Posts Tagged ‘Jane Jacobs’

October 10, 2014

Big Data Backs Jane Jacobs: Cities Need Old Buildings

by: Taz Loomans

Tweet In The Death and Life of Great American Cities, Jane Jacobs said that “Cities need old buildings so badly it is probably impossible for vigorous streets and districts to grow without them.” But in an age of burgeoning urban populations and a pressing need to accommodate a more and more people into cities, does this still hold true? Shouldn’t we be replacing older smaller buildings with LEED Platinum high-rises? “Where do older, smaller buildings fit within cities that are seeking to maximize transit investments, increase density, and compete in the global economy” ask some urbanists. A new report…

April 29, 2013

Why We Should Cultivate Disorder in Cities

by: Kirby Hoyt

Tweet Today’s post is by contributing writer Kirby Hoyt: If you’ve ever roamed the passages of Venice, Italy late at night (early in the morning) after several glasses of wine, you know what I’m talking about. It’s a feeling of disorientation – like being a rat in a maze hunting for cheese. In this case the cheese is your hotel. It’s dark, quiet, and you keep running into dead ends or find yourself going in circles. You cross bridges and try to find your way through the twisted narrow corridors. Yet this experience is one of the reasons we love…

April 16, 2012

Jane Jacobs Walk Returns to Phoenix with Four Events, May 5th & 6th

by: David Crummey

Tweet Today’s post is by David Crummey. David Crummey is a Mesa resident with a strong passion for walkable urbanism, public transportation, local businesses and economic development. He studied Urban & Environmental Planning at Arizona State University as a graduate student. Currently, David works at a small charter school near Mesa’s downtown, making sure teachers get paid, kids get fed, grants get filed, computers turn on, data gets sorted and interpreted, and pencils get ordered. He hosted the 2011 Jane Jacobs Walk in downtown Mesa, as well as helped found Lo-Fi Forums, a monthly, quieter, more interactive TED-style salon at…

November 21, 2011

6 Things Cities Around the Country are Doing to Become Sustainable

by: Taz Loomans

Tweet Two weeks ago I attended the National League of Cities 2011 Congress of Cities & Exposition at the Phoenix Convention Center. This was an event that brought together a variety of city officials from all over the country. It was a good opportunity to learn about the national trends and conversations, what’s important to various cities and the strategies they’re using to implement their vision. Sustainability was on the forefront of all the sessions I attended. It seemed as if cities were competing with one another on how sustainable they were becoming. I watched representatives from cities like Seattle,…

May 08, 2011

Photos from Jane’s Walk Phoenix – Call 16

by: Taz Loomans

Tweet This morning’s Jane’s Walk on Calle 16 (on 16th Street between McDowell and Thomas) was phenomenal. We learned so much about the mural project from artist and co-founder of Calle 16 Hugo Medina. He showed us how the mural project is helping the people of this neighborhood take pride in where they live, how it’s helping to get locals involved in doing something larger then themselves, how it’s helping mentor young artists into established socially-minded artists and how it’s really the beginning of a movement to show off the talent and creativity that we have here in Arizona. Also…