Jane Jacobs Densities

In a passage of Death and Life of Great American Cities (pages 208-212), Jane Jacobs lays out several thresholds for density, claiming that certain units per acre correspond to varying levels of urban viability. She describes 6 Units Per Acre or less as "Very low densities" that "can make out well in suburbs." 10-20 units per acre is described as "Semisuburb", and supposes that they are "designed to become a grey area". She describes 20-100 units per acre as the "in-between" densities, "fit, generally, for nothing but trouble", leaving proper urban densities producing diversity and amenity at greater than 100 units per acre. This hard to reckon with on-the-ground densities in Canadian cities. In Vancouver, only a single census tract (near Joyce Station) fits that description. Under this taxonomy, all of downtown Vancouver would be described as "nothing but trouble", and vibrant neighbourhoods like Commercial Drive are far from it. Hardly any of Torontoor Montrealfit this description either It's been suggested that Jacobs revised this view after she moved from New York into a street-car suburban area of Toronto, which would seem to be born out. "Jane Jacobs Densities" are discussed further in this Pricetags Post, including some comments from her son, Ned.

Author: BDawe

Dataset: CA16