In memorium

Image from Flickr, Brunocerous

Courtesy of Polis: There's a call to gather at 555 Hudson, where Jane Jacobs lived and wrote the canonical Death and Life of Great American Cities. Drop Polis a line if you're interested.

If that's not your style, Polis and Curbed have partnered for a "Best Jane Jacobs Block in NYC" contest. Details here.

I would add one more element to the list of Jane Jacobs virtues: to be aware of the small details, the interplays, the "unpredictables" - once you think there is a formula, its merit diminishes. Things that you thought unimportant may just be the lynchpin to the success of the block. The beauty of street photography, if you look at enough photos, is that those little details come out in ways that sometimes escape our human eye when we're in the middle of the activity.