A little over two years ago I decided to move uptown, and up in the air -- out of the East Village where it was noisy and I had to ride all the way cross-town to get on the Hudson River bike trail. One of the things I didn't figure in was that living close to Central Park would make a big difference. It really does.

Walking in Manhattan seemed like it must be a dream, when I lived in Berkeley. Every day I could walk a different set of streets. It would take forever until I had walked the same street twice. But it's not so simple. There are so many people on the streets in NYC, you can't space out and just walk, like you can in Berkeley, even though there isn't much variety there (it's all gorgeous, which can get really boring after a while). The best answer is Central Park! Where yes, sometimes it gets really crowded, but there are so many walking paths, so many different places to go, especially in the winter, you can often get away from all the hustle and bustle, even while still being in the greatest city in America. It's a pretty good deal.

It was masterfully designed many years ago by Olmstead. It's evolved over the years, but it has "good bones" and a philosophy that's stood the test of time. It's a democratizing space, used by all classes of people, where we all meet and hang out. Yes it's NY, not New Orleans, so people don't engage that much with each other, but just being in proximity, while recreating and relaxing, is worth a lot.