How a Neighborhood Walk Leads To Connection
Jane Jacobs was an influential journalist, activist, and author who lived in New York during the mid-1900s and championed community-based development and vibrant, walkable neighborhoods. A Jane Jacobs Walk is when neighbors gather together to stroll the sidewalks of their neighborhood, observing anything from art and history to safety, walkability, or food. The Jane Jacobs Walk in Mid Shooks Run, on the beautiful morning of March 21st, 2026, focused on connection and belonging, and the folks who turned out for the saunter left with new neighbor contacts, inspiration for their gardens, and stories of a woman who washed down the creek in her bed.
The walk was led by Community Coordinator Heather Briggs and followed a 1.2-mile route that meandered from Switchback Coffee Roasters through Shooks Run Park and back. The special focus of the walk was connection and belonging in the Mid Shooks Run neighborhood. About 25 people assembled to join the walk, which used the US Chamber of Connection’s “Six Points of Connection” as a guide for the stops. The Six Points of Connection are a kind of checklist for a connected life and use research to identify what it actually takes to build and sustain social bonds. As a walking group, participants stopped at various spots in the area where people are meeting neighbors and building these bonds.
At the elementary school, the crowd talked about where they volunteer together, and at Stellina Pizza Cafe, they discussed third places (somewhere that’s not work or home where people naturally gather) in the neighborhood. They shared what they do for fun and what communities of play they are a part of. Neighbors also piped up about their passions for gardening (MSR Community Garden) and native plants (Wild Ones) and the work they have done with the neighborhood association (MSRNA). All ages, from teenagers to the more experienced, were represented, and Owen Cramer, who has lived in Mid Shooks Run for decades, shared history from the area. The favorite story involved the flood of 1885, which entailed the floating away of a house, the rescue of a superintendent, and a bedframe that was stuck in a tree along the creek until 2023. You can read the entire tale here on the MSRNA website.
By the time the walk was over, new connections had been made, and people were exchanging phone numbers to stay in touch. The time to chat between stops provided easy chances to build friendship. Neighbor Christina Harrell commented, “It was such a beautiful morning to walk, connect, and experience the neighborhood in a deeper way. I loved learning what helps a community truly flourish; hearing its history, understanding its present, and making new friends along the way.” The morning proved that neighborhood gatherings don’t always have to involve food prep and house cleaning; a wander down the street is a beautiful way to spend time together.
