(PHOTO: Jane’s Walk 2016 on Stittsville Main Street. Photo by Barry Gray.)
Two Jane’s Walks are planned for Stittsville on Saturday, May 6. One is focused on the W.J. Bell Rotary Peace Park, and the other is a walk along the central part of Stittsville Main Street.
Brad Spriggs, Carolyn Clark and Theresa Qadri from the Stittsville Rotary Club will be leading the Peace Park tour, which is focused on the stone labyrinth, designed as a “contemplative path” for walking meditation. The walk begins at 10:00am at the park, with an entrance off Cherry Drive. (More info here…)
I’ll be leading a walk called “Stittsville Main Street: Looking towards the future”, an update of the Jane’s Walk that I did last year. We’ll look at the street’s role in the old railway village, we’ll observe where it stands today, and we’ll talk about opportunities and obstacles as it begins to be transformed into a walkable, people-oriented main street. The walk begins at noon at Village Square Park (corner of Stittsville Main and Abbott) and lasts about 90 minutes. (More info here…)
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Jane’s Walk Ottawa is a city-wide festival of neighbourhood walking tours led by locals who care passionately about where they live, work and play. The goal is to improve urban literacy by offering insights into local history, planning, design, and civic engagement through the simple act of walking and observing.
It’s named after Jane Jacobs (1916-2006), a writer, urbanist and activist who championed a community-based approach to understanding, organizing, designing, and building cities.
“No one can find out what will work for our cities by looking at garden suburbs, manipulating scale models, or inventing dream cities. You’ve got to get out and walk,” said Jacobs in 1957.
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Also of note: The Bytowne Cinema will be screening the documentary film Citizen Jane: Battle for the City the weekend before Jane’s Walk from April 28-May 2. On Saturday, Apr 29, following the film Barry Padolsky will be on hand to offer some observations on the film and Jane Jacobs’ ideas about how cities change and grow. On Sunday, Apr 30, Mathieu Fleury, City Councillor for Rideau-Vanier, will lead a walk in the area.
You can find more information about all of the Jane’s Walk activities at janeswalkottawa.ca