTALLY,  TOTALLY RADICAL,  THAT WOULD REALLY BE  THE PROPER TERM FOR IT BECAUSE EVERYONE ELSE THOUGHT OF A PARK AS BEING SOMETHING THAT'S VERY PROPER, YOU HAVE GRASS, YOU HAVE TREES YOU HAVE SIDEWALKS AND MAYBE SOME PRETTY FLOWERS HERE AND THERE, BUT HUGMAN REALLY BROKE THE MOLD.
(GEOFFREY) THIS WAS  ALL MADE POSSIBLE BY A CLEVER FEAT OF ENGINEERING, TO KEEP THE FLOODWATERS AT BAY.
A DAM UPSTREAM  PREVENTS SURGING TIDES.
AND A BYPASS CHANNEL  DETOURS HIGH WATER  PAST THE HEART OF THE  BUSINESS DISTRICT.
THEN FLOODGATES REGULATE  THE FLOW OF WATER...  TO THE PERFECT DEPTH FOR  VENETIAN-STYLE GONDOLAS.
SO THAT THE GONDOLIER COULD STAND UP AND PULL HIS GONDOLA INSTEAD OF HAVING TO GO LIKE THAT.
(GEOFFREY) BUT PERHAPS  THE MOST REMARKABLE PART  OF ROBERT HUGMAN'S PLAN  WAS HIS SALES PITCH:  THIS WASN'T JUST A LOVELY  SPOT TO ESCAPE THE CITY,  IT WAS A PLACE TO SPEND MONEY.
IN THE PAST, BUSINESSES HAD  TURNED THEIR BACKS  ON THE HAZARDOUS RIVER.
(FISHER) WELL, THEY HAD TO-- THERE WERE A COUPLE THAT TRIED STARTING DOWN AT THE LEVEL OF THE RIVER, BUT THEY WERE FLOODED OUT.
(GEOFFREY) NOW HUGMAN SUGGESTED  THAT PROPRIETORS CUT NEW  ENTRANCES AT THE WATER'S EDGE,  SO ELEGANT SHOPS  AND LIVELY CAFES  COULD APPEAL TO THE  HORDES OF PEDESTRIANS  WHO WOULD UNDOUBTEDLY  BE DRAWN TO THE PARK.
(LEWIS) MY FAVORITE PLACE IS THAT, SEE THAT DOORWAY RIGHT THERE, THAT SPANISH DOORWAY.
THAT WAS JUST CUT INTO THE BACK OF THE BUILDING.
(GEOFFREY) JUST RIGHT IN THE BACK OF THE BUILDING.
NOT EVERYONE APPRECIATED ROBERT HUGMAN'S VISION-- THE FATHER OF THE RIVER WALK WAS FIRED HALFWAY THROUGH ITS CONSTRUCTION.
(FISHER) AND AFTER THAT, HUGMAN NEVER REALLY DID ANYTHING MAJOR IN HIS LIFE.
(GEOFFREY) BUT IN HUGMAN'S  LIFETIME IT WOULD BECOME  THE ECONOMIC BOON HE IMAGINED.
THERE'S THOUSANDS OF HOTEL ROOMS, ALL THE BIG ORGANIZATIONS HAVE THEIR CONVENTIONS THERE BECAUSE IT'S SO MUCH FUN TO GO THERE.
IT'S SO SPECIAL, IT'S SO MEMORABLE.
(GEOFFREY) THIS PARK NOT ONLY  TRANSFORMED SAN ANTONIO, IT SHOWED OTHER AMERICAN CITIES  THAT PARKS CAN BE QUITE  LITERALLY VALUABLE.
MAYORS FROM ALL OVER THE COUNTRY GO THERE ALL THE TIME SAYING HOW CAN WE DO THIS OURSELVES?
AND MANY PLACES HAVE TRIED TO COPY IT IN ONE WAY OR ANOTHER, BUT NOBODY'S GOTTEN IT AS PERFECT AS SAN ANTONIO.
(GEOFFREY) IT WAS THE DAWN OF  THE INTERSTATE HIGHWAY SYSTEM.
AND AMERICA'S PARKS  WERE UNDER ATTACK.
IN SAVANNAH, THREE SQUARES  WERE WIPED OFF THE MAP.
IN PHILADELPHIA, FAIRMOUNT PARK  WAS DISFIGURED.
YOU HAD TO FIND A PLACE TO PUT THE HIGHWAYS IN THESE CROWDED, BUILT UP CITIES.
SO, THE PATH OF LEAST RESISTANCE WOULD BE THROUGH PARKLAND.
(GEOFFREY) BUT IN MEMPHIS,  AN UNLIKELY GROUP OF ACTIVISTS  WOULD STOP THE INTERSTATE  IN ITS TRACKS.
IN OVERTON PARK, THE PEOPLE SAID 'NO.'
