The thing that strikes me about this event they’re calling a “Jane’s Walk” is that you really couldn’t invent a more stereotypically Canadian form of social action.

 

It works like this. Groups of people gather together over the course of a weekend and go on polite walks about their community. Amateur, volunteer guides tell stories or provide some history or insights about the neighbourhood they pass through.

 

On the surface of things, that’s about all there is to it.

 

They are held the first weekend in May in honour of Jane Jacobs, the famous urbanist and activist who died in 2006. Her organizing helped stop the Spadina Expressway that would have decimated downtown Toronto. Her writings, such as The Death and Life of Great American Cities and Dark Age Ahead, simultaneously inspired and troubled a generation of urban planners, thinkers and activists.

 

The Jane’s Walk was conceived by a group of Jacob’s admirers in Toronto as a way to extend her legacy and while it may appear to be just so much genteel strolling and chit chat, the organizers hope to encourage much more with these walks.

 

“The goal, I think, overall is to get people out and talking to each other and sharing citizen perspectives on the city that they live in and getting to know their city better,” says Laura Pfeifer. She’s organizing the local events and brought the first Jane’s Walks to Regina last year.

 

“I think a lot of times, citizens don’t feel like they have a role in the way their city develops,” she continues. “Planners and developers have a vision of what physically they want a city to be and a lot of times citizens are consulted with stuff, but I think a lot of times citizens don’t feel empowered or they feel like they don’t know enough about their city to actually contribute to it.”

 

But, says Pfeifer, the philosophy behind Jane’s Walk is that the people who live in a neighbourhood are the ones who have the best ideas about what’s fantastic in their community and about what needs help.

 

“The goal is really to get people out and feeling empowered to share in that community with each other,” says Pfeifer.

 

As of press time, there are 18 walks scheduled for Regina over the course of the May first weekend. Each one will have a different theme.

 

“What to expect is essentially a walking discussion,” says Pfeifer. “The Jane’s Walks are meant to be participatory. The guide will obviously have things to tell, whether it’s about architecture or their personal stories. But it’s also to engage people to discuss back. People can expect to have fun conversations about all different aspects of the city.”

 

And they’re conversations many in Regina seem eager to participate in, if last year’s turn out is any indication.

 

“I was blown away,” says Pfeifer. “Last year, when I started, I thought that we might get like three walks. We ended up having 12 and I was like ‘Whoa.’”

 

Overall, over 400 people turned up to participate in last year’s Jane’s Walk, the tours drawing an average of 20 to 30 people.

 

But there was one walk in particular that suggested Pfeifer had a success on her hands.

 

“A neighbourhood I think is really freaking cool is the Core Neighbourhood [now Heritage] and like German Town,” says Pfeifer. “And one of the first volunteers to email me wanted to do a walk about German Town. And I was thinking like year two or three someone would come on to do that one. But he ended up having like 70 people show up for it.”

 

Pfeifer says she met up with his group partway through the walk. “I almost started crying when I came up to them.”

 

Some of the highlights for this year include a tour about Victoria Park looking at examples of 20th Century architecture and a walk through the RCMP Depot. There will also be another visit to the Heritage neighbourhood.

 

“One girl is going to be doing a walk in the German Town area but it’s all about the five waves of Ukrainian immigration to Regina,” says Pfeifer. “She’s lined up elders to talk about their experience of living in these neighbourhoods and immigrating to Canada and about how Ukrainian culture has become a part of that neighbourhood.”

 

Eventually, Pfeifer hopes that there will be Jane’s Walks in every neighbourhood in Regina.

 

“The furthest reach we’ll get to this year is up in Rochedale,” she says. “It’s being put on through the Dunlop Art Gallery. They’ve got a contemporary art exhibit that’s all about mapping and place that they’re going to be hosting a walk that connects to that show. So I think that’s kind of cool to look at suburbia and how it relates to contemporary art.”

 

For more information on Jane’s Walk 2010, check out the Regina page on www.janeswalk.net or e-mail janeswalkregina@gmail.com.

 

 

Reading through the names of these walks gives a pretty good idea of the diverse topics that will be covered. All walks are free and go rain or shine. Some have limits on how many people can attend.

 

Saturday May 1

Five waves of Ukrainian Settlement in Regina (9 a.m.)

North Central Community Gardens (11 a.m.)

Pillars of the Community (11 a.m.)

RCMP Depot Division: A Neighbourhood in Your Neighbourhood (11 a.m.)

The Changing Landscape of Government House (1:30 p.m.)

The Edwardian Garden Tour (1:30 p.m.)

University of Regina Art and Garden Tour (3 p.m.)

Victoria Park: An Architectural Tour of the 20th Century (4:30 p.m.)

Flickers, Talkies, and Black Tents (6 p.m.)

 

Sunday May 2

Wascana Centre: The Nature & Nurture Tour (9 a.m.)

Talking Hillsdale (12 p.m.)

Building Connections (1:30 p.m.)

The Changing Landscape of Government House (1:30 p.m.)

The Edwardian Garden Tour (1:30 p.m.)

Riverside Dyke: The Struggle Against the Water (3 p.m.)

Sherwood Village Suburbia (3 p.m.)

Stories About the Places I Have Lived and Almost Lived (5 p.m.)

Albert South: The Past, the Present, and the Possible (7 p.m.)