Jane's Walk

Bring Jane’s Walk to Your Town

Walkers take part in adding some 'greenery' to Queen Street West on the CORE Struts Big walk in Toronto. photo by Devon Ostrom.

Jane’s Walks is fast developing a reputation as a participatory grassroots event, a hybrid walking tour-urban exploration-neighbourhood festival. The walks are off-beat conversations, looking at places from the point of view from the people who live and play in the neighbourhood. Local organizers, those individuals or groups who act as the key contact and hosts for Jane's Walk in each town or city, rave about the impact Jane's Walk has had in connecting their communities.

“The feedback has been really encouraging – people had a good time, met some people, learned some new facts, had some new thoughts and felt more connected to our city, our neighbourhoods and the insights Jane Jacobs offered.” – local organizer, Calgary

“The informal, participatory model seemed to engage participants, with more than half taking the megaphone at some point and everyone engaging in conversation throughout.” – local organizer, Halifax

“Jane’s Walk is not simply a fun and informative event, but a process for expanding social capital. We are sure that there are other connections taking place through Jane’s Walk under the radar, and that these will not only help to build Jane’s Walk as an event, but also to strengthen the connections within the community as a whole.” – local organizer, Ottawa

If you think Jane's Walk would be an exciting and engaging event to bring to your town or city, drop us a line. You can choose to focus on simply facilitating one or two walking tours or go bigger offering a wide range of tours and voices. The point is to make your Jane's Walk event sustainable and rewarding for particpants and organizers. Many resources are posted here on this website, but there is also a 'local organizers' listserv and Facebook page that helps connect people working on bringing Jane's Walk to their town so they can swap tips and share insights. Some people have organized their Jane's Walk in less than a week, others craft the event over many months, working with volunteers and a broad array of organizations.

“It was hands down one of the best examples of community development that I have seen. We had a very large, very respectful, and insightful crowd. It was an awesome day.” - St. Jamestown tour guide, Toronto

“Follow up activities in Peterborough include the group deciding to approach the Public Works department to figure out a shared community approach to clearing the park pond for shinny hockey in the winter with people saying ‘Let’s make better use of this park in all the seasons.’” – local organizer, Peterborough

“Jane’s Walk gets a very wide audience. You don’t have to register. It’s free, accessible and immediate. People just show up or join along, which doesn’t happen with typical tours. One of the best things about it is the low barriers to entry for all.” – Dylan Reid, Pedestrian Infrastructure tour guide, Toronto

“Halifax is undergoing a lot of change at the moment — buildings going down and others going up. Many of the storefronts on Barrington Street are unoccupied with papered up windows. Because Halifax urban history can seem fleeting at times — disappearing around us — it was really powerful to have an older woman join the walk who has had experience with homeless people, shelters, and the gay community. She had the inside scoop on what had happened in various places — an underground knowledge of the city streets that is hard to pass on without a personal connection. Some of her stories included that of a homeless man who lived in a cemetery for several years, a gay bar that used to reside in the Khyber building, and an old tradition where street people would gather to drink tea with the nuns in the building on the corner of Barrington and Spring Garden Road.” – local organizer, Halifax

Jane's Walk is an extremely adaptable, flexible community initiative that builds belonging and raises urban literacy. To learn more about bringing Jane's Walk to your town, whether you're an individual or a group, please check out the 'Organize Your Town' section of the website for more information. Or drop us a line at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)