Borders

In chapter 14 of Jane Jacobs book, The Death and Life of Great American Cities, she comments on the effect "borders" have on the logistics of cities. Although she uses New York as her primary example, I feel the majority of her comments would have been much better supported if she had used Baltimore as an example instead because it embodies many of her ideas on borders, both the positive and negative aspects. When Jacobs first began describing the problem with borders "secluding" certain sections of the city from others, especially in the far reaches of the city, I began to imagine Berlin, post-WWII when it was divided right down the middle. I was wondering if this is what she thought would be an ideal city, one has life, people, buildings, and shops extending all the way to the far reaches of the city's borders. However, as she continued her commentary, I began to realize all the imaginary borders cities have, especially in Baltimore. Jacobs says on page 264, "Frequent borders...[can] tear a city to shatters." This I have to disagree with because Baltimore does have many distinct districts such as Mount Vernon, Fells Point, the Inner Harbor, and Federal Hill, however I believe these separate districts help to make Baltimore the unique city it is. On page 266 Jacobs gives an example of an ice skating rink that spans different sections of the city, and while this could promote increased unity within the city, as a first-time visitor to Baltimore, I loved all the separate districts and how they all were so separate and unique from each other it was almost like having ten cities wrapped up in one. Jacobs also discusses how institutions, such as college campuses, can create "vacuums" around them, and this I must agree with. On the first day of summer orientation, we all learned the borders of Loyola, Cold Spring Lane to Charles Street to York Rd. Beyond these borders, especially in the dangerous underworld that is York Rd, we learned that we could not be protected there. So in a sense York Rd has become the "vacuum" that we have created. Although we have set up our own borders, Loyola is still aware that we are a part of the city, which is best presented by our "Year of the City" initiative. Jacobs gives this description of universities, "they either pretend to be cloistered or countrified places, nostalgically denying their transplantation" (pp. 267). In the past I'm sure this is the view that Loyola has presented, and I am proud to say that we are no longer "denying our transplantation", but spreading the Jesuit learning through the city welcoming the city into Loyola, ultimately eliminating borders.