Jane’s Walks hit Waterloo Region trails and sidewalks in May
Jane’s Walks return to Waterloo Region in May, and an upcoming session will teach you about leading your own walk.
Jane’s Walks are citizen-led walking tours — a release calls them “walking conversations designed to acquaint people with their communities, discover places you don’t know or have walked by a million times without really seeing all that’s there.”
They’re named after Jane Jacobs, the late author, activist and urbanist who championed cities and led efforts to protect neighbourhoods in New York City, and later in Toronto, where she lived for nearly 40 years until her death in 2006.
Jane’s Walks began a year later as a way of honouring her legacy, and now take place in 134 cities around the world.
Anyone can lead a walk. In Waterloo Region, an online information session is scheduled for Tuesday at 7 p.m. for anyone interested in leading a walk when they take place from May 3 to 5 this year.
Sign up for the information session at janeswalkWR.eventbrite.ca.
A couple of local walks are already on this year’s schedule — in Kitchener, a 10 a.m. walk on May 4 will explore historic Mount Hope Cemetery, while a walk that day in Cambridge at 1 and 2:30 p.m. will recall the Galt flood of 1974 and the subsequent construction of the Cambridge Living Levee.
Past walks have covered diverse topics including climate solutions in Kitchener, a rock garden at the
An online information session is scheduled for Tuesday at 7 p.m. for anyone interested in leading a walk from May 3 to 5
University of Waterloo, and a walking tour of Hespeler Village in Cambridge.
“They are also great ways to get people talking about community issues, like what would ‘gentle intensification’ look like in my neighbourhood, or how can we get fewer cars and more bikes on our streets,” Kitchener-Waterloo walk co-ordinator Kae Elgie said in the release.
All of the walks are free, and you don’t need to register. For more information and a schedule of events, visit janeswalkwr.com.