Jay Pitter

Award-Winning Placemaker. Author. Speaker. Urban Planning Adjunct Professor. Subdivided Co-Editor. Two Book Deal w/ Penguin Random House Canada.

[Jay Pitter @Jay_Pitter]

Check out my 10 Rules For Better Public Spaces 👇🏾👇🏾👇🏾
This is not intended to be an exhaustive list; I didn’t include public space healing, which is a significant part of my practice. But I’ve captured several key ideas. Thoughts? Additional ideas? #cities #public #space

[Harriett’s Bookshop @harriettsbooks]

Smiling because we just signed with a literary agent! And not just any agent —but THEE literary agent Marie Brown—iykyk—if you don’t well—read up on her—publishers hit us up. AND…

🎉tomorrow (8/26) we reopen Harriett’s for a new season from 12-6 pm.

📚and we are a part of a citywide Bookstore Crawl @phillybookcrawl thanks to @ericsmithrocks.

🎶tomorrow (8/26) we will host a live jazz trio from 1-2:30 (@starlenebey). She knows the assignment bring a lil oui oui to the yurp.

🪗and a French 🇫🇷 accordion ensemble from 3-4 pm (@shinjoocho)—come ready to dance 💃.

🍾along with French 🇫🇷 inspired drinks from @noseypalate from 12-3 pm.

🥐Philly style French pastries first come first serve @jaimefrenchbakery.

📖 and BOOKS! Lots of freaking BOOKS! By now you should be smiling too.

📸 P.S. word on the street is there’s a new magazine launching on 9/16 from @lovenowmedia and we are on the cover. Stay tuned for that fabulosity —cause they asked for literary Naomi Campbell and uhhh we gave it the best we had.

[Jay Pitter @Jay_Pitter]

My daughter and I have both been on tour, so I haven’t seen her for an entire season. She was in Toronto this evening doing a brand shoot before heading to Vancouver to perform tomorrow. I popped in to give her a hug, and got to be her personal assistant for a few hours.💕

[Jay Pitter @Jay_Pitter]

A big congratulations to Armi DeFrancia on her well-deserved CIP Emerging Planner Award. For a decade, I’ve had the delightful experience of mentoring Armi & was happy to nominate her. Watching Armi build her career & develop a powerful cycling advocacy voice has been incredible.

[Rodney @_ChanFace]

Night 2 + Day 3 of the Church Street pedestrianization and it’s still going strong!

Putting on my @Jay_Pitter hat on and documenting lots of examples of public joy!

Here’s a thread of my observations so far: (1/5)

[Jay Pitter @Jay_Pitter]

Good density is not just about more housing units. It’s about more public joy:

local amenities
connections across race & class
community rituals
active & public transportation
intergenerational exchange
mutual care networks

#PublicJoyFramework
publication coming soon

[Jay Pitter @Jay_Pitter]

During the first leg of my book tour, I fell out of my fitness routine. This week, I'm back in rhythm, which meant walking home from the gym despite today's sudden downpour. Along the way, I noticed a lot of cyclists. They def give new meaning to the phrase "rain or shine."

[໊ @BardisMedia]

Cardi B reacts to the NY Knicks winning their first championship since 1973.😭

“WE OUTSIDE RIGHT NOW! GET MY MAKEUP DONE RIGHT NOW”

[Jay Pitter @Jay_Pitter]

Public joy happens when we deprioritize the flow of traffic and prioritize the flow of bodies:

walking
rolling
cycling
hiking
swimming
running
vogueing
strutting
strolling
skateboarding
twerking
frolicking

[Harriett’s Bookshop @harriettsbooks]

Wise woman once told me, “Trees grow in silence. Just grow.” New location at 921 Market Street is now open.

[Jay Pitter @Jay_Pitter]

Headed out to bring a little public joy to tonight's Toronto Star panel.

[Jay Pitter @Jay_Pitter]

I have a couple of complimentary tickets available for Toronto Star’s If I Were Mayor: Culture Edition, taking place tomorrow evening at Soulpepper Theatre. If you’re in Toronto and would like to attend, send me a DM. Hope to see a few familiar faces there.

[Jay Pitter @Jay_Pitter]

@harriettsbooks @pbsbooks Thank you, good to know my book is finding good homes.

[Harriett’s Bookshop @harriettsbooks]

Honor the folks who sing your praises when you’re not even in the room (or the country). So thankful to our poet laureate Raina Leon for including us in this @pbsbooks series. 📖🙏🏾

[Jay Pitter @Jay_Pitter]

Back from another amazing book tour week.

#BlackPublicJoy

[Darwin @ThisIsDarwino]

BREAKING: We now know the municipal/provincial and federal lobbyists behind the Billy Bishop airport expansion in Toronto is Nieuport Aviation, an asset among many, controlled by the IIG which was founded by JP Morgan. Yes, an AMERICAN bank is trying to destroy our waterfront.

[WELCOME TO BLACK TWlTTER  @blacktwiterthrd]

9th grader Demi Johnson wins National Geographic award for her plan to restore Mississippi’s oyster reefs. She already produced 1,100 oysters that will spawn millions of larvae, delivering a major boost to the ecosystem.

[Dan Seljak @anotherglassbox]

Some sort of issue between bylaw and the food market near Yonge and Dundas has resulted in all the shops’ signage being removed. Landlord is dealing with City, but consider supporting the vendors as it gets resolved—foot traffic will suffer.

[Jay Pitter @Jay_Pitter]

Belonging begins in the body.

— Black Public Joy
Penguin Random House, 2026