Jane Jacobs Event in Dorchester

For those in the Boston area, the Dorchester Speakers Forum is presenting a panel discussion this Friday, November 11th at 7:30pm entitled "50 Years Later: Jane Jacobs's The Death and Life of Great American Cities". Jacobs is considered one of the country's most influential urban planning activists and was a critical part of the development of Boston.

David R. Godine, Publisher published Genius of Common Sense: Jane Jacobs and the Story of the Death and Life of Great American Cities in 2009 and one of the book's co-authors, Glenna Lang, will be participating in the panel along with former Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis and architect David Lee.

The Dorchester Reporter offers more information on the event:

The program is free and open to the public and takes place in Peabody Hall at All Saints Church, 209 Ashmont St., Dorchester (near the corner of Dorchester Ave., next to Ashmont Station) on Friday, Nov. 11 at 7:30 p.m. Doors open at 7. There is ample free parking in the church parking lot.

Jacobs, who died in 2006, influenced a generation of urban planners in Boston. As the Boston Globe wrote in her obituary, “activists drew inspiration from her insights as they fought to spare Boston and Cambridge from the Inner Belt and the Southwest Expressway.” She is also credited for the concept behind the creation of Quincy Market here in Boston and wrote with high praise of Boston’s North End and its density, calling it “the healthiest neighborhood in the city.” The publication of her book probably saved the North End from the fate of Boston’s West End. Many of the city’s planners and developers are greatly influenced by Jacobs’ thinking, and this influence can be seen throughout Dorchester and the rest of the city.