Jane’s Walk
by Joey Stewart
Jane’s Walk is a global event of free neighbourhood walking tours held in Calgary and around the world each May, inspired by activist Jane Jacobs.
This year, the walks are held May 5, 6, and 7, 2023. Since 2008, Calgarians have been deepening their sense of belonging by connecting with their city’s stories, challenges, and delights through walking tours led by and for Calgarians.
For 15 years, Calgary Foundation has been the focal point for the walks. Starting this year, the Federation of Calgary Communities will be the focal point.
Jane Jacobs was an American Canadian journalist, author, theorist, and activist beginning in New York City where she sought to stop an enormous freeway, proposed by the powerful Robert Moses, from going through the middle of Greenwich Village. Her family moved to Toronto at the beginning of the Vietnam War.
Arguably, no one did more to shape the understanding of the modern American city than Jane Jacobs, the visionary, activist, and author of The Death and Life of Great American Cities. Her books have influenced generations of urban planners and are still being taught in universities around the world.
When she died in 2006, her friends and colleagues wanted to recognize her contributions to cities that work. They struck upon the idea of doing what Jane would have liked best: getting people onto the street and talking about the architecture, stories, legends, and people who make up their neighbourhoods.
Anyone can lead a Jane’s Walk, decide what corner of your neighbourhood you like best, and register your title of the walk with the Federation of Calgary Communities. Talk to people whose homes stand out that you’d like to know more about, create a route, set a time and date, and decide on a starting point. Most walks last about an hour. The list of routes is advertised online so invite your own neighbours, friends and family, and others will show up.
Engage your guests with conversation. Many of the people in the group will have anecdotes and stories to contribute as you walk along. I have been doing this for many years; if you’d like more tips, contact me at [email protected].
