1st ANNUAL JANE’S WALK IN KITCHENER, WATERLOO, and CAMBRIDGE
MAY 2 and 3, 2009

Waterkoo Region - “No one can find what will work for our cities by looking at …suburban garden cities, manipulating scale models, or inventing dream cities. You’ve got to get out and walk” – Jane Jacobs

We are looking for volunteers to organize and lead walks in neighbourhoods in Kitchener, Waterloo and Cambridge.

Jane’s Walk is the street-level celebration of Jane Jacobs' legacy. The Centre for City Ecology sponsors this event across North America which combines the simple act of walking with personal observations, urban history and local lore as a means of knitting people together into strong and resourceful communities. Over 6,000 people explored over 140 neighbourhoods across Canada during last year’s Jane’s Walk.

We are inviting you to lead a tour in an area where you live, work or play. It simply involves planning a route, thinking through the stories, places and people you want to talk about, then walking participants through it – you decide what’s important. If you like, you could share the guiding duties with a few other friends or colleagues.

Jane’s Walks are meant to be fun and participatory – everyone’s got a story and they’re usually keen to share it. All tours are given, and taken, for free. The Centre for City Ecology handles the publicity, logistics and website development. They also have helpful resources, group exercises and ‘tips for tour guides’ available on line. Regional staff will work with The Centre to have local events promoted on the website (For details see www.janeswalk.net).

You don’t have to be familiar with Jane Jacobs’ work to lead a tour. In books such as “The Death and Life of Great American Cities” (1961) she championed the interests of local residents and pedestrians over a car-centered approach to planning, made the case for refurbishing old buildings instead of tearing them down and building new ones, and demonstrated the desirability of increasing the density of cities instead of sprawling endlessly outward.

Currently, there is one tour organized for the City of Waterloo but we are looking for volunteers to organize in other cities and neighbourhoods.

If you are interested in organizing and leading a tour, come to a planning meeting: Tuesday, April 14th, 2009 at 150 Frederick St, Rm 110 from 10:30am – 12:00pm

If you cannot attend the meeting, but want to get involved, contact: Grace Brunger, brugrace@region.waterloo.on.ca - 519-575-4757 x3836