(GEOFFREY) IT'S A TREASURE  OF THE MEMPHIS PARK SYSTEM.
OVERTON PARK WAS THE EQUIVALENT OF CENTRAL PARK FOR MEMPHIS.
SO, WHAT WOULD THE HIGHWAY HAVE DONE TO THIS PARK?
ESSENTIALLY IT WOULD HAVE CUT THE PARK IN TWO.
(GEOFFREY) IT WAS ANNOUNCED IN  1957 THAT A SIX LANE FREEWAY  WOULD PLOW THROUGH THE HEART  OF OVERTON PARK.
YOU'D HAVE BEEN LEFT WITH JUST A SHADOW OF WHAT IT HAD BEEN BEFORE.
(GEOFFREY) IT WAS PART OF A PLAN  TO REVITALIZE THE CITY'S  AILING DOWNTOWN.
CIVIC LEADERS HOPED  A NEW HIGHWAY  WOULD MAKE THEIR  BUSINESS DISTRICT  MORE ACCESSIBLE FROM  THE BALLOONING SUBURBS.
PEOPLE WANTED THE OPPORTUNITY TO GO OUT TO THE SUBURBS AND BE ABLE TO ZOOM BACK INTO TOWN.
(GEOFFREY) WITH HIGHWAY  CONSTRUCTION LOOMING,  A FEW MOSTLY MIDDLE CLASS  HOMEMAKERS STARTED A CAMPAIGN  TO SAVE THEIR PARK.
WHY DID YOUR MOTHER FEEL COMPELLED TO JOIN THIS FIGHT?
SHE JUST THOUGHT THAT IT WAS WRONG.
(GEOFFREY) SALLY HINES,  LIKE MOST IN THE GROUP, WAS NO DIEHARD ENVIRONMENTALIST.
SHE WAS A CONSERVATIVE IN THE SENSE THAT YOU CONSERVE THINGS.
THAT WAS ONE OF THE REASONS SHE SUPPORTED THE REPUBLICAN PARTY.
(GEOFFREY) WITH LEAFLETS  AND PETITIONS IN HAND,  THEY SET OUT TO TURN THE  TIDE OF PUBLIC OPINION  AGAINST THE FREEWAY.
THEY DID FUNDRAISERS.
THEY HAD AN ENORMOUS AUCTION OF STUFF.
A LOT OF FAMILY ANTIQUES AT OUR HOUSE VANISHED.
(GEOFFREY) POLITICIANS  AND BUSINESSMEN  LINED UP AGAINST THEM.
THE ACTIVISTS WERE DERIDED  AS 'LITTLE OLD LADIES  IN TENNIS SHOES.'
THEY HAD A LOT OF  OPPOSITION, DIDN'T THEY?
THEY CERTAINLY DID.
INCLUDING THE DEATH THREATS.
LIKE, PEOPLE CALLING ON THE PHONE SAYING THAT WE'D LIKE TO SEE YOU UNDER ONE OF THOSE TREES IN THAT PARK.
(GEOFFREY) THE STATE MOVED QUICKLY TO BUILD THE EXPRESSWAY.
IT STARTED RAZING HOMES,  CHURCHES, AND BUSINESSES  ON EITHER SIDE OF THE PARK.
THEY WANTED TO FORCE IT SO IT WAS GOING TO BE INEVITABLE AND IMPOSSIBLE TO UNDO THIS.
(GEOFFREY) THE ACTIVISTS  TURNED TO THE COURTS,  FILING A LAWSUIT AGAINST  THE U.S. SECRETARY  OF TRANSPORTATION.
AND THEY GOT A HAND  FROM KEY PLAYERS  IN THE BUDDING  ENVIRONMENTAL MOVEMENT.
(PETER) THIS WAS  HAPPENING AT A TIME  WHEN THE ENVIRONMENTAL MOVEMENT WAS JUST STRENGTHENING.
SO TWO FORCES COLLIDED JUST AT THE TIME OF THIS LAWSUIT.
(GEOFFREY) TWO LOWER COURTS  RULED AGAINST THEM,  SO THEY FILED AN  EMERGENCY MOTION  WITH THE U.S. SUPREME COURT.
SHE TYPED THE SUPREME COURT BRIEFS?
YES, AT NIGHT AFTER ALL THE DISHES WERE DONE AND WE WENT OFF AND GONE TO SLEEP.
SHE WOULD SIT UP AND TYPE THIS BRIEF.
(GEOFFREY) SALLY HINES  TOOK A BUS TO WASHINGTON  TO HEAR THE ARGUMENT.
THOUGH THEIR CASE  WAS A LONG SHOT,  SHE HAD NO DOUBT.
SHE BELIEVED IN THE SYSTEM.
SHE WAS ULTIMATELY COMMITTED TO THE DEMOCRATIC SYSTEM AND OF OUR COUNTRY.
