Jane’s Walk Ottawa: May 2-3

Jane’s Walk Ottawa 2015 explores all corners of the city
Gain insight into history, planning, design and civic engagement through more than 50 walks across the Ottawa-Gatineau region.

Ottawa, ON – April 22, 2015 – On May 2 and 3, hundreds of Ottawans will take to the streets for the city’s eighth-annual Jane’s Walk. Discover a new neighbourhood or rediscover your own during a weekend of free walking tours led by local residents passionate about where they live, work and play.

This year Jane’s Walk Ottawa is proud to feature not only previously popular walks such as renowned architect Barry Padolsky’s tour of the ByWard Market and a look at the wild foods that can be foraged in the city, but also several new ones. Among these are:

• First-ever Jane’s PADDLE
• Jane’s RUN of Burritts Rapids
• A tour of Ottawa’s “Library of the future” – the Beaverbrook Branch
• The new Lansdowne Park
• Manotick Village renewal
• Sustaining nature within an urban development at the Beaver Pond with Kanata North Coun. Marianne Wilkinson

Walks are free and open to all. The full schedule of walks in Ottawa is available at www.janeswalkottawa.ca

Jane’s Talk

As usual, the event kicks off with Jane’s Talk on the evening of Wednesday, April 29, featuring a talk on New Directions for Urban Infill by City Planner Alain Miguelez, Program Manager for Zoning, Intensification and Neighbourhoods for the City of Ottawa.

Miguelez will discuss Ottawa’s new zoning approach for urban infill, a Canadian-first that links zoning regulations to streetscape character. The session will include a historical background on the issues related to urban infill that have been experienced in Ottawa over the last 15 years, review the unique public engagement approach that was taken in finding a solution, and explain how Ottawa’s new bylaw supports the pedestrian DNA of its old neighbourhoods.

Jane’s Talk takes place Wednesday, April 29 at the National Capital Commission’s Urbanism Lab at 40 Elgin St., 5th Floor. Doors open at 7 p.m. Admission is free.

About Jane’s Walk

Jane’s Walk Ottawa began in 2008 with 14 citizen-led walks and has since grown to more than 50 walks spanning neighbourhoods from Kanata to Orléans. Offered in English or French, these walking tours welcomed more than 2,000 participants last year.

Created in Toronto in 2007, Jane’s Walk celebrates the life and work of urban theorist and activist Jane Jacobs by encouraging residents to get out and explore their city. Arguing from a grassroots perspective, Jacobs called for a more people-centred approach to urban planning. She famously coined the term “sidewalk ballet” to describe her own experience of a vibrant, healthy neighbourhood. Free walking tours are led by local residents and volunteers who want to share their own sidewalk ballet, from Calgary to Canberra, Guelph to Guadalajara. In 2012, Jane’s Walk hosted more than 500 walks in 85 cities and 17 countries across the world.

In 2013, Jane’s Walk received the City Soul Award from the Canadian Urban Institute for fostering urban literacy and civic engagement.

“Cities have the capability of providing something for everybody, only because, and only when, they are created by everybody.” – Jane Jacobs

• jane's walk
• Jane's Walk Ottawa