Honoring Jane Jacobs, Museum Tours Explore Changing Boston Neighborhoods
Boston, MA – The West End Museum will join groups in hundreds of cities around the world to lead Jane’s Walks on Friday and Saturday, May 6-7. The Museum is adding two additional walks after the first filled quickly. The free walking tours will explore the character of Boston’s North and West Ends before the beginning of urban renewal in 1958.
Jane’s Walk is an international movement honoring Jane Jacobs (1916-2006), the activist who championed a community-based approach to city planning. She fought against urban renewal projects, like the one in the West End. Her 1961 book, The Death and Life of Great American Cities, introduced groundbreaking city-building principles still used today.
“Jane has the reputation of a saint standing against the sins of a failed ideal that decimated hundreds of urban communities in the 20th century,” said Sebastian Belfanti, director of The West End Museum.
For this year’s Jane Walk, Belfanti will discuss how the neighborhood’s four historic sections – Lower End, Upper End, North Slope, and Bulfinch Triangle – developed after urban renewal.
To learn more about The WEM’s Jane’s Walks, click here. A media photo of Jane Jacobs is available here
The WEM is also extending its Exploring the West End Walking Tours through June. The tours circle the West End and highlight the neighborhood’s people and places over the last four centuries. Tours are 2nd and 4th Saturdays each month. Click here for times and to register.
Media Contact:
Matt Ellis
617.278.6560
Museum Contact:
Sebastian Belfanti
sebastian.belfanti@thewestendmuseum.org
617.723.2125
The West End Museum is undergoing extensive renovations following a devastating flood this winter. The Museum is offering regular walking tours and other outdoor and online programming. Learn more at www.thewestendmuseum.org.