(GEOFFREY) THEIR  SUPREME COURT VICTORY  WOULD NOT ONLY PRESERVE  OVERTON PARK...
BUT GREEN SPACES  ALL OVER AMERICA.
THE RULING FORCED THE GOVERNMENT TO PROVE THERE WAS NO 'FEASIBLE  AND PRUDENT ALTERNATIVE'  BEFORE RUNNING A HIGHWAY  THROUGH PARKLAND.
T WAS A VERY STRONG STATEMENT, SAYING THAT, 'WE'RE GOING TO REALLY MAKE YOU THINK 'WHETHER THERE'S NO ALTERNATIVE TO RUINING ALL THESE PARKS WITH FREEWAYS.'
(GEOFFREY) THE CASE  WAS AN IMPORTANT WIN  FOR THE GROWING  CONSERVATION MOVEMENT.
AND IT GAVE A  POWERFUL LEGAL TOOL  TO PRESERVATIONISTS  AND PLANNERS--  LIKE THE DAUGHTER  OF SALLY HINES,  WHO BECAME AN ARCHITECT.
OTHER PEOPLE'S MOTHERS GAVE THEM THEIR APPLE PIE RECIPE.
MY MOTHER LEFT ME A LANDMARK SUPREME COURT DECISION.
I'LL TAKE THAT.
(GEOFFREY) IN SEATTLE,  THE DAMAGE WAS ALREADY DONE.
A FREEWAY CUT THE CITY  IN HALF IN 1966.
RIGHT SMACK IN THE MIDDLE OF THIS OTHERWISE BEAUTIFUL CITY.
(GEOFFREY) BUT HERE A DESIGNER  WOULD HEAL THE WOUND  WITH A RADICAL,  NEW KIND OF PARK.
(THAISA) IT WOULD DO SOMETHING  THAT NO OTHER CITY HAD DONE.
SO IT WOULD PUT SEATTLE  ON THE FOREFRONT IN BRINGING NATURE BACK INTO THE CITY.
(GEOFFREY) THE CONCRETE HAD  BARELY DRIED ON INTERSTATE 5,  WHEN SEATTLE STARTED SUFFERING  BUYER'S REMORSE.
THE CITY DEBATED WHAT  TO DO WITH THIS EYESORE  THAT NOW DIVIDED ITS DOWNTOWN  FROM THE RESIDENTIAL  NEIGHBORHOODS TO THE EAST.
(THAISA) THE PRIDE  AND JOY OF SEATTLE  IS THAT FROM ALL OF ITS  HIGH POINTS YOU CAN SEE WATER,  MOUNTAINS AND TREES.
SUDDENLY YOU HAVE THIS BIG RUSHING FREEWAY THAT WAS LOUD, THAT WAS UGLY.
(GEOFFREY) A LOCAL ARCHITECT NAMED PAUL THIRY OFFERED AN IDEA  THAT WOULD REUNITE THE CITY,  AND ADD MUCH-NEEDED  DOWNTOWN PARKLAND...  WHY NOT BUILD A PARK  ON TOP OF THE FREEWAY?
HE WAS LAUGHED OUT OF CITY COUNCIL.
AND TEN YEARS LATER, OF COURSE, THAT'S EXACTLY WHAT THEY WANTED TO DO.
(GEOFFREY) TO MAKE THIS  CRAZY IDEA A REALITY,  SEATTLE TURNED TO  LAWRENCE HALPRIN.
A PRODUCT OF THE  1960S COUNTERCULTURE,  HALPRIN FELT HIS JOB WAS TO  MAKE INSPIRATIONAL LANDSCAPES,  WHERE PEOPLE MIGHT REALIZE  THEIR CREATIVE POTENTIAL.
HE DIDN'T SEE FREEWAYS  AS EYESORES,  BUT AS AVENUES OF OPPORTUNITY.
(THAISA) LARRY HALPRIN  HAD ACTUALLY WRITTEN  A BOOK ON FREEWAYS.
HE WAS FASCINATED BY THE  MODERNIZATION OF FREEWAYS,  THE POWER OF FREEWAYS.
(GEOFFREY) TO BUILD A PARK  ON TOP OF A FREEWAY,  HALPRIN WOULD FACE CHALLENGES  NO LANDSCAPE ARCHITECT  HAD EVER CONFRONTED.
HE HAD TO DESIGN A 5 ACRE PARK  THAT NOT ONLY SITS  ATOP A CONCRETE LID,  BUT THAT WEAVES AROUND PARKING GARAGES, A CITY STREET,  AND A DENSE JUNGLE OF  URBAN INFRASTRUCTURE.
SO WHEN YOU LOOK AT A PLAN OF FREEWAY PARK YOU THINK, WELL WHY IS IT SUCH A CRAZY SHAPE?
AND IT'S A CRAZY SHAPE BECAUSE IT IS BENDING AND TWISTING, THE FREEWAY BENDS.
