Planning now under way for 2013 Jane’s Walks in Long Branch. We enjoyed our many Long Branch conversations at the Feb. 23, 2013 Government & Community Services Fair at Cloverdale Mall

Mike James, co-leader of May 6, 2012 South Long Branch Jane's Walk, speaks at the site where Colonel Samuel Smith built a log cabin in 1797. Jaan Pill photo

Planning is now under way for at least two Jane’s Walks in Long Branch (Toronto not New Jersey).

As part of our advance publicity for the events, we arranged for a Jane’s Walk table at the Government and Community Services Fair on Feb. 23, 2013 at Cloverdale Mall. The event offered a great venue for conversations about Long Branch. It was also a great setting for networking and news updates related to a wide range of local projects and initiatives.

We also much enjoyed the YIMBY festival on Feb. 16, 2013, where Jane’s Walk Toronto had a table. It was great to have the opportunity to meet several of the key Jane’s Walk organizers at the letter event.

What is a Jane’s Walk?

A Jane’s Walk is based upon the legacy of Jane Jacobs (1916-2006). As the Jane’s Walk website notes:

“Jane’s Walk celebrates the ideas and legacy of urbanist Jane Jacobs by getting people out exploring their neighbourhoods and meeting their neighbours.”

Jane Jacobs changed how people looked at urban planning. Instead of leaving it to experts, she said urban planning must take into account what people observe with their own eyes. Her book The Death and Life of Great American Cities (1961) had a huge impact.

The South Long Branch Jane’s Walks seek to celebrate the history and current stories of Long Branch.

A previous blog post, part of the publicity for the South Long Branch Janes’s Walk last year on May 6, 2012, highlights background about Long Branch as a vacationing community – a area with turrets, verandas, and porches.

We look forward to building upon the success of last year’s South Long Branch Jane’s Walk, and the success of other Jane’s Walks in our local communities.

Additional background

Additional background related to the Jane’s Walk concept, and the planning that’s involved in the staging of a Jane’s Walk, can be found at this series of blog posts.

The CBC Digital Archives features several videos in which Jane Jacobs shares her views about urban planning and city life.

Other resources I’ve found of value, in my reading over the past year, include:

What we see (2010),

Reconsidering Jane Jacobs (2011), and

Walking home (2012).