Jane Jacobs

Jane Jacobs (May 4, 1916 – April 25, 2006) was an American-Canadian journalist, author, theorist, and activist who influenced urban studies, sociology, and economics. Her book The Death and Life of Great American Cities (1961) argued that "urban renewal" did not respect the needs of city-dwellers. Her grassroots efforts to protect neighborhoods from urban renewal were instrumental in the eventual cancellation of the Lower Manhattan Expressway, which would have passed directly through the area of Manhattan that would later become known as SoHo, as well as part of Little Italy and Chinatown.

After Jacobs’ death in 2006 people began running festivals of Jane’s Walk around the world to honor her work. You don’t need to know anything about Jane Jacobs to take or plan a Jane’s Walk, but learning more about her can be an inspiring way to remember that our cities are powered by the people who live there.

Though Jane Jacobs fought primarily to save her own majority-white neighborhoods from the toxic effects of urban renewal, today we build on her legacy, acknowledging that Black and brown communities were most often displaced by these racist policies. Jane’s Walk Newport strives to be a festival that supports all people in Newport telling their stories and being heard.