THE FREEWAY'S GOT ONRAMPS AND OFF-RAMPS.
IT'S GOT THE AVENUE THAT GOES OVER THE TOP OF THE PARK.
IT'S GOT CITY STREETS THAT GO UNDER THE PARK.
(GEOFFREY) TO LIMIT THE WEIGHT  OF THE PARK ON  THE CONCRETE LID,  HALPRIN USED LIGHTWEIGHT SOIL, WHICH IS OFTEN ONLY A FOOT DEEP.
LARGE TREES SIT IN HUGE PLANTERS  THAT HANG DOWN THROUGH  HOLES IN THE LID.
THE ENGINEERING IS  KIND OF MIND BOGGLING.
IT'S MIND BOGGLING.
AND IT'S ONLY WHEN YOU ACTUALLY WALK THROUGH IT YOU REALIZE WHAT IT HAS ACCOMPLISHED.
(GEOFFREY) LIKE PARKS WE'VE SEEN  THROUGHOUT THIS SHOW, LAWRENCE HALPERN'S DESIGN OFFERS SPACES FOR QUIET CONTEMPLATION.
THERE'S ONE RIGHT HERE.
(GEOFFREY) HERE  PARK-GOERS CAN ESCAPE  THE HUSTLE AND BUSTLE  OF THE CITY.
I DO, I FEEL LIKE I'M THE WOODS.
YEAH.
(GEOFFREY) BUT WHAT'S  DIFFERENT ABOUT FREEWAY PARK  IS THAT HALPERN DIDN'T IGNORE  THE URBAN ENVIRONMENT.
YOU CAN HEAR THE CITY, YOU CAN SEE THE CITY, YOU'RE WALKING ON CONCRETE.
(GEOFFREY) IN MANY PLACES,  PARK GOERS ARE BROUGHT  FACE-TO-FACE WITH THE FREEWAY.
YOU CAN'T IGNORE A FREEWAY, AND IF WE HAD TRIED TO PRETEND IT WASN'T THERE WE WOULD ESSENTIALLY HAD COME UP WITH SOMETHING THAT'S FAKE AND, TO ME, WHAT'S INTERESTING ABOUT FREEWAY PARK IS THAT IT'S REAL.
(GEOFFREY) AND HALPRIN  MADE EXTENSIVE USE  OF THE VERY MATERIAL FROM  WHICH THE FREEWAY IS BUILT.
(THAISA) IT'S A CONCRETE PARK.
THERE'S CONCRETE PAVERS,  THERE ARE CONCRETE WALLS.
UNLIKE MANY PARKS YOU  NEVER HAVE A MOMENT OF 'OH, THIS MUST BE A PIECE OF WILDERNESS THAT WAS LEFT OVER.'
(GEOFFREY) AT THE SAME TIME THIS  URBAN MATERIAL IS OFTEN USED  TO EVOKE SEATTLE'S  NATURAL SURROUNDINGS.
(THAISA) THE CONCRETE FORMS ARE AN ABSTRACTION OF THE MOUNTAINS.
THEY'RE AN ABSTRACTION  OF THE BIG GRANITE  BOULDERS IN THE MOUNTAINS AND THE FORMS OF THE MOUNTAINS.
(GEOFFREY) AT A FOUNTAIN  CALLED "THE CANYON,"  WATER DROPS 30 FEET DOWN  TO A 'RIVERBED' OF SORTS,  WHICH IS ACTUALLY THE  FREEWAY'S MEDIAN STRIP.
WHERE ARE WE RIGHT NOW?
WE ARE STANDING ACTUALLY BETWEEN THE TWO LANES OF TRAFFIC.
OH, ONE LANE AND THE OTHER.
WE'RE-WE'RE SUNK DOWN TO THE LEVEL OF THE FREEWAY.
(GEOFFREY) AT A MORE SERENE FOUNTAIN CALLED "THE CASCADES",  WATER TUMBLES OVER  CONCRETE "BOULDERS,"  DROWNING OUT THE  ROAR OF TRAFFIC.
THE METAPHOR IS, THAT I'M IN THE CASCADES, AND I'M IN THE MOUNTAINS, AND THE CITY IN A WAY IS PART OF THAT.
(GEOFFREY) WITH FREEWAY PARK,  LAWRENCE HALPERN  SHOWED US HOW A PARK  COULD EMBRACE BOTH NATURE  AND THE CITY AT THE SAME TIME.
AND HE SHOWED CITIES  ACROSS AMERICA  HOW TO CREATE PARKS IN  UNEXPECTED PLACES.
(WALTER) AND YOU START TO SEE PARKS BECOMING ALMOST ANY PIECE  OF LEFTOVER LAND IN THE CITY.
PARKS TAKING THE PLACE OF A STREET SOMETIMES.
THAT THE PARK ETHIC IS SO INGRAINED IN AMERICAN CULTURE THAT WE JUST WANT IT IN THE CITY, AT ALL COSTS.
