THIS BLOG HAS HAD MORE THAN 800,000 UNIQUE VISITS

SINCE IT WAS LAUNCHED MORE THAN A DECADE AGO

The vast majority of my posts have to do with Universal Design and creating a better built environment for people with disabilities.

Posts have touched on planning, urban design, transportation engineering, landscape architecture, economic development, sustainability and related issues.

I have tackled public policy and held politicians’ feet to the fire.

I have shared more than 4,000 images that I have taken on work on five continents.

The cumulative word count of my posts would fill 11 300-page books.

Here's to more travel photos, human-centered advocacy and plain language interpretation of the Americans with Disabilities Act and more.

NATURE-BASED SOLUTIONS

 FROM THE HEART OF MIAMI TO THE OBSERVANCE OF EARTH DAY

I'm incredibly proud to see my friend and colleague Aida Curtis' work profiled in this story of national importance.

I covered her nature-based solutions for On Common Ground magazine in April 2022.

I am honored to have collaborated with Aida on some writing and marketing projects over the years.

Curtis + Rogers Studio was practicing top drawer resiliency and sustainability before those words became part of our common vocabulary.

CELEBRATING MORE THAN A THIRD OF A MILLION READERS

EARLY THIS YEAR, WE MARKED MORE THAN 333,333 UNIQUE VISITORS TO THIS BLOG

We focus a lot of our blog on Universal Design, Inclusive Mobility and all planning, architecture, urban design, mobility engineering and landscape architecture that impacts the built environment.

We point out barriers to people with disabilities and share best practices for removing those barriers.

We share images of travels around the world.

We suggest better public policy.

Long before DEI was a catch phrase, we underscored the need for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion + Accessibility.

We share news from our teaching at the University of Miami School of Architecture.

Most of our blog posts address social justice.

This week, our alma mater – Kent State University – will observe the 52^nd anniversary of the May 4^th 1970s shootings.

The room in Taylor hall where we learned to be a professional reporter, writer and communicator – is now home to the May 4 Visitor’s Center.

https://www.kent.edu/may4visitorscenter

 

HONORED TO ADVOCATE FOR UNIVERSAL DESIGN

THANKS TO KENT STATE UNIVERSITY FOR FEATURING MY WORK

I am honored to share my story of using my communication skills to advocate for Universal Design in Planning, Architecture, Engineering, Urban Design, Public Policy, Mobility, Transit, Landscape Architecture and more.

I appreciate it that Jargon, the digital publication of Kent’s School of Media and Journalism, published my essay on activism and pro-bono work on diversity, equity and inclusion – through the lens of wheelchair access.

The full essay – with an inset piece on proper language for writing about people with disabilities, is here:

https://www.kent.edu/mdj/news/kent-where-lifetime-passionate-storytelling-and-advocacy-people-disabilities-was-born-and

THE ADA TURNED 30, BUT THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT IS STILL FAR FROM INCLUSIVE (PART 15)

While many cities have shown efforts to implement accessible design since the 1990 adoption of the American Disabilities Act, more must be done

We are living in the most partisan, divisive and frightened time in our nearly 250 years as a nation. 

Everyone has his or her idea of how we can begin to unify, heal, come together. 

Mine is to celebrate the ADA in the spirit of equity for all.

https://www.smartcitiesdive.com/news/the-ada-is-turning-30-but-the-built-environment-is-still-far-from-inclusiv/581563/

THE ADA TURNED 30, BUT THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT IS STILL FAR FROM INCLUSIVE (PART 14)

While many cities have shown efforts to implement accessible design since the 1990 adoption of the American Disabilities Act, more must be done

The current slowdown/shut down of virtually all offices and organizations creates a fabulous opportunity. 

As work, sadly, dries up for an unknown period, those who impact the built environment and the professional organizations that represent them can work online to promote access for all.

Chef Jose Andres is a shining example what a professional can do pro-bono in times of crises. 

Who would like to step up and be the Jose Andres of architecture, engineering, landscape architecture, planning, and interior design?

