--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Everyone is aware that tremendous numbers…" description: "\"Everyone is aware that tremendous numbers of people concentrate in city downtowns and that, if they did not, there would be no downtown to amount to an..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8f9/jane-jacobs-1991_cities_everyone-is-aware-that-tremendous-number_248054.png" --- # Everyone is aware that tremendous numbers of people… ![“Everyone is aware that tremendous numbers of people concentrate in city downtowns and that, if they did not, there would be no downtown to amount to anything--certainly not one with much downtown diversity.” quote by Jane Jacobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8f9/jane-jacobs-1991_cities_everyone-is-aware-that-tremendous-number_248054.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8f9/jane-jacobs-1991_cities_everyone-is-aware-that-tremendous-number_248054.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8f9/jane-jacobs-1991_cities_everyone-is-aware-that-tremendous-number_248054.png) > “Everyone is aware that tremendous numbers of people concentrate in city downtowns and that, if they did not, there would be no downtown to amount to anything--certainly not one with much downtown diversity.” [Jane Jacobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-jacobs/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Dense, diverse downtowns are vital for urban vitality; without them, cities lose their cultural and economic dynamism. **In simple terms:** Vibrant city centers need many people and varied uses. Key Takeaway Support mixed-use development to sustain downtown life. Themes urban vitality diversity community economics Mood optimistic pragmatic Type urbanist sociological When to use this quote - city zoning - public space design - local business support Key Concepts mixed-use planning social interaction economic resilience Questions to Reflect On - What measures ensure downtowns remain inclusive and livable? - How can planners balance growth with community needs? A Different Perspective Overemphasis on density can ignore quality of life and affordability. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Cities](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cities/) [Diversity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/diversity/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) ## Related quotes > [I have been dwelling upon downtowns. This is not because mixtures of primary uses are unneeded elsewhere in cities. On the contrary they are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-jacobs/i-have-been-dwelling-upon-downtowns-this-is-not-because-mixtures-of/) [Jane Jacobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-jacobs/) > [Expanding the Toronto Island Airport will undermine the downtown's economy and liveability and intensify pollution and smog from Oshawa to Oakville. I urge Torontonians…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-jacobs/expanding-the-toronto-island-airport-will-undermine-the-downtown-s/) [Jane Jacobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-jacobs/) > [You can't rely on bringing people downtown, you have to put them there.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-jacobs/you-can-t-rely-on-bringing-people-downtown-you-have-to-put-them-there/) [Jane Jacobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-jacobs/) > [The notion - and I tell you this one even worries me that it extends into New Urbanism - the notion of the shopping…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-jacobs/the-notion-and-i-tell-you-this-one-even-worries-me-that-it-extends/) [Jane Jacobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-jacobs/) > [“There are fashions in building. Behind the fashions lie economic and technological reasons, and these fashions exclude all but a few genuinely different possibilities…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-jacobs/there-are-fashions-in-building-behind-the-fashions-lie-economic-and/) [Jane Jacobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-jacobs/) > [I'm from downtown New Orleans. Downtown consists of the 7th ward, the 8th ward, the 9th ward.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/august-alsina/i-m-from-downtown-new-orleans-downtown-consists-of-the-7th-ward-the/) [August Alsina](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/august-alsina/) > [I was doing stand up comedy when I was 11, that's how I got started; not because I wanted to do comedy, but because…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shia-labeouf/i-was-doing-stand-up-comedy-when-i-was-11-that-s-how-i-got-started/) [Shia LaBeouf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shia-labeouf/) > [Downtown. Lights on buildings and everything that makes you wonder. And in that moment, I swear we were infinite.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-chbosky/downtown-lights-on-buildings-and-everything-that-makes-you-wonder-and/) [Stephen Chbosky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-chbosky/) > [My mother took us to services at the Episcopal church. Yet she always said that God was not just inside the four walls of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barry-goldwater/my-mother-took-us-to-services-at-the-episcopal-church-yet-she-always/) [Barry Goldwater](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barry-goldwater/) > [After that, I started going downtown and doing a lot of theater shows in Chicago. When you go downtown there, it's like you're in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kel-mitchell/after-that-i-started-going-downtown-and-doing-a-lot-of-theater-shows/) [Kel Mitchell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kel-mitchell/) > [I love downtown Seattle. 