What a `City of Neighborhoods' Can Learn From a Book About Them

Rebecca Dahl
Nov 28, 2007
Dec 14, 2017

Author of The Great Neighborhood Book Jay Walljasper shows how communities can become cities of great neighbors.

"Blessed with laws, humbled by climate, unburdened by history or destiny, Torontonians remake the world in their small communities, adding yoga, sweat lodge, dim sum or doughnuts to their lives."
– Deanne Taylor, playwright, in the urban-essay collection uTOpia

One more blessing she might have added is a place to step out, look your neighbours in the eye and say hello.

Piazzas are ideal for strolling and sociability – the chance meetings that are vital in successful neighbourhoods, says Jay Walljasper, author of The Great Neighborhood Book A Do-it-Yourself Guide to Placemaking. And since not every neighbourhood can have spectacular people-meeting places like Rome's Piazza Navona or New York's Rockefeller Center, there are new ways to reclaim space for these casual encounters.

In Delft, Netherlands, citizens upset about speeding traffic in their neighbourhood streets, hauled old couches onto the road and relaxed there, forcing cars to drive around them and slow down. These neighbourhood guerrilla tactics were effective – they've now become part of the city's plan to introduce woonerfs (living yards) on streets where drivers are a nuisance.

In Portland, Ore., residents made a friendlier neighbourhood by painting patterns on a busy intersection, erecting community bulletin boards, and bringing in a tea wagon, all to make people linger.

The rich text element allows you to create and format headings, paragraphs, blockquotes, images, and video all in one place instead of having to add and format them individually. Just double-click and easily create content.

The rich text element allows you to create and format headings, paragraphs, blockquotes, images, and video all in one place instead of having to add and format them individually. Just double-click and easily create content.

Heading One

Heading Two

Heading Three

Heading Four

Heading Five
Heading Six

Body Text    Body Link

The rich text element allows you to create and format headings, paragraphs, blockquotes, images, and video all in one place instead of having to add and format them individually. Just double-click and easily create content.

Here is some highlighted text from the article.
Caption
Caption
Caption
Caption

Headings, paragraphs, blockquotes, figures, images, and figure captions can all be styled after a class is added to the rich text element using the "When inside of" nested selector system.

Headings, paragraphs, blockquotes, figures, images, and figure captions can all be styled after a class is added to the rich text element using the "When inside of" nested selector system.

Headings, paragraphs, blockquotes, figures, images, and figure captions can all be styled after a class is added to the rich text element using the "When inside of" nested selector system.

  • Bulleted List Item 1 Headings, paragraphs, blockquotes, figures, images, and figure captions can all be styled after a class is added to the rich text element using the "When inside of" nested selector system.
  • Bulleted List Item 2 Headings, paragraphs, blockquotes, figures, images, and figure captions can all be styled after a class is added to the rich text element using the "When inside of" nested selector system.
  1. Ordered List Item 1
  2. Ordered List Item 2
Comments
Related Articles

Contact Us

Want to unlock the potential of public space in your community? Get in touch!