Jane Jacobs Quotes

What is the purpose of a city if not to grant the greatest of gifts, anonymity?

[On living in New York City:] I'm oblivious to everything. I just don't notice anything. I sat in a coffee shop, drank half a cup of coffee before I noticed there was lipstick on the cup. There was wadded-up gum and lipstick on the napkin. I must have been sitting on that woman's lap for an hour.

I would never be able to live in a huge city. I'd feel like one of 100,000 people doing the same thing.

Reclusive? The inner city will secure your privacy better than any desert cave.

I love New York. I love the people. I love the anonymity.

I can have more of a normal life in Los Angeles, where I can be fairly anonymous.

New York is so unique, and you are not always encouraged to consider the people in the city your neighbors because of the fast pace and surface anonymity.

This is the city, and I am one of the citizens/Whatever interests the rest interests me

Being human is itself difficult, and therefore all kinds of settlements (except dream cities) have problems. Big cities have difficulties in abundance, because they have people in abundance.

That's the great thing about big cities: Nobody is judging. You really get a chance to show who you are with your style.

In my case, I was stuck there for quite a while. New York is large enough to be a very abstract city, so nobody cares.

I love New York. You're never alone, but you're always on your own.

A great city is a great solitude.

A lot of people can forget about you in Los Angeles.

The city's full of people who you just see around.

The anonymity of the city is one of its strengths as well as - carried too far - one of its weaknesses.

In great cities men are brought together by the desire of gain. They are not in a state of co-operation, but of isolation, as to the making of fortunes; and for all the rest they are careless of neighbors.

London is like the grave in one respect -- any man can make himself at home there; and whenever a man finds himself homeless elsewhere, he had better either die or go to London.

In London I'm out and about all the time. I walk everywhere, so people do recognise me and they've probably seen me before so they're not bothered anymore. But I think that's a good thing because if you try and remain mysterious people are surprised when they see you. With me, I think they're just bored of seeing me - but that suits me just fine because I like to live as much of a normal life as I can. That's why I love living in London. People are very respectful of your privacy. If they see you having a coffee in a coffee shop, they're not going to interrupt you.

New York blends the gift of privacy with the excitement of participation; and better than most dense communities it succeeds in insulating the individual (if he wants it, and almost everybody wants or needs it) against all enormous and violent and wonderful events that are taking place every minute.

New York was big enough and wide enough that it allowed for reasonably eccentric people like me to thrive. It was a perfect place for me.

The beauty of any city is really the people within it and the people that you're close to.

In New York City, a lot of people think "the great outdoors" is the area between your front door and a taxi cab.

My family love living in London. It is a fantastic city and a city such as this deserves to host the Olympic Games.

Whilst we want cities as the centres where the best things are found, cities degrade us by magnifying trifles.