THE ADA TURNED 30, BUT THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT IS STILL FAR FROM INCLUSIVE (PART 13)

While many cities have shown efforts to implement accessible design since the 1990 adoption of the American Disabilities Act, more must be done

Statistics show that one in five persons will experience some level of disability that impacts their daily lives.  

Millions of Baby Boomers are retiring soon and expecting to live into their 80s.

Most will not be able to drive a car till the day they die.

For that reason alone, we need to ramp up our effort to ensure accessibility – from the grandest concert hall to the most modest city park to the life-affirming rural nature trail to the essential corner grocery.

Anyone, in an instant, can join the disability community. That is why Universal Design and Inclusive Placemaking have an immeasurable intrinsic wealth.

THE ADA TURNED 30, BUT THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT IS STILL FAR FROM INCLUSIVE (PART 13)

While many cities have shown efforts to implement accessible design since the 1990 adoption of the American Disabilities Act, more must be done\

Statistics show that one in five persons will experience some level of disability that impacts their daily lives.  

Millions of Baby Boomers are retiring soon and expecting to live into their 80s. 

Most will not be able to drive a car till the day they die. 

For that reason alone, we need to ramp up our effort to ensure accessibility – from the grandest concert hall to the most modest city park to the life-affirming rural nature trail to the essential corner grocery.

THE ADA TURNED 30, BUT THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT IS STILL FAR FROM INCLUSIVE (PART 12)

While many cities have shown efforts to implement accessible design since the 1990 adoption of the American Disabilities Act, more must be done

American Society of Interior Designers: 

create prototypes of flexible spaces that accommodate people with a wide range of physical abilities.

Publish articles and white papers that prove that accessible design can be beautiful and timeless. 

Create living spaces that allow people to age in place.

THE ADA TURNED 30, BUT THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT IS STILL FAR FROM INCLUSIVE (PART 11)

While many cities have shown efforts to implement accessible design since the 1990 adoption of the American Disabilities Act, more must be done

American Planning Association: sponsor webinars and research papers that explore how to better involve the disability community in planning. 

It says here that nothing is more sustainable and durable than a community that addresses the needs of all.

THE ADA TURNED 30, BUT THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT IS STILL FAR FROM INCLUSIVE (PART 10)

While many cities have shown efforts to implement accessible design since the 1990 adoption of the American Disabilities Act, more must be done

American Society of Landscape Architects: 

Look at resilient design, an answer to climate change that also improves accessibility. 

People with disabilities where I live, in Miami, are afraid that raised roads, buildings on stilts and other answers to sea level rise will create more barriers than they face now. 

Do something to resolve that.

THE ADA TURNED 30, BUT THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT IS STILL FAR FROM INCLUSIVE (PART 9)

While many cities have shown efforts to implement accessible design since the 1990 adoption of the American Disabilities Act, more must be done

American Society of Civil Engineers: hold a design competition – for both professional and student members – to come up with a simple solution to removing a barrier.

Hint: the fewer gadgets, the better. 

Complex solutions with dozens of moving parts = just one thing breaks and the outdoor lift stops serving people with disabilities for ages.

THE ADA TURNED 30, BUT THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT IS STILL FAR FROM INCLUSIVE (PART 8)

While many cities have shown efforts to implement accessible design since the 1990 adoption of the American Disabilities Act, more must be done

Speaking of housing, fewer than one percent of single-family homes in America are move-in ready for a wheelchair user -- a staggering fact considering that more than half of Americans live in single-family houses.

So, I am talking to you, both national office and hundreds of local chapters of the AIA – get in gear to stage some kind of online and in print exhibit or observance that teaches your  members about the ADA. The landmark 30^th anniversary was July 26, 2020.

THE ADA TURNED 30, BUT THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT IS STILL FAR FROM INCLUSIVE (PART 7)

While many cities have shown efforts to implement accessible design since the 1990 adoption of the American Disabilities Act, more must be done

This is not about special privileges. 

This is about removing barriers – tens of thousands of them, that continually make people with disabilities the most under- and unemployed of any minority group.

Those unacceptable employment figures rarely are because of a person’s disability. 

They exist because even in the 21^st century, the built environment makes it difficult people with disabilities to access education, transportation, healthcare, recreation, nature, culture, shopping and housing essential to finding work equal to their capabilities.

