Jane Jacobs Walk to Explore Downtown Scranton’s Lackawanna Avenue, a Living City

On Saturday, Oct. 23, at 1 p.m., The University of Scranton and the Center for the Living City with community partners will host a special “Jane Jacobs Walk Downtown Scranton – a Living City” event. This Jane Jacobs Walk will encompass different parts of downtown Scranton, offering participants an opportunity to observe architecture, streetscape and city life with a focus on Lackawanna Avenue. This Jane Jacobs Walk will draw on themes in the recently published Jane Jacobs’s First City by Glenna Lang to consider questions around Scranton’s history, development, place, and identity.

The walk will begin at AFA Gallery located at 101 Penn Ave, Scranton, is free and open to the public. This walk will be led by guide/host Wayne Evans, broker and owner Wayne Evans Realty. Evans is an active Scranton community member and former Mayor of Scranton (2019). He currently serves on several Boards of Directors, including the Architectural Heritage Association, Scranton Tomorrow and Neighborworks.

Space is limited. Registration is required at: surveymonkey.com/r/JaneJacobsWalk. The event will utilize wireless headsets, in collaboration with the Scranton Fringe Festival, to ensure that participants can hear the guide’s comments and maintain comfortable distancing. COVID 19 Protocols: Masks are not required outdoors but are required inside the AFA Gallery.

The Jane Jacobs Walk is a part of the first theme, “Portrait of Scranton, Portrait of a Nation,” in the multi-year National Endowment for the Humanities grant project “Scranton’s Story, Our Nation’s Story.” Additional theme events include a special keynote talk by author and native Scrantonian Jay Parini with respondent panel and audience Q&A on Tuesday, Oct. 19 at 7 pm at the Scranton Cultural Center. This event is also free and open to the public with registration required: surveymonkey.com/r/ImagineScranton 

This Jane Jacobs Walk is a collaboration of The University of Scranton, the Center for the Living City, the Lackawanna Historical Society, Scranton Fringe and WVIA with the support of additional project partner organizations. This Jane Jacobs Walking Tour has been made possible in part by the National Endowment for the Humanities: Democracy demands wisdom.

Follow “Scranton’s Story, Our Nation’s Story” on Facebook and Instagram @ourscrantonstory and on Twitter @scrantonstory. For more information on all programs, please email community@scranton.edu or call 570-941-4419.

Any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this walk do not necessarily represent those of the National Endowment for the Humanities.