the sharon and philip milstein family. bernard and irene schwartz. the city foundation. rosalind p. corporate funding is provided by mutual of america, designing customized, individual and group retirement products. that's why we're your retirement company. additional support is provided by: and by the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> female narrator: in the middle of the 19th century, before automobiles, skyscrapers, interstate highways, and shopping malls, an ordinary citizen, frederick law olmsted, had a vision for america's cities. >> "we want a ground to which people may easily go after their day's work is done and where they may stroll for an hour, seeing, hearing, feeling nothing of the bustle and jar of the streets, where they shall, in effect, find the city put far away from them." >> narrator: throughout his career, olmsted designed over 500 nourishing green spaces in all corners of the country. >> olmsted, he's one of the towering figures in the history of american cities, the history of ame