CLEVELAND: THE WORLD’S MOST BARRIER-FREE CITY -- 6

ZERO THRESHOLD DESIGN COMPETITION IS A GREAT FIRST STEP

So yes, why not Cleveland as American’s best barrier-free city?

A good transit system can be strengthened to provide people options to get around without having to own a car. 

Old city streets in need of water/sewer/repaving upgrades – can be redesigned as complete streets – places where pedestrians, cyclists, folks who use wheelchairs and transit riders are safely accommodated (along corridors where speeding, dangerous automobiles were once king).

We would argue that barrier-free design is sustainable design that is even more crucial than design for climate change. 

Beautiful, barrier-free design is a great equalizer. It does not care if you are black, white, Hispanic, Asian, male, female, LBTQ, religious, not so religious, rich or poor. 

It simply aims to create a better built environment – from the place you sleep to the way you get around town to where you work, go to school and shop – that promises better quality of life for all.

Final registration and submission deadline is July 15, 2019 -- so hurry up and get details at:

https://zerothreshold.org/

CLEVELAND: THE WORLD’S MOST BARRIER-FREE CITY -- 5

ZERO THRESHOLD DESIGN COMPETITION IS A GREAT FIRST STEP

Does well-crafted barrier-free design destroy re-sale value, does it “condemn” a home to only being appealing to another person with major mobility issues?  

Not at all. Google aging in place. 

It’s the biggest thing in town design. 

It means having a home that ages with you. 

So when your body doesn’t get around like it used to, you have better options than leaving your beloved neighborhood to relocate to some strange senior housing compound where you don’t know any of your neighbors. 

A bedroom suite on the first floor of a two-story house, a bathroom that is accessible, a kitchen that can be adapted for better access, a barrier-free entrance into your home:.

Those are the kinds of things that allow families to stay in the house they worked so hard to pay off. Major organizations, including the AARP, are advocating for universal design that allows people to age in place. 

Final registration and submission deadline is  July 15, 2019 -- so hurry up and get details at:

https://zerothreshold.org/

CLEVELAND: THE WORLD’S MOST BARRIER-FREE CITY -- 4

ZERO THRESHOLD DESIGN COMPETITION IS A GREAT FIRST STEP

News flash: not only can barrier-free living be beautiful, but it also can be beneficial for non-disabled people.

Ramps are preferable to steps when bringing in groceries.  They’re also great for parents pushing strollers and folks using roller bags.

Doorways widened for wheelchair maneuverability – well, the fridge delivery guys said we would have had to cancel the sale model we bought and buy something else had or doorways not been widened for other purposes, that also happened to fit the new, wider model. 

We know some folks who have increased accessibility with pocket door or cool, barn door style sliding doors – both hallmarks of hip décor.

We may have enlarged our bathroom for turning radius for my wife’s power wheelchair – but who doesn’t want a bigger, more comfortable washroom?  

We’ve had dozens of people ask for the design plans for our walk-in shower because they are tired of hopping in and out of a tub-shower. 

Final registration and submission deadline is  July 15, 2019 -- so hurry up and get details at:

https://zerothreshold.org/

CLEVELAND: THE WORLD’S MOST BARRIER-FREE CITY -- 3

ZERO THRESHOLD DESIGN COMPETITION IS A GREAT FIRST STEP

When people visit our nearly 100-year-old, 1,300-square foot home in Little Havana, they see an eclectic combination of an aircraft aluminum sleek ramp and old hardwood floors replete with graded thresholds. 

They enjoy the beauty of tropical painted walls sporting fresh electrical outlets at wheelchair-charging heights and a walk-in shower as inviting as a spa bath in a 4-star hotel. 

Our widened doorways and accessible master suite – all on one floor – are adorned with symbols of are artistic eccentricity gathered on trips to Europe, Asia, Africa and beyond.

So there is no reason why houses in Cleveland cannot feature barrier-free access. Just as thousands have found value in buying and fixing up old houses in inner-ring city neighborhoods such as Tremont and Ohio City, there is incredible value in the existing housing stock in Old Brooklyn. 

Old Brooklyn is a great choice for a program intended to go citywide. It has stable housing at a good entry price point, connectivity to the rest of the city and unlimited potential for a rebirth and renaissance. 

Final registration and submission deadline is  July 15, 2019 -- so hurry up and get details at:

https://zerothreshold.org/

CLEVELAND: THE WORLD’S MOST BARRIER-FREE CITY -- 2

ZERO THRESHOLD DESIGN COMPETITION IS A GREAT FIRST STEP

We were gratified and inspired when we read an early May Cleveland Plain Dealer online story about North Coast Community Homes (NCCH) launching Zero Threshold, an international design challenge aimed at creating the most innovative, visually appealing and forward-thinking barrier-free designs for living.

Having worked with foundations to create a better built environment, we were equally thrilled to learn that the Cleveland Foundation is funding the design competition that “strives to change the paradigm in thinking that accessibility is only for the disabled.”

My wife and I have spent a great deal of our careers trying to explain that ramps, wide doorways, roll/walk-in showers -- and a host of other elements that boost accessibility – do not have to be dreary, painted battleship gray and have all the curb appeal of an abandoned hospital. 

Final registration and submission deadline is  July 15, 2019 -- so hurry up and get details at:

https://zerothreshold.org/

CLEVELAND: THE WORLD’S MOST BARRIER-FREE CITY -- 1

ZERO THRESHOLD DESIGN COMPETITION IS A GREAT FIRST STEP

I can see the headline now.

Perhaps it is aspirational at the moment. But all great ideas start as aspirations.

And the tag line sure beats “Mistake on the Lake,” that made me cringe through the 70s and 80s and I’ll take it over the well-intended, but failed “Cleveland’s a Plum” re-branding effort launched in 1981.

Perhaps I am biased. My wife, Heidi Johnson-Wright, a suburban Cleveland girl who appeared on the Morning Exchange and other consummate local programs as a poster child for the Arthritis Foundation, has used a wheelchair for her mobility for more than four decades.

Familia Wright, residents of Miami’s Little Havana since the dawn of the 21^st century, has a long history of advocating for people with disabilities. 

The idea that our old hometown – looking as resilient and inviting as it ever has when we visited less than a year ago – would become the barrier-free place to be.

Final registration and submission deadline is  July 15, 2019 -- so hurry up and get details at:

https://zerothreshold.org/