FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

*7th Annual Jane's Walk celebrates diversity and vibrancy of neighbourhoods across Winnipeg * WINNIPEG Tuesday April 23, 2012 – On Saturday May 4th and Sunday May 5th the seventh annual Jane's Walk is strolling into town. This year, Winnipeggers can choose from over a dozen guided walks across the city presented in an innovative and uniquely neighbourly fashion.

Jane's Walk celebrates the ideas and legacy of Jane Jacobs — a celebrated urbanist and activist whose writings championed a fresh, community-based approach to building walkable and vibrant cities. Free walking tours are held on the first weekend of May each year are led by locals who want to create a space for residents to talk about what matters to them in the places they live and work. The first Jane's Walk was organized in Toronto seven years ago and it has since spread to cities across Canada, the United States, and worldwide.

Participating in Jane's Walk is simple: local community members with a passion for urban issues and local history volunteer to organize a walking tour in their neighbourhood exploring an interesting aspect of the lived urban experience. Jane's Walks are about community conversations. The public is encouraged to contribute to the urban conversation by asking questions and sharing their passion and knowledge with other Jane's Walk participants. Walks are either an hour or an hour and a half long and take place throughout the day on Saturday and Sunday.

Some walks confirmed for this year include:

- Back by popular demand: blogger and journalist Rob Galston takes walkers on a tour of his beloved neighbourhood in Village Urbanism: Explorations in North Point Douglashttp://janeswalk.net/index.php/walks/canada/winnipeg/village-urbanism-explorations-north-point-douglas/

- Get to know the area around the new Neechi Commons with the building’s architect in The Edge Condition: Main Street between the Disraeli and Neechi Commonshttp://janeswalk.net/index.php/walks/canada/winnipeg/edge-condition-main-street-between-disraeli-and-neechi-commons/ by Wins Bridgman

- A favourite guide every year, Jino Distasio explores Riverview: Beer, Bears and Boxing and Roller Coaster Ride through Timehttp://janeswalk.net/index.php/walks/canada/winnipeg/riverview-beer-bears-boxing-and-roller-coaster-ride-through-time/

- Researcher Abigail Auld explores how the Hudson’s Bay company left an indelible mark on our city in WPGxHBC - A Company’s influence on the Cityhttp://janeswalk.net/index.php/walks/canada/winnipeg/wpgxhbc-companys-influence-city/

- Sandy Gessler examines a forgotten area that played a major role in the 1919 strike in Victoria Park: Invisible Memories and Lost Meaninghttp://janeswalk.net/index.php/walks/canada/winnipeg/victoria-park-invisible-memories-lost-meaning/

- In Broadway Modernhttp://janeswalk.net/index.php/walks/canada/winnipeg/broadway-modern/, Susan Algie from the Winnipeg Architecture Foundation celebrates and discusses the abundance of modernist architecture on Broadway Avenue

- Find out about The Communities, the Campus & the Re-Generationhttp://janeswalk.net/index.php/walks/canada/winnipeg/communities-campus-re-generation1/ with University of Manitoba Campus Planner Michelle Richard and Winnipeg Trails Association/community resident Janice Lukes

- David Connors makes us ask What if there was an alternative to riding your bike on McPhillips? [forthcoming]

A complete list of walks with starting times and meeting locations is published on www.janeswalk.net. Be sure to also visit our Facebook Eventhttps://www.facebook.com/events/528987633810342/page and share with your network.

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For more information:

Matt Carreau Jane's Walk Winnipeg City Organizer mgcarreau@gmail.com (204) 430-5686