Jane observed these ingredients in her Greenwich Village neighborhood in New York City and in Scranton, Pennsylvania, where she had grown up, but she saw similar elements in other cities – including Boston – that she toured in the 1950s when contemplating great cities. She valued diversity of all kinds – in people, architecture, and economies. Old buildings allowed for new uses, so that people of modest means could rehabilitate a dwelling or start a new enterprise. Seeing density as conducive to lively neighborhoods, Jacobs supported filling in unused spaces rather than demolishing old buildings. Convinced that residents know what is best for their neighborhoods, she advocated for planning from the ground up. She favored mixed uses of residential, commercial, and industrial buildings in close proximity. She extolled mom-and-pop stores and other small businesses interspersed in neighborhoods and fostering community. People should “get out and walk” and, in this way, get to know their cities. Downtown was for people, she proclaimed, and cities should never be subordinate to cars. They’ve put up gleaming stone and glass file-cabinet housing that breeds delinquency and crime.”ĭrawing conclusions from her own observations and common-sense analysis (a method anyone can use), Jacobs inspired people all across America to look at cities with a fresh eye and a new appreciation. They’ve zoned our cities into intolerable patterns of dullness. They called this approach “urban renewal.” Jacobs attacked these experts clearly and vividly: “They’ve condemned and destroyed entire city blocks that are not slums, but attractive places to live. Many people thought that cities had reached a crisis point, and the best way to deal with the problems – such as rundown areas and crime – was to tear down swaths of aging neighborhoods and replace them with large-scale modern buildings surrounded by empty space. Jane Jacobs wrote her book in response to the accepted thinking and policies of the post-World War II era.
When Jane Jacobs’s impassioned, groundbreaking book, "The Death and Life of Great American Cities," first appeared in 1961, more than half a century ago, it defied and shocked city planners, urban experts, and architects. She is on the board of the Center for the Living City, which seeks to advance the observations of Jane Jacobs, understand the complexity of contemporary urban life, and increase civic engagement.
Glenna Lang is the author of “Genius of Common Sense: Jane Jacobs and the Story of The Death and Life of Great American Cities” and the forthcoming “Jane Jacobs’s First City: Learning from Scranton, Pennsylvania.” She teaches at Tufts University/ School of the Museum of Fine Arts.
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