IN PRAISE OF THE HUMBLE SIDEWALK

LEVEL THE PLAYING FIELD FOR ALL

"Sidewalk connectivity is essential for people with disabilities, but it's also just a great way of leveling the playing field for all marginalized people," says Heidi Johnson-Wright, a renowned inclusive design expert who has been an Americans with Disabilities Act resource for large urban governments.

She's currently co-teaching a groundbreaking universal design course at the University of Miami School of Architecture with me.

She's spent an entire week of the course focusing on sidewalks, complete streets, properly aligned curb ramps, and safe harbor medians to underscore their value — and what's at stake when they aren't properly designed and maintained. 

A curb ramp fails to function if it constantly floods, for example, and a crosswalk becomes perilous if drainage basins are placed where wheelchair tires can get stuck in them.

"My students now grasp that if one link in the chain is broken, safe mobility fails for all," says Johnson-Wright, who uses a wheelchair for mobility. 

She laments that cars parked over sidewalks for days are rarely ticketed in her experience.

 "That unwillingness to ensure safety forces me into streets and into the path of dangerous drivers in a region that consistently leads the nation in pedestrian deaths and serious injuries."