THE ADA TURNED 30, BUT THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT IS STILL FAR FROM INCLUSIVE (PART 6)

While many cities have shown efforts to implement accessible design since the 1990 adoption of the American Disabilities Act, more must be done

When planning for accessible entrances, hallway, bathrooms, offices, work spaces, break rooms, exercise rooms and more – is done at the 11^th hour – nothing good comes of it.

That is why I am calling on all professional organizations that impact the built environment to celebrate the ADA. 

Millions of their cumulative members can be inspired to build beautiful, graceful, human-scaled design that will make life more equitable for people who have mobility, sight, hearing and intellectual disabilities

THE ADA TURNED 30, BUT THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT IS STILL FAR FROM INCLUSIVE (PART 5)

While many cities have shown efforts to implement accessible design since the 1990 adoption of the American Disabilities Act, more must be done

As an advocate for inclusive design, I see the self-fulfilling negative prophecy – from inception to epic failure. 

If the professional’s attitude is anti-ADA…their designs come out complicated, costly, confounding and non-compliant.

These same masters of their fields have awards on their walls for innovative projects. 

Projects that dealt with myriad fire, HVAC, flood, wind, life safety, commercial/residential building and zoning codes – but were still able to be creative, signature works. 

But toss the ADA at them and they feign that it is impossible to integrate human-friendly design into their master work.

THE ADA TURNED 30, BUT THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT IS STILL FAR FROM INCLUSIVE (PART 4)

While many cities have shown efforts to implement accessible design since the 1990 adoption of the American Disabilities Act, more must be done

 

The New York City American Institute of Architects chapter dedicated virtually all of its recent Oculus quarterly publication to exploring issues of accessible design. 

Renown writers, expert in design and disability, shared vivid words and images on progress, challenges, pitfalls and trends. 

A topic very important to Familia Wright was explored: how to create design that is so universal, so creative, so seamless – that it doesn’t look like institutional “ADA" architecture.

In a nearly four-decade career as a journalist, public policy researcher and marketer – I have worked with hundreds of architects, planners and designers. Some rather famous. 

THE ADA TURNED 30, BUT THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT IS STILL FAR FROM INCLUSIVE (PART 3)

While many cities have shown efforts to implement accessible design since the 1990 adoption of the American Disabilities Act, more must be done

My wife and I are only in our mid 50s, but we remember many buildings at the state university we attended being totally inaccessible to wheelchair users. 

This was in the mid-1980s. And some of the worst offenders were not old red brick halls from the early 20^th century – they were modernist monstrosities of inaccessibility built not long before we went to college.

The ADA made things better, but it did not wave the magic wand.  

Despite billions in explosive real estate development that could have supported desperately-needed redesign and retrofitting, only a fraction of New York’s subway is accessible. 

Even those frequently have broken down elevators – and what use is a system that has an accessible station near your apartment, but none close to where you work?

THE ADA TURNED 30, BUT THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT IS STILL FAR FROM INCLUSIVE (PART 2)

While many cities have shown efforts to implement accessible design since the 1990 adoption of the American Disabilities Act, more must be done

Buildings, streets, crosswalks, trains, buses, parks, natural trails, city halls, schools, malls, libraries and much more have been made more accessible because of the 1990 adoption of the ADA.

We still have a long way to go toward removing old barriers and approaching accessible design in a creative way, but we certainly are ahead of the game compared the way life was before the ADA.

THE ADA TURNED 30, BUT THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT IS STILL FAR FROM INCLUSIVE (PART 1)

While many cities have shown efforts to implement accessible design since the 1990 adoption of the American Disabilities Act, more must be done

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) turned 30 this summer.

Everyone whose work impacts the built environment – architects, engineers, urban designers, town planners, landscape architects, interior designers and the public officials who oversee their work in the public realm – should be scrambling to do something to observe this landmark federal civil rights legislation.

While the ADA is not a building code or some kind of zoning that can be ignored via variance (though I could fill a large room with designers who seemed willfully ignorant in perpetuating that false assumption) – its biggest impact by far has been on the civic realm.