(GEOFFREY) IT WAS AN  UNLIKELY PLACE FOR A PARK:  A TOXIC WASTE SITE,  OOZING WITH SLUDGE.
I CALLED IT INDUSTRIAL AFTERBIRTH.
(GEOFFREY) AND YET ITS  LANDSCAPE ARCHITECT  PRESERVED PIECES  OF THE VERY INDUSTRY  THAT POISONED THE SITE.
WELL, THERE IS NO OTHER VISUAL EXPERIENCE LIKE THIS ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD YOU MIGHT SAY IT'S A DINOSAUR.
THE GAS WORKS.
IT'S A JURASSIC PARK OF THE PAST.
(GEOFFREY) RICHARD HAAG  WAS NOT THE FIRST  TO SEE POTENTIAL  IN THIS SPOT.
NATIVE AMERICANS ONCE  CONSIDERED IT SACRED LAND.
AND THE OLMSTED BROTHERS RECOGNIZED ITS IDYLLIC LOCATION.
(THAISA) SO IN 1903, OLMSTED HAD ACTUALLY DONE A PLAN FOR SEATTLE AND HE HAD IDENTIFIED THIS SITE AS A BEAUTIFUL SITE FOR A PARK.
(GEOFFREY) THE SEATTLE LIGHTING  COMPANY GOT THE LAND INSTEAD.
BUT AFTER A HALF CENTURY OF  SYNTHETIC GAS PRODUCTION,  IT CLOSED UP SHOP IN 1956,  LEAVING BEHIND AN UGLY MESS.
GAS WORKS PARK IN 1956 WAS A BIG BLACK HOLE ON THE CITY AND IT HAD NINE TO FOURTEEN FEET OF SLUDGE.
(GEOFFREY) WHEN THE CITY  ACQUIRED THE SITE,  MANY ASSUMED SEATTLE  WOULD FINALLY GET THE PARK  THE OLMSTEDS ENVISIONED.
ROLLING GRASS LAWN WITH TREES, BIG TREES THAT ARE EMBLEMATIC OF SEATTLE.
A LOVELY PARK, LIKE THE OTHER PARKS.
(GEOFFREY) BUT THE GUY  WHO GOT THE JOB  TO DESIGN GAS WORKS PARK...  HAD A VERY DIFFERENT IDEA.
DO YOU REMEMBER THE FIRST TIME YOU SAW THIS SITE?
I DO, VERY DISTINCTLY.
I WAS IN A ROWBOAT.
RIGHT OUT THERE?
YEAH.
WHAT DO YOU SEE?
WELL WE SAW THIS GHOSTLY SILHOUETTE.
AND I SAID, 'WHAT THE 'F' IS THAT?
[LAUGHS]  (GEOFFREY) RICHARD HAAG  ACTUALLY STARTED LIVING  ON THE TOXIC SITE,  TO GET A BETTER FEEL  FOR ITS POSSIBILITIES.
(HAAG) SLEEPING BAG,  I MOVED AROUND IN THESE  VACANT BUILDINGS.
(GEOFFREY) HE QUICKLY FELL IN  LOVE WITH THE HULKING RUINS.
THE MOST SACRED ELEMENT ON THE SITE WAS THE BIG TOWER RIGHT THERE.
SO I DECIDED QUITE EARLY THAT I WOULD GO DOWN TO THE WIRE TO SAVE THAT TOWER.
IT HAS FOUR CHILDREN THERE.
THAT'S THE BIG MOMMA.
THE BIG MOTHER- HAS THESE CHILDREN.
SO WHO WOULD SPLIT UP A FAMILY?
(GEOFFREY) BUT SAVING  THESE STRUCTURES  WOULD BE AN UPHILL BATTLE.
HAAG HAD TO OVERCOME YEARS OF OPPOSITION FROM PUBLIC OFFICIALS  WHO CONSIDERED THE GAS WORKS  AN UGLY REMINDER OF  SEATTLE POLLUTED PAST.
THERE WERE TWO TYPES OF POLLUTION HERE.
ONE WAS THE MINDSET OF THE OFFICIALS.
(GEOFFREY) AND THEN HE HAD THAT  TOXIC SOIL TO CONTEND WITH.
I DON'T THINK YOU COULD REALLY CALL IT SOIL.
(GEOFFREY) RATHER THAN  REMOVING THE "SLUDGE,"  RICHARD HAAG HAD THE  UNHEARD OF IDEA OF SAVING IT.
HE WOULD CLEAN  THE SOIL IN PLACE,  USING A NEW SCIENCE  CALLED BIOREMEDIATION.
(THAISA) SO YOU ADD SOME OXYGEN  AND YOU ADD ORGANIC MATERIALS,  YOU ADD SOME HAY AND SAND.
