Photo via Facebook / Jane's Walk MKE
Jane’s Walk MKE, a series of 15 free volunteer-led community walks focused on history, social justice, art, nature and more, encourages city residents to relax, step outside, and view Milwaukee neighborhoods with fresh eyes with its 2021 theme “Take Five.”
In-person, mapped, and video walks, several of which explore five specific events or destinations, will be held across the city May 15 through June 15. Walk locations and tours include Brady Street, Villard Avenue, Clarke Square, Lindsay Heights, the Menomonee River Valley, the Milwaukee River Greenway, Soldiers Home, and Havenwoods. Social distancing and safety protocols, including facemasks for in-person participants, will be in place.
Inspired by activist and writer Jane Jacobs (1916-2006), author of the 1961 book The Death and Life of Great American Cities, Jane’s Walk MKE, a Milwaukee Turners program, “is part of a worldwide movement of more than 200 cities hosting free, resident-led walking tours,” according to a recent press release.
Jane’s Walk MKE city organizer Dominic Inouye said the number of walks has grown considerably in several years. “We started off with three walks,” he noted. Forty-two walks were held in 2019. Although Jane’s Walk MKE has been scaled back for the last two years due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Inouye added that he hopes the city can host 50 or more walks by 2022.
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Jane’s Walk MKE helps foster community, promotes health, and raises awareness of landmarks, architecture, and infostructure in the city’s diverse neighborhoods. The walks “kind of just meander, so we can be aware of our surroundings and see them anew,” Inouye said.
To register for a walk or view the walk schedule, visit JanesWalkMKE.org.