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They are places where young people gather to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leila-fadel/both-of-these-places-cairo-s-downtown-and-tahrir-square-are-in-the/) Leila Fadel > [When you've got worries, all the noise and the hurry seems to help, I know. Downtown.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-hatch/when-you-ve-got-worries-all-the-noise-and-the-hurry-seems-to-help-i/) Tony Hatch ## More by Jane Jacobs > [People who try to predict the future by extrapolating in a line of more of what exists - they are always wrong.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-jacobs/people-who-try-to-predict-the-future-by-extrapolating-in-a-line-of/) [Jane Jacobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-jacobs/) > [My mother used to say when we were children, 'When a boy gets a stick in his hand, his brains run out the other…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-jacobs/my-mother-used-to-say-when-we-were-children-when-a-boy-gets-a-stick/) [Jane Jacobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-jacobs/) > [Design is people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-jacobs/design-is-people/) [Jane Jacobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-jacobs/) > [To approach a city, or even a city neighborhood, as if it were a larger architectural problem, capable of being given order by converting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-jacobs/to-approach-a-city-or-even-a-city-neighborhood-as-if-it-were-a-larger/) [Jane Jacobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-jacobs/) > [Cities need old buildings so badly it is probably impossible for vigorous streets and districts to grow without them… for really new ideas of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-jacobs/cities-need-old-buildings-so-badly-it-is-probably-impossible-for/) [Jane Jacobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-jacobs/) > [The notion that you could discard the old world and now make a new one. This is what was so bad about Modernism.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-jacobs/the-notion-that-you-could-discard-the-old-world-and-now-make-a-new/) [Jane Jacobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-jacobs/) > [Cities are an immense laboratory of trial and error, failure and success, in city building and city design.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-jacobs/cities-are-an-immense-laboratory-of-trial-and-error-failure-and/) [Jane Jacobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-jacobs/) > [“Development isn't a collection of things but rather a process that yields things. 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But the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-jacobs/automobiles-are-often-conveniently-tagged-as-the-villains-responsible/) [Jane Jacobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-jacobs/) > [“I tis hopeless to try to convert some borders into seams. Expressways and their ramps are examples. Moreover, even in the case of large…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-jacobs/i-tis-hopeless-to-try-to-convert-some-borders-into-seams-expressways/) [Jane Jacobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-jacobs/) > [“Probably the most important element in intricacy is centering. Good small parks typically have a place somewhere within them commonly understood to be the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-jacobs/probably-the-most-important-element-in-intricacy-is-centering-good/) [Jane Jacobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-jacobs/) > [Throughout the world Dark Ages have scrawled finis to successions of cultures receding far into the past.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-jacobs/throughout-the-world-dark-ages-have-scrawled-finis-to-successions-of/) [Jane Jacobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-jacobs/) > [“Privacy is precious in cities. It is indispensable. Perhaps it is precious and indispensable everywhere, but in most places you cannot get it. In…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-jacobs/privacy-is-precious-in-cities-it-is-indispensable-perhaps-it-is/) [Jane Jacobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-jacobs/) [Explore all 193 Jane Jacobs quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-jacobs/) ## More Cities quotes > [Public infrastructure around the world is facing unprecedented stress, with hurricanes, cyclones, floods and forest fires all increasing in frequency and intensity. It's easy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/naomi-klein/public-infrastructure-around-the-world-is-facing-unprecedented-stress/) [Naomi Klein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/naomi-klein/) > [Surely, if Mother Nature had been consulted, she would never have consented to building a city in New Orleans.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mortimer-zuckerman/surely-if-mother-nature-had-been-consulted-she-would-never-have/) [Mortimer Zuckerman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mortimer-zuckerman/) > [Cities are 2% of the earth's crust, but they are 50% of the world's population.