Formed in 2007, Jane's Walk and the Centre for City Ecology (CCE) focuses on the organic development of cities and the promotion of urban literacy, civic engagement, and community leadership in city building. CCE organizes the annual Jane's Walk in Toronto and across Canada, which brings people together across geographic and social barriers for a series of free neighbourhood walking tours in celebration of the legacy of Jane Jacobs.

In 2009 and 2010, thanks to a grant from the Vital Toronto Fund, CCE will be leading North America's first inner-suburban Walkability Studies in partnership with the Mayor's Tower Renewal Project, E.R.A. Architects, and University of Toronto's Geography Department. Community-led research sessions have commenced, the goal of which are to document the strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities in the existing walking environment in high-rise apartment neighbourhoods where thousands of people rely solely on walking and public transit to get around.

With this information, CCE will be making a "Walkability Toolkit" available on their website so that any community can do a basic audit of their walking environment and use the findings to improve local conditions.

This project is supported with a grant from the Toronto Community Foundation's Vital Toronto Fund, and is one of four high-impact initiatives addressing transportation concerns that received a special grant in 2009. These local initiatives were identified by the Community Foundation, who was fortunate to be one of 22 cities across Canada to receive funds as part of a settlement in a long-standing class action lawsuit involving price fixing by manufacturers of a rubber product known as EPDM (Ethylene Propylene Diene Monomer) used in transportation and other areas.

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