Earlier this year, I was approached by the organizers of Kingston’s Jane’s Walk and asked if I would be willing to lead a walk.  Now you may be asking, what’s a Jane’s Walk?

Jane’s Walks are done in recognition of Jane Jacobs who was an American-born writer and activist best known for her writings about cities.  Her first book, The Death and Life  of Great American Cities (1961), upended the ideas of modernist city planning and building, and offered a new vision of diverse, fine-grained cities made for and by ordinary people.  Jane Jacobs moved to Toronto in 1968 and lived there until her death in 2006.

Jane’s Walks are a series of neighbourhood walking tours held annually during the first weekend in May to coincide with her birthday. They are led by volunteers and offered at no cost.   The walks are led by anyone who has an interest in the neighbourhoods where they live, work or socialize.  They are not always about architecture and heritage and offer a more personal take on the local culture, the social history and the planning issues faced by the residents.

This past Sunday morning, under beautiful sunny skies, I had the honour and pleasure of leading my very first Jane’s Walk.  The walk I led took place in Williamsville and was entitled:  Williamsville:  The Evolution of the Built Form, Now and Then and Then….  The one-hour stroll took place along Princess Street, starting at MacDonnell and ending at University. 

The theme behind the walk was to look at the change in built form along this stretch of Princess Street and the evolution of planning approaches to developments in Williamsville.  Resulting from the implementation of the first Williamsville Secondary Plan in 2013, coupled with further amendments to the Official Plan and zoning By-law over the past 10 years, examples of how the built form and design of buildings over that time period had changed.  In particular, increased building setbacks from the street line, greater emphasis on creating a more pedestrian friendly environment, introducing inviting and accessible at grade commercial spaces and implementing better overall urban design and architectural principles.

I would like to thank the organizers of Jane’s Walk Kingston for inviting me to participate and the approximately thirty members from the public who attended the walk, many of whom asked interesting and insightful questions regarding planning and planning-related issues.  My hope is, that each one of the participants walked away with at least one new piece of information that will spark or continue their interest in what is going on in their neighbourhood and City.

• Tim Park, Director, Planning Services