THEY ADDED ALL OF THIS,  LIKE A GOOD FARMER WOULD DO WITH LAND THAT HAD BEEN OVERUSED AND ABUSED.
AND WHAT YOU ACTUALLY GET IS SOIL, WHICH THEN THINGS COULD GROW ON.
(GEOFFREY) HAAG PILED THE SLUDGE  THAT WAS TOO TOXIC TO CLEAN  AND CAPPED IT WITH  CLAY AND SOIL,  CREATING WHAT'S KNOWN  AS KITE HILL.
SO YOU BURIED THE DEBRIS THAT LIVED OFF THIS SITING AND YOU MADE A HILL?
EXACTLY.
(GEOFFREY) THE ROLLING HILLS  ARE MORE THAN JUST  A THING OF BEAUTY.
HAAG DESIGNED THEM TO  STEER PURIFYING RAINWATER  THROUGH THE SITE.
SO THE IDEA WAS TO CREATE THE SITE THAT WOULD HEAL ITSELF FOR THE MOST PART.
(GEOFFREY) BUT THE VISUAL  CENTERPIECE OF THE PARK  IS THE FAMILY OF TOWERS THAT  HAD SO ENTRANCED RICHARD HAAG.
HE REPURPOSED THE INDUSTRIAL  RUINS AS FUNCTIONAL SPACES  FOR PICNICKING AND PLAYING.
SO IT'S REALLY LIKE AN INDUSTRIAL PLAYGROUND?
YEAH, WOULDN'T YOU WANT TO PLAY?
ABSOLUTELY.
MY KIDS THEY CAME DOWN WITH ME AND PLAYED.
(GEOFFREY) HAAG SCOURED THE GRIMY, SOOT-COVERED MACHINES...
THERE WAS PIGEON GUANO ALL OVER THE FLOOR.
(GEOFFREY) ...AND TRANSFORMED  THEM INTO JUNGLE GYMS.
IT TAKES A LOT OF IMAGINATION.
THANK YOU.
[LAUGHS]  (GEOFFREY) BUT THESE  SALVAGED INDUSTRIAL RUINS ALSO SERVE A SYMBOLIC FUNCTION.
THEY ARE IMPORTANT REMINDERS OF  THE HISTORY OF SEATTLE--  AND AMERICA.
WELL, OUR INDUSTRIAL INFRASTRUCTURE -- THESE ARE OUR GREAT FEATS OF THE 20TH CENTURY WHY ERASE THEM?
THEY ALLOW US TO SORT OF UNDERSTAND WHO ARE, WHERE WE'VE BEEN AND HOPEFULLY THEY BEGIN TO SUGGEST WHERE WE CAN GO IN THE FUTURE.
(GEOFFREY) RICHARD HAAG'S  UNUSUAL DECISION  TO SAVE THESE RUSTING TOWERS  EARNED HIM  INTERNATIONAL ATTENTION  WHEN THE PARK OPENED IN 1975.
A LOT OF PEOPLE THOUGHT THAT WAS A CRAZY IDEA.
YES...
SOME STILL DO.
(GEOFFREY) AND YET  RICHARD HAAG'S PARK  HAS ULTIMATELY CHANGED  AMERICA'S PERSPECTIVE  ON OUR INDUSTRIAL PAST.
IT WAS SHAMEFUL FOR THE CITY TO HAVE THIS UGLY SPOT RIGHT SMACK IN THE MIDDLE OF THE CITY.
AND YET WHAT HAAG AND OTHER ARTISTS SAW WERE A PIECE OF HISTORY THAT WAS ACTUALLY IMPORTANT TO SEATTLE AND A CHANCE TO RETHINK WHAT SHOULD BE PRESERVED, WHAT WAS IMPORTANT TO US.
(GEOFFREY) ITS CREATORS MADE  WHAT SEEMED IMPOSSIBLE  A REALITY.
THEY TOOK A DERELICT RAIL-LINE  AND TRANSFORMED IT INTO A PARK  THAT DRAWS NEARLY 5 MILLION  VISITORS A YEAR.
WHAT TO ME IS POWERFUL IS I THINK IT CAN MAKE THE CRAZY CREDIBLE.
SO PEOPLE THAT HAVE REALLY IDEAS THAT ARE NEW, DIFFERENT, THAT PEOPLE WILL THINK THAT'S NEVER GOING TO HAPPEN, BUT THEY CAN POINT TO THE HIGHLINE AND SEE HOW SOMETIMES THESE DREAMS ACTUALLY COME TRUE.
(GEOFFREY) NOT SO LONG AGO THE  HIGH LINE WAS A RUNDOWN RUIN, CUTTING ACROSS 1 MILE AND A HALF  OF NEW YORK'S LOWER WEST SIDE.
IT WAS A RELIC OF ANOTHER AGE, WHEN FREIGHT TRAINS TRANSPORTED  FOOD TO AND FROM FACTORIES  AND WAREHOUSES HERE.
