Jane’s Walk, the annual perambulatory tribute to urban activist Jane Jacobs, will be celebrated by many North America cities on May 5-6, 2012. Toronto, where Jacobs lived for the latter part of her life, has scheduled 53 walks throughout all corners of the city, including Kensington Market, Queen Street West, the Beach, Rosedale, St. Lawrence Market and Cabbagetown.
Some walks of interest, which will be led by volunteers, include:
- Toronto’s Changing Waterfront (dog friendly walk) – Sat., May 5, 2012 at 7:30 a.m., meet at northeast corner of River and Queen Street East
- Settling in the City – Sat., May 5, 2012 at 11 a.m., Enoch Turner Schoolhouse, 106 Trinity St.
- Annex ROMwalk – Sun., May 6, 2012 at One Bedford Rd.
- Graffiti in Toronto – Sun., May 6, 2012 at 3 p.m. at the “HUG” tree on the northwest corner of Queen St. W. and Soho St. (beside parking lot across from The Black Bull)
Jacobs was born in Pennsylvania, but moved to Toronto in 1968 to prevent her sons from being drafted. Jacobs was notable for developing revolutionary urban planning theories introduced in her seminal work, The Death and Life of Great American Cities, and later advocated for the mixed use housing model to be implemented in the St. Lawrence neighbourhood regeneration. Jacobs was made an officer of the Order of Canada in 1996.
