Jane’s Walk
Jane’s Walk is a global festival of free neighbourhood walking tours held in Calgary and around the world each May, inspired by urbanist and activist Jane Jacobs. In 2008, Calgary Foundation was an early joiner of the new Jane’s Walk global movement.
Every year, the first weekend in May, hundreds of Calgarians come to walk in their neighbourhoods or other neighbourhoods just to get to know them and their neighbours. Last year 1,500 Calgarians joined 50 different walks. This year on May 2, 3, and 4 there will be another festival of Jane’s Walks.
These walks were an idea started by Jane Jacob’s friends in Toronto, when Jane died in 2006, her friends wanted to acknowledge her impact on Canadian culture. She was not an urban planner or an architect. She was a writer and an urbanist and an activist passionate about making cities better places for families and communities to thrive. Her first book, The Death and Life of Great American Cities, that she wrote in 1961 is still taught in Architectural schools all over the world.
Her first great success was in the 1960s when she convinced New York City’s City Council to deny Robert Moses, the most powerful urban planner of his day: he wanted to build an enormous freeway through the middle of Greenwich Village, where the Jacobs lived. It was a time when cars were king, and she thought it ought to be a place for families and communities to live vibrant lives. Her passion and conviction won the day!
Jane was born in 1916 and died in 2006. In the 1950s the rumblings had begun about the prospect of the Vietnam War. She was determined that her two sons would never go to war, that prompted their move to Toronto and Canada had the benefit of her wisdom for over 50 years.
When she died her friends were thinking about an appropriate memorial for her and they knew that she would want people connecting on the street talking with their neighbours and voila! Jane’s Walks were invented in 2007.
Thousands of people all over Canada on the first weekend in May come together to lead their neighbours and friends into corners of their neighbourhoods they love and want to share. Last year there were 189 cities on six continents that participated in Jane’s Walks.
I’ve led these walks through Killarney-Glengarry many times culminating for tea in my garden for many years. It all began when I stopped to talk to people who live on the street and learned of the history of their homes and the people who had lived in them. I was astonished at what I learned and then shared that knowledge with others. For example, in 1917 the RV Campbell family built the home at 2205 26 St, that home has only ever had three families live in it. Heidi and Ray, the current owners for the past 40 years, still have the original Campbell’s photo album! There is a photo of their son returning from duty in the Second World War standing with his father in their backyard. After108 years the original fireplaces and stained-glass windows still exist and are in working order.
People from all over Calgary have come to learn about Killarney and many have come to live here because they loved the history and the sense of community.
I would urge you to talk to your neighbours, get to know where they have come from and why they live here and then volunteer to lead a Jane’s Walk in your favourite corner of your ‘hood’. The Calgary Federation of Communities offers help in formulating your walk, if you need it. Check their website at janeswalk.calgarycommunities.com. If you find that daunting, join a group and get the feel of how it feels to lead a Jane’s Walk.
If you’re new or an old-timer in Killarney-Glengarry and want to join a Jane’s Walk please join us on May 3 at the Pub on the corner of 17 Avenue and 26 St SW at 1:00 pm. Maybe next year you’ll volunteer to create your own Jane’s Walk based on what you love about your corner of Killarney.
Last year, in Calgary there were over 1,500 attendees and 50 different walking tours. Now is the perfect time to start thinking about joining a Jane’s Walk. Sign up on the Federation of Calgary Communities website: janeswalk.calgarycommunities.com. Check out the walking maps and videos.
Photos: Permission from the Calgary Federation of Calgary Communities.
Click here to the Killarney-Glengarry Community News home page for the latest Killarney-Glengarry community updates.
