Skip to content

Jane Jacobs, 1916-2006

One of the most influential urban thinkers, writers, and activists of the 20th century dies at age 89 in Toronto, Canada.

One of the most influential urban thinkers, writers, and activists of the 20th century dies at age 89 in Toronto, Canada.

“I enthusiastically endorse the campaign to close Central Park’s loop drive to regular automobile traffic. We had the same sort of fight in Washington Square Park in the late 1950s and in my neighborhood here in Toronto a couple of years ago: same prediction of traffic chaos, same result of no chaos, diminished traffic counts and no counts increased elsewhere in consequence. Isn’t it curious that traffic engineers are so loath to learn something new even after repeated demonstrations?”

–Jane Jacobs, author of The Death and Life of Great American Cities, Cities and the Wealth of Nations, and Systems of Survival.

Photo of Aaron Naparstek
Aaron Naparstek is the founder and former editor-in-chief of Streetsblog. Based in Brooklyn, New York, Naparstek's journalism, advocacy and community organizing work has been instrumental in growing the bicycle network, removing motor vehicles from parks, and developing new public plazas, car-free streets and life-saving traffic-calming measures across all five boroughs. He was also one of the original cast members of the "War on Cars" podcast. You can find more of his work on his website.

Streetsblog has migrated to a new comment system. New commenters can register directly in the comments section of any article. Returning commenters: your previous comments and display name have been preserved, but you'll need to reclaim your account by clicking "Forgot your password?" on the sign-in form, entering your email, and following the verification link to set a new password — this is required because passwords could not be carried over during the migration. For questions, contact tips@streetsblog.org.

More from Streetsblog New York City

Exclusive: Mamdani Picks Construction Chief Eager to Speed Up Street Redesigns

April 22, 2026

‘Stop Super Speeders’: Preventing The Next Fatal Crash Is Up To You

April 22, 2026

Waymo Is Not In The ‘Vision Zero’ Toolbox: Data

April 22, 2026

Queens Civic Panel Endorses Mamdani’s Super-Sized Astoria Bike Lane

April 22, 2026

Wednesday’s Headlines: The ‘Boulevard of Bus’ Edition

April 22, 2026
See all posts