Detroiters are taking steps to better the city with 1st Jane's Walk

When Madhavi Reddy and her husband, Jason Seifert, both 35, decided to move to Detroit, they were pretty sure they would settle in Midtown, Corktown or maybe Woodbridge -- the trendy parts of town they had read and heard about.
But a Realtor suggested that they look at a house in Green Acres, a community tucked along West 8 Mile between Livernois and Woodward.
"I was shocked quite literally -- here was this beautiful, quiet neighborhood nestled in the crossing of three busy intersections," said Seifert, an attorney, who moved from Brighton. "That was the first thing I noticed. The second thing I noticed was that people, now my neighbors, were greeting us!"

Jane's Walks are named in memory of Jane Jacobs, an urban activist and writer who believed bustling cities came through citizen engagement and activity. She wrote the transformative book that became a must-read for urban planners and others interested in what makes cities work, "The Death and Life of Great American Cities" [[Vintage, $16).The first Jane Jacobs Walk was held May 5, 2007, in Toronto. Since that one -- held to coincide with Jacobs' May 4 birthday -- the number of walks has exploded. Last year, there were 511 walks in 75 cities and 15 countries across the world, including walks in São Paulo, Brazil; Wuhan, China, and Colchester and Hereford in England.

A neighborhood walk may seem like a simple step, but it can have varied and tremendous benefits, said Reddy, who brought the idea from Toronto to Detroit. She had participated in and helped plan six Jane's Walks in the Toronto area.
"Walking gets neighbors out of their houses talking to each other," Reddy said. "When you get real people together talking about how they live, it can lead to discussions about policies and how to improve things. It's good exercise. In a car-centered society, people drive from Point A to Point B -- without building relationships. If nothing else, it's a chance for neighbors to get to know each other, and for people who don't know a community, it's a chance to get to know it by walking with the people who live there."


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"The Detroit walk steps off at 2 p.m. Sunday [[rain or shine) beginning at Mike's Fresh Market, a grocery store located on Livernois north of West 7 Mile. The two-hour walk will proceed through Green Acres and Sherwood Forest, whose residents are the planners of the walk."

'Twas a nice little walk!

I'd like to see these folks walk down John R from 8 to Six or down Joy Rd!

I enjoyed the walk! I'd say about 90-100 people took part, without counting.

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Originally Posted by DetroitPlanner

I'd like to see these folks walk down John R from 8 to Six or down Joy Rd!

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One step at a time...

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Originally Posted by jtf1972

One step at a time...

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My point was I don't think you would find anyone from Palmer Woods in the downtrodden neighborhoods too often. Might as well be the suburbs.

This walk is so ironic because 1) Jane Jacobs hated Detroit and 2) the walk goes through the neighborhoods of the city that are the complete antithesis of her ideology.

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Originally Posted by iheartthed

This walk is so ironic because 1) Jane Jacobs hated Detroit and 2) the walk goes through the neighborhoods of the city that are the complete antithesis of her ideology.

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Please cite this. I don't ever recall JJ getting into opposing anything in Detroit the way she opposed things in NYC or TO. I am not saying Detroit was not devloped in a way she would like. I find the irony in that she also espoused economic base theory and while she was being held-up as a here, Detroit was under economic attack from Europe and Japan. Livernois and Seven was at one time a neighborhood center alive with department stores and lively businesses in a mixed use area where folks could walk from home to the stores. Sure it fell short on density. Why would she be against that?

One thing I noticed yesterday that Jane Jacobs would have hated: a store just two doors south of the staging area in Mike's parking lot. The door facing Livernois has a sign: "use rear entrance" or something to that effect. The street side is effectively closed off from pedestrian traffic. That's a big gripe I have with west Dearborn: Michigan Ave. is a speedway, and there is virtually no foot traffic on the sidewalk. All of the entrances are from behind or the side.

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Originally Posted by DetroitPlanner

Please cite this. I don't ever recall JJ getting into opposing anything in Detroit the way she opposed things in NYC or TO. I am not saying Detroit was not devloped in a way she would like. I find the irony in that she also espoused economic base theory and while she was being held-up as a here, Detroit was under economic attack from Europe and Japan. Livernois and Seven was at one time a neighborhood center alive with department stores and lively businesses in a mixed use area where folks could walk from home to the stores. Sure it fell short on density. Why would she be against that?

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Detroit is largely composed, today, of seemingly endless square miles of low-density failure.

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-Jane Jacobs, The Death and Life of Great American Cities

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And that was published in 1961......

She left for Canada in protest of the Viet Nam War? What kind of activist is that?

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Originally Posted by iheartthed

And that was published in 1961......

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I don't think she hated Detroit, I think she was just critical of it. Most of us are critical about the city, but I don't overall hate it. She was also critical of downtown and how even in 1961 and before it was dead after the business hours. We just can't make the same mistake again and when start to rebuild our housing, we need density. If Paris can fit 2 million in 40 square miles [[can any of us imagine 2 million in Sterling Heights?) then we can tear down the old, deserted single family housing neighborhoods and build a new.