How well do most people know the cities where they live? In the age of cars, how many people walk on a regular basis, not just for recreation but for transportation? Getting people out of their cars and walking around their neighborhoods was an idea promoted by an urban planner, writer, and activist named Jane Jacobs and now celebrated annually near the date of her birthday with an event called Jane’s Walks, held on the first weekend in May.
Jane's Walks in Winnipeg and Around the World
According to the official Jane’s Walks website, the walks began in 2007 in Toronto, Ontario, when several of Jane Jacobs’ friends and colleagues decided to honor the urban planner, who advocated walking-friendly neighborhoods where the focus is on people and their history. Walking tours led by residents of the different communities highlight the unique features of their neighborhoods and interesting anecdotes about the people who lived there. Over four hundred walks took place in sixty-eight cities around the world in 2010, highlighting everything from urban forests to the problem of homelessness in the cities of the world.
In the Canadian city of Winnipeg, Manitoba, the 2011 Jane’s Walks featured neighborhoods that have reflected some of the main turning points in the city’s history. One of these areas was North Point Douglas, one of the oldest residential areas in the city, as the Jane’s Walk web page on Winnipeg states; people have lived in the Point Douglas area since the days of the Red River Colony. As it changed from a farming community to an urban area, it became home to many immigrants before its decline and recent revival changed the character of the neighborhood again.
The History and Character of Winnipeg's North Point Douglas
The web page on Point Douglas on the Manitoba Historical Society’s website records that settlers first moved to the Point Douglas area in 1813, when they began construction on Fort Douglas, near the forks of the Red and Assiniboine Rivers. In 1881, the Canadian Pacific Railway built one of its lines through the middle of the area, turning the south side into industrial land while the north side remained residential.
Until the railway changed the neighborhood, Point Douglas had been where the wealthy and powerful lived, and many of the houses still reflect the high social and economic positions of their first residents. However, the proximity of factories and trains helped change the character of the area, and it became home primarily to new immigrants looking for inexpensive housing. The area went through a slump from which it has only fairly recently emerged. Now, the area is once again attracting people looking for a clean and attractive place to live. A walk in the neighborhood highlights these changes, with signs of both wealth and poverty scattered throughout the streets. Corner stores, community centers, houses, and parks tell the story of the area's past and present.
The Jane's Walks tours give only a small glimpse into the character of the neighborhoods people visit, but they can help residents and visitors become inspired to learn more about the places where they live.
Sources:
- Jane’s Walk.
- Jane’s Walks. “Winnipeg: North Point Douglas.”
- Manitoba Historical Society. “Walking Tours: Point Douglas.”
Susan Huebert - My name is Susan Huebert, and I'm a writer and editor from Winnipeg, Manitoba. I've always enjoyed words, and I graduated with a Bachelor ...
