I think Sesame Street played a big role in creating the urbanism movement. Especially for GenX people. That place on PBS-TV was way more interesting than the boring-as-hell, poorly designed, all-white suburbs where a lot of us grew up in real life

Sometimes I think about how the show tried to shine a light on the real life experiences of city kids because they were left out of TV at the time. And by the time my friends were graduating from college they all wanted to live in Park Slope...

I went to college in urban NJ. One of my friends at Rutgers was the son of 2 people who worked on Sesame St. he said his parents based a lot of their storylines on Park Slope experiences.

And now that neighborhood, which was so gritty and wonderful on that show, is now one of the most sought after corners of real estate in the US. And totally crazy expensive.

My parents never understood my live if gritty,urban neighborhoods. They were depression babies. But by the time she was in her 60s my mom craved walkability more than anything else in a home. I want to be able to walk to things, she would say.

Recently someone out there posted that college is one of the few times things are walkable in modern American life. Everyone is graduating not wanting to return to the boring suburbs. Once you live on Sesame Street across from Mr Hooper’s store you don’t want to go back.