Tag Archives: The Death and Life of Great American Cities

Jane Jacobs Documentary at Pittsburgh Filmmakers May 12-18

Today’s blog post is a double header, I guess I should say double feature, of historic preservation information. Just in time for preservation month, the new documentary about Jane Jacobs opens in Pittsburgh this weekend and it is screening at one of Pittsburgh’s oldest neighborhood movie theaters.

Last Saturday was the annual Jane’s Walk, a community walk celebrating the work of Jane Jacobs in advocating for walkable communities. Jane Jacobs is the author of the book “The Death and Life of Great American Cities” (Amazon affiliate link). The book was first published in 1961 as a response to the 1950s urban planning policies of urban renewal. Many cities took on massive urban renewal projects which dramatically reshaped the urban landscape. The effects of urban renewal are still felt today across the country and right here in Pittsburgh.

Urban Renewal in Pittsburgh

Urban renewal and its impact on both the North Side and East Liberty was the topic of a panel discussion hosted by Preservation Pittsburgh in March.  Past Tense | Future Perfect was moderated by Don Carter who is the director of the Remaking Cities Institute at the Carnegie Mellon School of Architecture and provided an interesting discussion of how preservationists could think about urban renewal and the impact on these neighborhoods today. Yesterday, I wrote about the memorial that Andrew Carnegie erected for Colonel James Anderson. I was surprised to learn that the memorial was moved from it’s original location as part of the urban renewal plan which demolished over 500 buildings to create the Allegheny Center mall and apartments.  The mall closed in the 1990s, the mall building has been used as office space and has recently been rebranded as Nova Place. And today, The Atlantic’s CityLab blog published a post about the response to a proposed fried chicken restaurant in East Liberty, The New Urban Fried-Chicken Crisis. Author Brentin Mock provides some historical context around the fried chicken crisis, explaining that East Liberty was and continues to be impacted by the urban renewal policies:

At one point in the early 20th century, East Liberty was one of the largest commercial corridors in the Allegheny Valley region—a third downtown for Pittsburgh. Then urban planners got all bright-eyed and decided to experiment with the street layout and ended up choking East Liberty off from the rest of the city, killing most of its commercial enterprises off in the process.

Even if you don’t care about what restaurants are coming or going, the CityLab article is worth a read, I think Brentin Mock does a good job of explaining what is happening in East Liberty today.

Jane Jacob’s book continues to be one of the key texts around urban planning and creating vibrant communities. I was first introduced to the book in one of my urban planning courses in college. If I had known that after college I would spend years writing about the city of Pittsburgh, I would have majored in city planning.  I went to college at a time when email was so new that we had to take an introduction to email class the first week of school. This was back in the days before cell phones, Facebook and blogging.

Jane Jacobs Documentary Screening in Pittsburgh

Jane Jacobs Pittsburgh

The city lovers and urban planners that I know are quite excited that the new documentary about Jane Jacob, “Citizen Jane: Battle for the City“. Pittsburgh Filmmakers will be showing the documentary at the Regent Square Theater May 12-18, 2017.

You can read Al Hoff’s review of “Citizen Jane: Battle for the City” in this weeks Pittsburgh City Paper.

Showtimes for “Citizen Jane: Battle for the City at the Regent Square Theater:

  • Friday, May 12 @ 8pm
  • Saturday, May 13 @ 3:30pm, 5:45pm & 8pm
  • Sunday, May 14 @ 3:30pm & 5:45pm
  • Monday, May 15 @ 8pm
  • Tuesday, May 16 @ 8pm
  • Wednesday, May 17 @ 8pm
  • Thursday, May 18 @ 8pm

You can follow the film on Facebook, Twitter @JaneJacobsDoc & Instagram @JaneJacobsDoc.

The Regent Square Theater

Photo credit: Cinema Treasures.

It seems fitting that a documentary about Jane Jacobs is screening at a neighborhood theater. The Regent Square Theater has been around since 1938 and is one of the last single screen theaters left in the area. The theater was purchased by the nonprofit Pittsburgh Filmmakers in 1998 and continues to operate as a movie theater screening movies 7 days a week. I was hoping to find out some more history about this building. If you know more about the history of the Regent Square Theater, please share.

If you like local movie theaters, check out our Guide to Pittsburgh’s Independent Movie Theaters.

Urban Hike Heads to Allegheny Center & Deutschtown (Jane’s Walk Pittsburgh)

Urban Hike is a free guided walk around one (or several) of Pittsburgh neighborhoods. The guided hike is led by a group of volunteers who carefully research each route and invite experts from the neighborhood to come speak to the group on local history and neighborhood development. If you like history, exploring or you are looking for a way to learn more about Pittsburgh, then Urban Hike is for you.

I have attended many of the past Urban Hikes, which has led to discovering all kinds of secrets about Pittsburgh. The John Woods House, aka the 2nd oldest house in Pittsburgh which I posted about earlier this week was a find from the Urban Hike in Hazelwood two years ago.

The first Urban Hike of the 2017 season will be exploring Allegheny Center & Deutschtown. If you aren’t familiar with these neighborhoods, they are on the Northside, just North of the area where PNC Park is located.

Urban Hike = Jane’s Walk Pittsburgh

English: Mrs. Jane Jacobs, chairman of the Com...

English: Mrs. Jane Jacobs, chairman of the Comm. to save the West Village holds up documentary evidence at press conference at Lions Head Restaurant at Hudson & Charles Sts. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

This Saturday’s Urban Hike coincides with Jane’s Walk. Jane’s Walk is an annual event in celebration of Jane Jacobs, author of the book The Death and Life of Great American Cities (Amazon affiliate link), which many consider this book to be the bible of urban planning. Jane’s Walks are free walking tours talking place in cities across the globe to support walkable neighborhoods and to encourage people to learn more about their communities. Pittsburgh has hosted several Jane’s Walks over the past decade and this weeks Urban Hike is currently the only Jane’s Walk scheduled for Pittsburgh.

Interested in learning more about Jane Jacobs? Pittsburgh Filmmakers will be showing the documentary Citizen Jane: Battle for the City from May 12-May 18, 2017.

Urban Hike: Allegheny Center & Deutchtown

  • Date:Saturday, May 6, 2017
  • Start Time: 9:30am
  • Starting Point: Arnold’s Tea on East Ohio Street

Check out the email from Urban Hike and the Facebook event for more information and parking suggestions.

Follow: @UrbanHikePGH @JanesWalk