I was reading this article today from Bloomberg.com about liens on property in Pittsburgh, how much money is being made and how this complicates redevelopment. Fun stuff, not so much (It is important stuff though and I reccomend you take a look at the article). I learned this fun fact from the article – the Hill district was the inspiration for Hill Street Blues. I did a double take and then went to check this out on Wikipedia (there is some amazing stuff on there).
The name of the show was based on Pittsburgh’s Hill District. Chief writer Steven Bochco attended college at the nearby Carnegie Institute of Technology and used the downtrodden Hill District as inspiration for naming the show.
The Wikipedia also has a page on the Hill District.