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carlo-ratti/cities-are-2-of-the-earth-s-crust-but-they-are-50-of-the-world-s/) [Carlo Ratti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carlo-ratti/) > [A man could be a lover and defender of the wilderness without ever in his lifetime leaving the boundaries of asphalt, powerlines, and right-angled…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-abbey/a-man-could-be-a-lover-and-defender-of-the-wilderness-without-ever-in/) [Edward Abbey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-abbey/) > [All Germany was in turmoil. Revolutionaries seized power in the cities of Munich, Hanover and Cologne. One regional German government after another was toppled…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-cross-giblin/all-germany-was-in-turmoil-revolutionaries-seized-power-in-the-cities/) James Cross Giblin > [Nice is a city of ghosts and specters, but I hope not to become one of them right away.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-modiano/nice-is-a-city-of-ghosts-and-specters-but-i-hope-not-to-become-one-of/) [Patrick Modiano](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-modiano/) > [I know of not one Republican candidate that would not appear publicly with Mitt Romney and I know many Democrats that don't even want…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pete-sessions/i-know-of-not-one-republican-candidate-that-would-not-appear-publicly/) [Pete Sessions](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pete-sessions/) > [ Just between you and me, shouldn’t the World Bank be encouraging MORE migration of the dirty industries to the LDCs \[Less Developed Countries\]?... I… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lawrence-summers/just-between-you-and-me-shouldn-t-the-world-bank-be-encouraging-more/) [Lawrence Summers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lawrence-summers/) > [We will neglect our cities to our peril, for in neglecting them we neglect the nation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-f-kennedy/we-will-neglect-our-cities-to-our-peril-for-in-neglecting-them-we/) [John F. Kennedy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-f-kennedy/) > [I didn't know the city at all, but I was so happy to be in New York I cried. I was so excited.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/greta-gerwig/i-didn-t-know-the-city-at-all-but-i-was-so-happy-to-be-in-new-york-i/) [Greta Gerwig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/greta-gerwig/) > [Outside of Paris, there is no hope for the cultured.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/moliere/outside-of-paris-there-is-no-hope-for-the-cultured/) [Moliere](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/moliere/) > [Dawn's faint breath breathes with your mouth at the ends of empty streets. Gray light your eyes, sweet drops of dawn on dark hills.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cesare-pavese/dawn-s-faint-breath-breathes-with-your-mouth-at-the-ends-of-empty/) [Cesare Pavese](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cesare-pavese/) > [Vienna is a handsome, lively city, and pleases me exceedingly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederic-chopin/vienna-is-a-handsome-lively-city-and-pleases-me-exceedingly/) [Frederic Chopin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederic-chopin/) > [“We have grace of strength to work, to clear our cities of any dirt.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lailah-gifty-akita/we-have-grace-of-strength-to-work-to-clear-our-cities-of-any-dirt/) [Lailah Gifty Akita](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lailah-gifty-akita/) > [I was too tired to think. I merely felt the town as a unique unreality. What was it? I knew -- the moon's picture…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-was-too-tired-to-think-i-merely-felt-the-town-as-a-unique-unreality/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) [Browse all 7,153 Cities quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cities/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Everyone is aware that tremendous numbers of people concentrate in city downtowns and that, if they did not, there would be no downtown to amount to anything--certainly not one with much downtown diversity.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Jane Jacobs" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-jacobs/everyone-is-aware-that-tremendous-numbers-of-people-concentrate-in/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Cities" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-jacobs/everyone-is-aware-that-tremendous-numbers-of-people-concentrate-in/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8f9/jane-jacobs-1991_cities_everyone-is-aware-that-tremendous-number_248054.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8f9/jane-jacobs-1991_cities_everyone-is-aware-that-tremendous-number_248054.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8f9/jane-jacobs-1991_cities_everyone-is-aware-that-tremendous-number_248054.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Everyone is aware that tremendous numbers of people concentrate in city downtowns and that, if they did not…” — Jane Jacobs", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Jane Jacobs", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-jacobs/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Everyone is aware that tremendous numbers...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-jacobs/everyone-is-aware-that-tremendous-numbers-of-people-concentrate-in/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-jacobs/everyone-is-aware-that-tremendous-numbers-of-people-concentrate-in/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```