"Tales of pioneer hardship and deprivation have been told many times. Yet still we remember in wonder, that people accomplished so much with so little; that men and women with simple tools, their bare hands, and their own inventiveness cleared the land, drained the swamps, made their own clothing and provided their own food. Through all these difficulties God was with them and they wanted their children educated intellectually and spritually." from Norfolk Street United Church history

Thursday, April 21, 2011

Celebrating the heritage of Jane Jacobs and the 50th anniversary of her book The Death and Life of Great American Cities



Backyard Bounty Urban Farming Tour - Jane's Walk - Guelph May 8, 2011

MONTREAL, April 21, 2011 /Canada NewsWire Telbec/ - On the weekend of May 7-8th, Jane's Walk, an event hosted in Montreal by the Montréal Urban Ecology Centre (MUEC), will lead free, guided walking tours in fifteen neighbourhoods on the Island of Montréal.

"The 3rd edition of Jane's Walk in Montréal will offer 25 walks with a variety of themes, allowing us to discover something new about the culture, history, or heritage of neighbourhoods that we may already be very familiar with," says Luc Rabouin, Director of the MUEC. "The walks are organized by volunteer walk leaders who are knowledgeable and passionate about their neighbourhood. Each year, we are blown away by the turnout. We're expecting more than 1,000 participants in 2011," he adds.


Walks in your neighbourhood

Jane's Walk will explore Montréal from north to south, from Villeray to Downtown, on walks in Parc-Extension, Petite-Patrie, Rosemont, the Mile-End, the Portuguese Quarter, the Plateau, and Milton-Parc. It will also travel from west to east, from Notre-Dame-de-Grâce to the Quartier des Spectacles, on walks in Westmount, Outremont, Mont-Royal Park, Côte-St-Paul, Shaughnessy Village, and the Gay Village. The complete program for Jane's Walk is available on the Internet: http://www.urbanecology.net/janeswalk

The heritage of Jane Jacobs

Jane's Walk honours the heritage of Jane Jacobs. 2011 is the 50th anniversary of The Death and Life of Great American Cities (1961), the book that introduced Jane Jacobs' ground-breaking ideas about how cities function, evolve, and fail. Decades later, it has become a highly influential book for generations of architects, urban planners, politicians, and activists. Jane Jacobs firmly believed in community and that local residents understand best how their neighbourhood works. Her work demonstrates how dense, mixed-use areas are key factors for the health and survival of cities.

International movement

Jane's Walk was inaugurated in Toronto in 2007 by the organization Jane's Walk and is now present in more than 30 Canadian and 70 international cities. This year, more than 500 walks and 12,000 walkers will explore neighbourhood streets around the world. For the first time, Jane's Walk will take place in Sao Paulo, Brazil; Wuhan, China; Berlin, Germany; Guadalajara, Mexico; Amsterdam, Netherlands; and, Ljubliana, Slovenia.

Financial partners

In Montréal, Jane's Walk is made possible by the financial support of the Agence de la santé et des services sociaux and nationwide Jane's Walks are supported by TD Friends of the Environment Foundation, AVANA Capital, the Metcalf Foundation, the Toronto Community Foundation, the Department of Canadian Heritage, GE Canada, and Digital Lunch.

Check out the 2011 Jane's Walk - Guelph


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