Jane's Walk

Feedback From Jane’s Walk Tour Guides and walkers:

Jane’s Walk devotes itself year round to helping people improve the walkability of neighbourhoods in a variety of ways - by encouraging people to lead walks and explore their pedestrian environment, to raise ‘urban literacy’ around what is meant by ‘walkability conditions’ and to help people engage with eachother to make improvements.

Jane’s Walk accomplishes these goals with the walks themselves, the walkability studies and the walkability toolkit and checklist that are available here for free.

Our walkability studies of the high rise neighbourhoods of Toronto’s inner suburbs are full of fascinating feedback and insight from local residents about the causes and effects of good and bad pedestrian infrastructure. The following is a list of quotes from our walkers and tour guides that point to the impact of our awareness-raising campaigns and engagement strategies around these issues.

“My eyes were opened to accessibility issues (or lack thereof) in a neighbourhood that I had spent my life in.” – Regina

“Wonderful to have the opportunity/excuse to walk around the places we usually drive by at great speed.” – Montreal

“These walks have changed the way I do my work, as a planner and city worker. The wisdom in the community is amazing and this is a great way to bring community knowledge back to the city.” - Toronto

“On our walk we learned directly about limits to Walkability. When we walked close to the railways where a lot of space isn’t used and which could give the neighbourhood a great nature space, a policeman came up to us to give us an angry warning and told us we would have to pay more than $100 for walking on private property, giving us a real evidence of how everything is regulated and how we can’t walk wherever we want in our own neighborhood! It was enlightening!” – Montreal

“I am super happy that this kind of an organization exists and that it has such a wide and flexible image of walking.” –  Toronto

“The feedback on our walk 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.” – Calgary

“Next year we want to plan more walks that highlight how certain areas and intersections in Halifax are pedestrian unfriendly.  The streetlights in Halifax are so quickly timed that you end up having to sprint across the road.  Conversations with people who run after school programs have revealed how dangerous it is for them to walk the city streets with the children.  Yikes!” – Halifax

“I have a vision for a pedestrian-, wheel-chair-, bicycle-, child- friendly corridor in the Danforth area. I wanted to get feedback and build momentum to effect the change.” – Toronto

“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.” – Ottawa

“Jane’s Walk is a great vehicle for getting communities to participate, talk about their history, issues, leaders and get to know the residents.” – Toronto

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

“There are many things in the Malvern community that need to be reviewed and changed to improve walkability. There is an overabundance of fences that impact the length of time it takes people to traverse through the community” – Toronto

“I think it’s a fantastic way to way to engage people in their local community. Not only is it an opportunity to learn more about your city or neighbourhood, it’s a great way to meet your neighbours and get the conversation going. Best of all, it’s free!” – Calgary

“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.” –  Halifax

“Very well organized and designed to attract the type of people who are curious about where they live.” – Regina

“Jane’s Walk is what a wiki or Facebook page would look like in person. You’ve got all the information and stories, like a wiki, and all the social networks coming together like Facebook. It’s completely brilliant.”- Toronto

“The walk brought together people from far and wide, young and old, and helped empower us to work together to keep our communities strong. For instance, as we were walking by the old school (closed in 1992), a teenage boy asked what the government was going to do with the building. No one seemed to know. After silence and murmurs, the boy said out loud ‘well, WE should do something then.’ And it was really a moment when I saw the magic of Jane Jacobs. All the members in the crowd seemed to agree that we had to do something before the school was just allowed to be torn down or get dilapidated.
This was where a lot of people chose to stop to talk or go for a coffee nearby. We promised eachother that we would somehow, as a group, find out what our options are for the school.
Thank you for bringing Jane’s great ideas to people far and wide.” - Coboconk

“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.” - Toronto

“About 20 people came out to walk around Neukolln (Berlin) and look at the history of typography and building names. We walked for about four hours. Lots of people contributed interesting observations about the neighbourhood, the empty buildings, design issues and the disappearance of certain kinds of typography in the city. Several people were interested in going on more walks and one person took up an idea of mine to start a mapping project on typography in the city of Berlin.”  - Berlin
“One of our Calgary walks may be reprised as a way to introduce new community association volunteers from across the city to the work of community associations. The walk was such a powerful and visceral way to share the significance of the work.” – Calgary

“Helps connect people, places and events, including individual histories, memories, and experiences. And this adds layers which makes a richer urban fabric.” - Mumbai, India

“Follow up activities 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.’” – Peterborough

“Energy was high, enthusiasm and conversation extended beyond the day of the walk, and many people mentioned that they had learned something new about the city. It was surprisingly beneficial in building cohesion among our extended community networks.  People who had only ever met online final met in person.  Further, a couple of community groups and organizations in attendance were able to talk about the work they’re doing, including a brand new initiative focused renewing vitality in the downtown.” – Halifax

“One walk visited an old sandstone school that sits empty. The City, neighbourhood activists, arts organizations, developers and many other players have been jockeying for years on what to do with it. Some of these interested parties met for the first time on this walk and have exchanged contact info to meet and talk further.” –  Calgary

“The event is growing and diversifying as more people learn about it and as people gain a deeper appreciation for what a Jane’s Walk can do and be. We are expanding our reach into the suburbs – particularly those that are transitioning into inner-city neighbourhoods – and into geographically isolated neighbourhoods that tend to be stigmatized by the rest of the city but are demonstrably a source of pride to their residents.” - Calgary

“Networks were certainly strengthened by doing the walk. We saw people who don’t normally participate in club outings come out to experience the park and the urban space and catch up with others. Some folks went out for brunch together afterwards.” -  Peterborough

“I discovered one of the oldest neighbourhoods in Montreal, which I had never visited before. I also found out more about mega-projects and important proposals being planned in the McGill Hospital area, information I feel I needed to have to be able to make up my mind about the urban impacts of those projects.” – Montreal

“I work for the city and I have found Jane’s Walks to be extremely valuable in helping me do my job. You sit behind your desk and work all day but you don’t necessarily get the chance to get out and meet the people you’re working for. It’s eye-opening and these walks give us a depth of feeling and understanding that you can’t get any other way.” – Toronto

“...that the sight of people attracts still other people, is something that city planners and city architectural designers seem to find incomprehensible. They operate on the premise that city people seek the sight of emptiness, obvious order and quiet. Nothing could be less true. The presences of great numbers of people gathered together in cities should not only be frankly accepted as a physical fact… they should also be enjoyed as an asset and their presence celebrated…”
- Jane Jacobs, ‘The Death and Life of Great American Cities