Put on your walk­ing shoes!

Ако сте нови во Канада (or even if you’ve lived here for a while), here’s a chance to get acquainted with your home city and get some fresh air at the same time

Во саботата, May 1 and Sunday, Мај 2, cities across Canada are host­ing “Jane’s Walks,” a series of free neigh­bor­hood walk­ing tours.

Celebrating the legacy of Jane Jacobs (1916 – 2006), a noted urban­ist, activist, and author, Jane’s Walks inspire peo­ple to get to know their city — and each other — by get­ting out and walking.

Повеќе од 60 cities world­wide, вклучувајќи го и 30 во Канада, are hold­ing Jane’s Walks in 2010.

Jacobs was born in the U.S. but immi­grated to Canada in the 1960s. Her 1961 book, The Death and Life of Great American Cities, intro­duced inno­v­a­tive, new ideas about urban development.

Jacobs cham­pi­oned cities that were higher den­sity and mixed-​​use but still walk­a­ble and human scale. Because of her belief that local res­i­dents should have input on how their neigh­bor­hoods develop, Jacobs encour­aged peo­ple to get bet­ter acquainted with their local com­mu­ni­ties.

Among the Canadian cities host­ing Jane’s Walks this year are:

• Ванкувер
• Торонто
• Отава
• Монтреал
• Калгари

Минатата година, I took an inter­est­ing Jane’s Walk though the Vancouver neigh­bor­hoods of Strathcona и Gastown that high­lighted those com­mu­ni­ties’ Jewish roots. Among other things, I learned that vaude­ville per­former Jack Benny met his future wife in the Ferrara Court build­ing on East Hastings Street. (На Jewish Museum and Archives of B.C. hosts sim­i­lar walk­ing tours from June through August.)

For a com­plete list of 2010 Jane’s Walks across Canada, check the Jane’s Walk web­site.

Фотографија © Carolyn Б. Хелер