Calgary Jane's Walk 2010

[Bigtime]

The Jane's Walks for Calgary are coming up on May 1st & 2nd. There appear to be a lot more walks this year than last, a great sign that the project is growing here.

http://janeswalk.net/cities/category/calgary/

So what is Jane's Walk?

Jane’s Walk Vision
Walkable neighbourhoods, urban literacy, cities planned for and by people.

Jane’s Walk is a series of free neighbourhood walking tours that helps put people in touch with their environment and with each other, by bridging social and geographic gaps and creating a space for cities to discover themselves. Since its inception in 2007, Jane’s Walk has happened in cities across North America, and is quickly expanding internationally. In 2009 Jane’s Walks were held in 46 cities with a total of 315 walks offered. All Jane’s Walk tours are given and taken for free.

Is it for me?

The Jane’s Walk audience includes:

• Anyone who enjoys getting to know their city and neighbours.

• People who want to participate in meaningful conversations about the social and built future of their neighbourhoods.

• People engaged in the work of building cohesive communities and improving the walking environment.

• People who want to change their cities and neighbourhoods, for example to narrow the gap between the haves and have-nots in our cities and towns.

• Youth and children who experience the impact of current transportation choices disproportionately, but who are rarely consulted on their aspirations for walking or cycling.

My wife and I did the Ramsay walk last year, if was a great time. We met a lot of neat people and got to explore the community in a way I had never done before.

We will be doing the Mission & Cliff Bungalow walk this year, it is on the 2nd at 1pm: http://janeswalk.net/walks/view/miss...m_of_function/

So anyone else planning to come out?

[McPaul]

Will be doing the Walk for Kids Help Phone on that day starting at Eau Claire.
http://www.walkforkidshelpphone.ca/

But I agree. There seems to be far too many walks these years.

[CorporateWhore]

Originally Posted by McPaul

There seems to be far too many walks these years.

All these "walks" used to be "runs". What a lazy society we live in!

[mr.steevo]

Hi,

I hadn't heard of Jane's Walk. Thank you for bringing it up.

s.

[Rusty van Reddick]

Originally Posted by McPaul

Will be doing the Walk for Kids Help Phone on that day starting at Eau Claire.
http://www.walkforkidshelpphone.ca/

But I agree. There seems to be far too many walks these years.

Jane's Walks aren't charity events (or, erm, "walkathons.")

[McPaul]

Originally Posted by Rusty van Reddick

Jane's Walks aren't charity events (or, erm, "walkathons.")

Yeah, sorry, it's a work thing (we're the founding sponsor, and used to be title sponsor).

I like the idea of the community walk though, and hate being pressured for money in the workplace. Worse yet, the winning bidder will be throwing a pie in my face...

come to think of it, perhaps I'll skip the charity and the pie and go on the community walk!??

[DavidKuitunen]

Walkscore <-- This thread reminded me of this website.

[Bigtime]

Maybe he was referring to how many different walks are available this year with the Jane's Walks?

[McPaul]

Walk score for 788 - 12 Avenue SW: 88.

8% of walk score users have a higher score.

[Calgarian]

My apartment got 91!

[Bigtime]

Despite our wet weather for the next few days the forecast for Saturday and Sunday look good for the walks.

The Bigtime's will be doing the Inglewood walk on Saturday (hosted by aldermanic candidate Gian-Carlo Carra) and the Mission/Cliff Bungalow walk on Sunday (hosted by David Couroux, a land use planner with The City of Calgary).

[Riise]

Originally Posted by Bigtime

The Bigtime's will be doing the Inglewood walk on Saturday (hosted by aldermanic candidate Gian-Carlo Carra) and the Mission/Cliff Bungalow walk on Sunday (hosted by David Couroux, a land use planner with The City of Calgary).

You lucked out mate, Gian-Carlo and Dave will be great guides. Have an enjoyable walk!

[devonb]

I'm considering doing the Inglewood walk. I drive through there daily and used to work at a restaurant there. I think I'm going to see what the weather is like before I mentally commit.

[Radley77]

Thanks for sharing! I'm thinking about checking out the People and Places led by the U of C professor, Dr. Don Smith in Connaught. The Bridgeland - Yesterday and Today led by a P. Eng. and architect and Heritage Initiative Board member piqued my interest as well.

The Gian-Carlo Inglewood walk sounded interesting as well, particularly because he announced his aldermanic candidacy for Ward 9.

[Bigtime]

The forecast doesn't look too bad for today and tomorrow! Get out and go on one or more of these walks!

[devonb]

I planned to go, but then I started some gardening and lost track of time. I'm sorry I missed it as I think it would have been interesting.

[Bigtime]

Went on a great couple of walks over the weekend. The weather even held for both and for the most part it was nice and sunny!

The Inglewood walk led by Gian-Carlo Carra was excellent. Very big turnout (probably about 30 people) that was treated to a very good narrative about Inglewood's evolution over the years, starting with it's inception and covering everything, from the community fighting plans for the freeway "penetrators" through their community in the 60's to the gentrification it has been experiencing over the last few years.

Gian-Carlo appears to be very passionate about his community and quite knowledgable in the affairs of a big city like ours. I think he could be a good fit for council (from my limited contact with him).

The Sunday walk was the Mission/Cliff Bungalow area, led by David Couroux. He is a planner at the city. Another very well attended walk, probably close to 30 people again. A little rain shower prior to the walk and then sunshine for the rest!

We touched on all the major issues of Mission/Cliff Bungalow. What makes it work, David arguing that the single biggest advantage Mission has over Inglewood, Ramsay, and Bridgeland is the presence of the Safeway as an anchor. The mixed uses of 4th street, the pit of doom, and challenges faced as the area became more popular and single family homes are taken out in favour of townhome complexes (Mission Crossing, etc.).

We had a very informed group with us, quite a few member of the Mission Community Association (inlcuding the current president) were with us. Great questions were asked and discussions started over the course of our walk.

To sum it up, an excellent weekend and some great walks. I hope some of you had a chance to get out to one or more of them and meet your fellow citizens and learn a little more about parts of our city.

I can't wait for next years walks!

[mooky]

I and the wifey were also was on the Inglewood walk with Gian-Carlo. From my limited interaction with him, and listening to his passion about vibrant urban environments he seems like a great guy with a head on his shoulders to tackle urban planning related issues with growth at city hall. He has a vast understanding on how the process works, the shortcomings, the good points, and what needs to change to create better a better urban experience in Ward 9.

It seemed that he really understood the material of Jane Jacobs well and did well at tying the walk in with Jane Jacobs themes from her books in such a way that even a person like myself unfamiliar with Jane Jacobs could understand and appreciate whet the goal of these types of walks are all about.

My only fear for Gian-Carlo, and if you want to debate this we could take it to the Municipal election thread, is that his passion for urban vibrancy could come off with him getting lumped in as another latte sipping liberal along the lines of Farrell, Ceci, and Bronconnier. I don't like the stigma of that moniker in the first place, but I can see especially the Calgary Scum painting him with those brush strokes.

[Bigtime]

Mooky you should have said hi to me! We were the couple with the stroller and baby that didn't want to stay in it for most of the walk.

[freeweed]

Originally Posted by Bigtime

Mooky you should have said hi to me! We were the couple with the stroller and baby that didn't want to stay in it for most of the walk.

This describes half of Calgary at the moment. Although with less walking outdoors, and more in shopping malls.