She was a warrior for neighborhoods who stopped highways from piercing through lower Manhattan in the 1950s. Jane Jacobs was a self-taught city planner whose activism and research helped change the course of American urban development, and redefine what it means for a great city to be great.
Today on Midday, Tom Hall examines the roots and ramifications of Jacobs’ community-centered vision of urbanism with Robert Kanigel, author of “Eyes on the Street: The Life of Jane Jacobs.” After the first break, they're joined by Ed Gunts, former architecture critic for the Baltimore Sun who now covers development for the Baltimore Brew, Baltimore Fishbowl, and ArchitectsNewspaper. The City Council gave final approval to the bond deal for Port Covington last night. How will Jane Jacobs’ ideas about cities and the people who populate them inform our understanding of the many ways this massive project will impact the look -- and the life -- of our city?