BUT BY THE 1990'S IT WAS USED  TO TRAFFIC ILLICIT ACTIVITY.
HEROIN NEEDLES, DISCARD NEEDLES, PROPHYLACTICS, IT WAS DISCARDED FURNITURE, ALL SORTS OF STUFF.
YEAH, EITHER PEOPLE WANTED TO TEAR IT DOWN OR JUST DIDN'T CARE.
MOST PEOPLE JUST DIDN'T CARE.
(GEOFFREY) WHERE MANY  SAW AN EYESORE,  ROBERT HAMMOND SAW A PIECE  OF THE PAST WORTH SAVING.
(HAMMOND)  WHEN I CAME UP HERE,  THERE WERE WILDFLOWERS RIGHT  IN THE MIDDLE OF THE CITY.
SO YOU HAD THIS  JUXTAPOSITION OF NATURE  OVERTAKING THIS  MANMADE STRUCTURE.
WILDFLOWERS WITH VIEWS OF THE HUDSON RIVER AND THE EMPIRE STATE BUILDING.
(GEOFFREY) WITH THE HIGH LINE THREATENED BY THE WRECKING BALL,  HAMMOND ATTENDED A COMMUNITY  MEETING ABOUT ITS FUTURE.
I SAT NEXT TO A GUY I DIDN'T KNOW WHO LIVED IN CHELSEA.
AND BY THE END OF THE MEETING WE REALIZED WE WERE THE ONLY TWO PEOPLE INTERESTED IN IT.
(GEOFFREY) THE STRANGER WAS  A WRITER NAMED JOSHUA DAVID.
THE TWO FORMED A  GRASSROOTS CAMPAIGN  CALLED FRIENDS OF  THE HIGH LINE...  ...AND HIT ON AN IDEA  TO TURN THE FREIGHT LINE INTO SOME SORT OF PUBLIC SPACE.
WE DIDN'T HAVE ANY EXPERIENCE.
WE WEREN'T ARCHITECTS, WE WEREN'T PLANNERS.
SO WE ACTUALLY DIDN'T KNOW WHAT SHOULD HAPPEN HERE.
(GEOFFREY) THEY SLOWLY BUILT  COMMUNITY SUPPORT,  ENLISTING THE HELP OF A  PROMINENT PHOTOGRAPHER  TO CONVEY THE SITE'S ALLURE.
AND SOON CELEBRITIES  JOINED THEIR CAUSE.
BUT WE ALSO MADE THE ECONOMIC CASE THAT THIS MADE FINANCIAL SENSE.
THAT IT WOULD HELP REVITALIZE THE NEIGHBORHOOD.
THAT IT WOULD BRING NEW TAX REVENUES TO THE CITY.
(GEOFFREY) THEY HAD THE MONEY  TO START CONSTRUCTION BY 2006.
BUT BEFORE THE STRUCTURE COULD  BE TRANSFORMED INTO A PARK,  IT HAD TO BE COMPLETELY  OVERHAULED.
WE HAD TO CHECK THE STRUCTURE AND WATERPROOF IT AND MAKE SURE IT WAS SOUND.
WE SURVEYED ALL THE RAILS THAT WERE HERE.
WE NUMBERED ALL THE RAILS THAT WERE HERE AND WE PUT THEM ALL BACK IN THE EXACT PLACE THAT THEY CAME FROM.
(GEOFFREY) THE PARK'S  DESIGNERS--  JAMES CORNER AND  DILLER SCOFIDIO RENFRO--  FELT THERE WAS A CERTAIN MAGIC  TO THE DERELICT URBAN RUIN.
AND THEY WERE DETERMINED  TO PRESERVE THAT MAGIC...  RAILS AND ALL.
WERE YOU AFRAID OF RUINING THE RUIN?
HA-HA, YES AND WE WERE ALSO AFRAID OF MAKING TOO MUCH ARCHITECTURE, ACTUALLY.
BECAUSE IT REALLY INVOLVED THE LIGHTEST TOUCH TO KEEP THAT EDGINESS TO IT AND ALLOW THE PLANTS TO FEEL WILD.
(GEOFFREY) THE ARCHITECTS  DESIGNED A WALKWAY  OF INDUSTRIAL CONCRETE PLANKS.
IT MEANDERS THROUGH A  LUSH CARPET OF PLANTINGS,  OCCASIONALLY SPLINTERING,  TO ALLOW PLANTS TO GROW UP  THROUGH THE CRACKS.
IT'S VERY MUCH INSPIRED BY THE WAY THAT NATURE MAKES A CONQUEST OVER CULTURE AND THEN CULTURE OVER NATURE.
THERE ARE THESE CYCLES.
(GEOFFREY) THE CHOICE OF PLANTS  ALSO EVOKED THE SITE'S PAST.
