Jane's Walk Explores Historic Neighborhoods in Phoenix and Mesa
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| Nick Bastian via Flickr |
| A scene from last year's Jane's Walk, which focused on Phoenix's warehouse district. |
Equal parts historical walking tour and hip urban excursion, Jane's Walks are annual jaunts through vintage Valley neighborhoods that offer attendees some exercise, enlightenment, and a chance to uncover and explore unique parts of their city.
It's exactly why local blogger/activist/social media guru Yuri Artibise brought a Jane's Walk (which have taken place in cities across North America since 2007) to Phoenix a couple years ago.
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| Courtesy of Jane's Walk |
| Author and activist Jane Jacobs, the inspiration behind Jane's Walk. |
"I always viewed the event as a walking conversation of sorts that gets people interested in their neighborhoods and allows them to learn a bunch of different things they never knew," Artibise says. "When I first heard about Jane's Walk, I thought it would be something that Phoenix needed to have."
The walks have been held in honor of the late Jane Jacobs, a renowned urban activist and author who penned the influential 1961 work The Death and Life of Great American Cities. In the years since Jacobs' death in 2006, the walks have celebrated historic neighborhoods and fueled public interest in cities and preservation.
Jacobs was a huge proponent of walkable cities. She despised a car-centric approach to municipal planning (she probably woulda hated Phoenix), which is why her devotees created the event.
Tours are led by residents who share observations and stories about each neighborhood, like when Artibise lead the Valley's first Jane's Walk through the downtown arts district in 2009.
Artibise shared his enthusiasm for both Jacobs and Jane's Walk at last week's TEDxScottsdale, describing the importance of the events.
"I've learned that people want and need opportunities to get to not only know the places they live and work, but also to meet and interact with their fellow residents," Artibise stated at the conference. "Through the simple act of walking together, we begin to learn about each other's lives and their connections the neighborhood."
Artibise says the Jane's Walks he organized the past couple years had huge responses and turnouts, including close to a hundred attendees who participated during 2010's trek through downtown's warehouse district. It's why he's glad there will be more than one Jane's Walk happening this year.
Artibise won't be on hand to witness the success of this year's Jane's Walks in the Valley, as he's in the process of moving to Vancouver, British Columbia, but several of his artist friends and fellow urbanists (including Sunnyslope Art Walk organizer and Modern Phoenix contributor Christina Plante) were more than happy to help run the walks.
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