Jane Jacobs walking tour in Sault Ste. Marie highlights the city's history

For the 5th year, residents in Sault Ste. Marie took to the streets of their city to honour a famous American-Canadian activist.

Jane Jacobs tour in Sault Ste. Marie highlights the city's history. May 7/23 (Cory Nordstrom/CTV Northern Ontario)

Jane Jacobs championed a community-based approach to city building, despite no formal training as an urban planner.

Her ideas, particularly those in her 1961 book "The Death and Life of Great American Cities," have become influential for urbanists.

Over the weekend, more than 10 events were held in the Sault area, including walking tours known as "Jane's Walk."

Local organizer Nicole Dyble said the walks were held in over 500 cities.

"It teaches people about the concepts that Jane Jacobs was passionate about, about how cities need citizen involvement in city planning."

Rachel Silva, of the Sault Ste. Marie Downtown Association, led a tour of Queen Street, informing the group on the architecture, history and art of the downtown.

She said she believes that by learning about the heart of the city, more people will take an interest in its transformation.

"Jane Jacobs always talked about how community spaces can only serve the community if they're built by the community, for the community."

Silva said she knows that people are passionate about the downtown.

"We get a lot of feedback at the Downtown Association about things that aren’t working," she said.

Silva said she hopes that participants take what they've learned about the city and the ideals of Jane Jacobs and put them to use by getting more involved.

"Anything that's driven by the municipality isn't always informed by the community. But if we can, as a community, inform our municipality, we can see the change we want," she said.

Lifelong Saultite Linda Tenhagen said she wanted to become more active in the community upon retirement, so she braved the rainy weather for the walk.

And she's glad she did, she said.

"The history that I’m learning, just from today, is really awesome. To think that I’ve lived here all these years and never really appreciated what we have, that’s what I’m enjoying today," Tenhagen said.

The walk had been on a pandemic hiatus for the last three years and Silva said this type of event "creates a place for conversation that so many have been craving after being at home for so long."

Organizers said that with more knowledge on the area, people will feel safer in the community.