The Jane Jacobs Medal 2009

"Cities have the capability of providing something for everybody, only because, and only when, they are created by everybody." -- Jane Jacobs

Perhaps best known for her 1950's book, The Death and Life of Great American Cities, Jane Jacobs forever changed the way that we view urban life and think about urban design. It was the Rockefeller Foundation which provided Jacobs with the grant to complete her research and writing. Over fifty years later, in 2007, the Foundation established the annual Jane Jacobs Medal "to recognize the visionary work of New Yorkers building a more diverse, dynamic and equitable city through creative uses of the urban environment." This past June, Damaris Reyes, Executive Director of Good Old Lower East Side (GOLES) and Richard Kahan, founder and CEO of The Urban Assembly, received awards. Learn more about these outstanding individuals and about the legacy of Jane Jacobs at the Rockefeller Foundation website: http://www.rockfound.org/