[0:16]Jane's Walks is a project that started in 2007. It was created to celebrate the life of Jane Jacobs, who's, you know, a legendary urbanist. And really, um, promote her ideas that related to livability and walkability and having people really participate in their community and have their eyes on the street. She wrote her seminal critique of urban planning, The Death and Life of Great American Cities. And that really made us think about walkable communities. And how having more people in the street really contributed to a better quality of life. To me and to many people around the country working for more livable, walkable cities, Jane Jacobs is a hero. I mean, what she did here in New York uh really started a movement um towards more people-oriented cities where walking was just a part of everyday life. Jane was a housewife from Scranton, Pennsylvania, moved to New York City, just loved the city, loved the hustle and the bustle and the vibrancy of the street. And she really celebrated that lifestyle of being able to walk to the market or walk to work, um knowing your neighbors. People organize walks with their friends, their neighbors, their colleagues, and they take people on 90-minute walks through the weekend of May 7th and 8th to celebrate her birthday. And celebrate her sensibility and common-sense approach to urban planning.
[1:38]Showing off your neighborhood on a 90-minute walk is a great way to show your expertise in your community. And the people who live and work in a neighborhood really are the experts. We're in my neighborhood. Um, Harlem, New York. This is 125th Street. This is probably one of the best known blocks in the world. This is where people come to do shopping, to visit the street vendors, to meet their friends. Um, you know, these are the streets where some of Harlem's most famous political leaders have walked. It's also the place where people come to when something happens, whether it's the election of Barack Obama or the death of Michael Jackson, everyone goes to 125th Street. So the Apollo Theater is pretty infamous. It's, um, the place where stars are made, the place where almost all of the greats have performed, James Brown, Diana Ross. It's also the place that's known for their infamous Amateur Night, where people are either cheered or completely booed off the stage. Um, the first time I went to Amateur Night, I was actually 12 or 13 years old, and I didn't anticipate being able to get into the booing, but I actually did. Um, it's a really fun place. Um, the most recent time I was there was a few months ago. I saw a Dream Girls performance and it's great to live in Harlem and just be able to walk to a wonderful show and, you know, walk back home. The Theresa Hotel is a landmark building. Um, it has a lot of history. So this is the place where a lot of black artists stayed during the days of segregation when they couldn't stay at hotels downtown. It was like Harlem's Waldorf, and um, it's also the building where Fidel Castro came and stayed when he came to the US, which was, um, really a sign to the people of Harlem and to the rest of the city, um, of a lot of things. My normal weekend routine is to walk down 125th Street. This is where I run a lot of my errands. Um, I walk from home to church and from church to 125th Street. I pick up beauty supplies, I buy clothing, I go to the street vendors and get shea butter and incense. I go to the bank, like I get everything done here. So, um, Harlem is a really walkable community. It's a type of place where, um, it's much more efficient and fun to get around by foot. Um, one of the great things about Harlem is that you always run into someone you know. And when I walk down 125th Street, I'm always guaranteed to do that. And, um, it's just a very easy to walk place.
[4:33]So at any given time, when you're walking down a street in New York, there's this beautiful choreography of people interacting on the street, um, is really what makes New York what it is. That's what Jane Jacobs used to refer to as the Ballet of the Sidewalks. Sometimes when I go to other cities and you get in a car and you drive to where you're going and you come back home, you realize that you haven't seen anybody, you haven't interacted with anyone. Um, but in New York, there's always characters to bump into and, um, that's what makes New York great.