PLANTING DESIGNER PIET OUDOLF  REPLANTED SOME OF  THE SAME SPECIES  THAT ONCE THRIVED HERE  ON THE ABANDONED TRACKS.
WE COULD TAKE OUR CLUES FROM THE PLANTS AND THE WAY THEY MADE THEMSELVES AT HOME ON THE HIGH LINE.
PERHAPS MORE THAN ANY OTHER PARK IN THIS SHOW, THE HIGH LINE IS A CELEBRATION OF ITS URBAN ENVIRONMENT.
IT RUNS RIGHT ALONGSIDE-- AND EVEN THROUGH-- BUILDINGS.
ELSEWHERE, THE DESIGNERS CREATED "EPISODES," WHERE PARK-GOERS CAN STOP TO TAKE IN ONE-OF-A-KIND VIEWS OF THE SURROUNDING CITY.
(HAMMOND) THE HIGHLINE  IS PART OF THE CITY.
YOU CAN SEE THE TAXIS.
YOU CAN SMELL THE CITY.
YOU SEE THE CITY.
AND IT GIVES YOU THIS COMPLETELY  DIFFERENT VANTAGE POINT FROM THE CITY YOU LIVE IN EVERY DAY.
(GEOFFREY) THIS URBAN APPROACH  TO PARK-BUILDING  CAUGHT THE COUNTRY'S  IMAGINATION.
AND NOW OTHER CITIES  ARE REPURPOSING  THEIR OLD RAIL LINES.
EVERY CITY, EVERY MAYOR, EVERY CHAMBER OF COMMERCE IS BEATING THE DOOR DOWN.
THEY GO TO NEW YORK AND THEN THEY GO BACK HOME, 'HEY DO WE HAVE AN ELEVATED RAILROAD TRACK SOME PLACE?
FIND ME AN ELEVATED RAIL ROAD TRACK, WE GOT TO DO THIS.'
(GEOFFREY) BUT PARK DESIGNERS  AREN'T JUST ATTRACTED  TO THE HIGH LINE'S  UNEXPECTED LOCATION.
THEY ARE INSPIRED BY  THIS CLEVER DESIGN...  THAT ENCOURAGES VISITORS  TO SLOW DOWN,  AND ENJOY THE TIMELESS APPEAL  OF A STROLL THROUGH THE PARK.
I MEAN ONE OF THE THINGS THAT I NOTICED RIGHT AFTER WE OPENED WAS THAT PEOPLE WERE HOLDING HANDS AND NEW YORK CITY IS NOT A HAND HOLDING CITY.
BUT THEY COME UP HERE, THEY HOLD HANDS AND I THINK IT'S THE LANDSCAPE AND THE PLANTING, THE DESIGN CHANGES THE WAY PEOPLE INTERACT WITH EACH OTHER.
I THINK THAT'S ONE OF THE THINGS THAT WORKS WITH THE HIGHLINE.
PEOPLE SAY THEY'RE COMING FOR THE DESIGN, BUT THEY'RE ALSO COMING TO SEE EACH OTHER AND INTERACT WITH EACH OTHER.
THE WHOLE PACE OF NEW YORK GETS A LITTLE BIT SLOWER.
(GEOFFREY) IN THE HIGH LINE'S  SLEEK NEW PACKAGING  IS AN IDEA THAT'S OLDER  THAN AMERICA ITSELF:  THAT A PARK CAN BRING  PEOPLE TOGETHER.
OVER THE PAST 3 CENTURIES,  WE'VE SEEN OUR PUBLIC  SPACES EVOLVE;  BUT THEY'VE CONTINUED TO  MEET OUR MOST BASIC NEEDS:  FOR A PLACE TO GATHER  WITH NEIGHBORS.
AND DISCOVER THE  AMERICAN LANDSCAPE.
A PLACE TO GET AWAY FROM THE  HUSTLE AND BUSTLE OF THE CITY.
AND NOW TO CELEBRATE THE CITY  AND ITS HISTORY.
PARKS HAVE PLAYED SUCH A  CRITICAL ROLE IN AMERICAN LIFE THAT THEY SEEM TO BE NOT SO MUCH A LUXURY...AS A BASIC NECESSITY.
WE BELIEVE EVERYONE HAS THE RIGHT TO A PARK IN THEIR NEIGHBORHOOD, THAT NOBODY SHOULD LIVE TERRIBLY FAR FROM A PARK.
AND WE TALK ABOUT NEIGHBORHOODS BEING DEPRIVED WHEN THEY DON'T HAVE A PUBLIC PARK.
THAT IS ACTUALLY PARTICULARLY AMERICAN.
PARKS ARE SEEN AS SOMETHING THAT BUILDS COMMUNITY, THAT PROVIDES A RESPITE FROM THE CITY, THAT ARE HEALTHY, AND SO IN THAT WAY EVERY COMMUNITY NEEDS TO HAVE ONE.
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