Right now I'm just reading a lot about her in a lot of news outlets that rarely cover notable urban planners -- with Jacobs' passing, it is debatable if any more such people exist -- and I'm working on longer posts about what her work has meant for urban planners over the past forty years; and her turn towards economics in recent years, but there is plenty of coverage right now of her death.
The full spectrum of obituaries is rather interesting, with many articles listed on Google News. Canadians proudly claim her as one of her own, with almost every major Canadian newspaper and network reporting often, including the front page of the Globe and Mail, extensive coverage and heartfelt gratitude from the Toronto Star, and CTV all reporting on her death. The New York Times obituary, though four pages long, is obnoxiously self-referential, in that every other paragraph seems to refer to the opinions of their architecture critics about Jacobs through the years, all of whom collectively seem rather small and foolish when compared to Jacobs. There are also long obituaries from the LA Times, Reuters, the Associated Press (via the Seattle Times), and the Financial Times.
The blogosphere has also taken note, with an excellent post on Gothamist offering extensive links; Curbed doing what it does best (or worst, really), a contest for the most "Jane Jacobs Block". An article on Grist calls for an re-appreciation of her by greens, but right now, there are only three short comments. A full list can be found via Technorati.
As for specialist magazines, Planetizen, the urban planning portal, offers a tribute here. City Comforts mostly notes other blog posts about her. IMHO, the best recent re-appraisal of Jacobs appeared in a presciently appreciative article by 2blowhards.com, with an extensive discussion, written on February 6, 2006.
Technorati Tags: cities, Jane Jacobs, New York, Urbanism, urban
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