INEQUITY REVEALED

HOMEOWNERSHIP AND HEALTHY LIVING GAPS ONCE IDENTIFIED BY ANECDOTAL EVIDENCE PROVEN THROUGH FINE-GRADE DATA

 

“The king’s share of land is reserved for single family housing,” said Chris Collier is the Alliance for Housing Affordability Program Manager for the Housing Authority of Snohomish County. 

“People ask if zoning is discriminatory, and I say `of course it is.’ It’s constraining our ability to provide adequate housing for all different types of backgrounds.

 

Collier said, adjusted for inflation, data shows the cost of housing in Snohomish County shot up more than 50 percent in the past two decades, while median household income rose less than 10 percent.

 

“More and more people are renting out of necessity and many of those people are disabled, immigrants, or minorities.

Their rents are rising at a pace far faster than their income,” he said.

 

 

INEQUITY REVEALED

HOMEOWNERSHIP AND HEALTHY LIVING GAPS ONCE IDENTIFIED BY ANECDOTAL EVIDENCE PROVEN THROUGH FINE-GRADE DATA

“Households with a person with a disability have lower income earning ability, people with limited English-speaking capability, females in a system where the glass ceiling still exists, seniors on fixed income – all of those elements lower a household’s earning potential,” said Chris Collier is the Alliance for Housing Affordability Program Manager for the Housing Authority of Snohomish County. 

“People with disabilities have much higher medical and related bills – data proves it.

That shouldn’t remove them from having the ability to own a home.” 

Collier is a fan of cities, counties and states that have or are considering abolishing single family housing and allowing at least low density, low-rise multifamily in those formerly exclusionary and monocultured zones.

INEQUITY REVEALED

HOMEOWNERSHIP AND HEALTHY LIVING GAPS ONCE IDENTIFIED BY ANECDOTAL EVIDENCE PROVEN THROUGH FINE-GRADE DATA

 

Chris Collier is the Alliance for Housing Affordability Program Manager for the Housing Authority of Snohomish County in the northern reaches of the Seattle metropolitan area.

With soaring house prices experienced from California to the Pacific Northwest, he has calculated that to buy a single-family home in Snohomish County, a household must earn $156,000 per year.

 

Collier said part of the problem is expensive housing and a scarcity of quality affordable housing. 

But to get the big picture of inequity, he said policymakers must study the things that limit people from earning enough to be competitive in the home ownership market.

ACCESS FOR ALL IS THE KEY TO EQUITY AND INCLUSION

PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES DESERVE 

A BARRIER-FREE PATH TO THE BEACH 

Mobi-Mat is an ADA compliant portable non-slip wheelchair beach access mat that provides an accessible path over the sand.

There are several Mobi-Mat paths in Miami Beach.

The only issue is maintenance.

If there are divots or bumps, they block the path of wheelchair users.

Cities MUST invest in maintaining accessibility equipment.

INEQUITY REVEALED

HOMEOWNERSHIP AND HEALTHY LIVING GAPS ONCE IDENTIFIED BY ANECDOTAL EVIDENCE PROVEN THROUGH FINE-GRADE DATA

The unfair disparity blows up off the page when Joseph Minicozzi, AICP is the principal of Urban3, found the tiny’s dwelling’s assessed value jumped $266% from 2017-2021, but the roomy one in the luxury community went up only 126% in the same time period.

Making things even more unequal, the pricy house enjoyed a much lower assessment hike despite major renovations, while the tax-burdened one had zero upgrades.

 

“There is no way you could look at the data and see that this is reasonable, fair or equitable,” Minicozzi said. 

“The thing about (practicing) class bias and race bias is when that’s all you do, you don’t know you are wrong.

“Tax assessors are not bad people, but they are operating off old standards and habits, they are reticent to change and they under value the wealthy (residences) because they are terrified of wealthy people.”

INEQUITY REVEALED

HOMEOWNERSHIP AND HEALTHY LIVING GAPS ONCE IDENTIFIED BY ANECDOTAL EVIDENCE PROVEN THROUGH FINE-GRADE DATA

Joseph Minicozzi, AICP is the principal of Urban3, compared a 720 square foot house in the predominantly black Shiloh neighborhood, to the spacious home of an infamous attorney in Biltmore Forrest, a virtually all-white, affluent, golf course community developed around the Biltmore Estate by the Vanderbilt family just across the street from Shiloh. 

The modest home is valued at $125 per square foot while the estate home is valued at $107 per square foot. 

And the county’s tax rate per acre on the small home is $4,604 – but the house in the exclusive enclave enjoys a lower rate of $3,781 per acre.

INEQUITY REVEALED

HOMEOWNERSHIP AND HEALTHY LIVING GAPS ONCE IDENTIFIED BY ANECDOTAL EVIDENCE PROVEN THROUGH FINE-GRADE DATA

In response to the protests of 2020 following the high-profile police-involved murder of George Floyd and in acknowledgement of the wealth-robbing impact of redlining, the City of Asheville and Buncombe County adopted reparations ordinances. 

Though one dedicated hundreds of thousand of dollars to addressing inequity, Joseph Minicozzi, AICP is the principal of Urban3, found the county’s basic tax assessing methodology was widening disparity.

His research found Buncombe was over taxing the poor by at least $1.5 million and under taxing the rich by $4 million each year – producing at least $5.5 million in annual inequity.

INEQUITY REVEALED

HOMEOWNERSHIP AND HEALTHY LIVING GAPS ONCE IDENTIFIED BY ANECDOTAL EVIDENCE PROVEN THROUGH FINE-GRADE DATA

While juggling a national practice with more than a dozen expert staffers, Joseph Minicozzi, AICP is the principal of Urban3, has been aggressively researching practices in his home county. 

Data has shown that Buncombe Count, NC unfairly taxes property in poor areas and also misses out on a fortune in untaxed residential value, due to structurally flawed tax assessment methods.

“Our research suggests that there are long-standing racial inequities in property tax administration that place unfair financial burdens on communities of color.

These disparities may have impacts on housing affordability, gentrification, displacement, household economics, and ultimately a driver of community health disparities,” states the Urban3 website section dedicated to this work.

INEQUITY REVEALED

HOMEOWNERSHIP AND HEALTHY LIVING GAPS ONCE IDENTIFIED BY ANECDOTAL EVIDENCE PROVEN THROUGH FINE-GRADE DATA

Just as modern research is documenting the rapid urban decay and racial disparity of redlining, the latest data and mapping tools are underscoring present-day tax assessment practices that are unfairly burdening urban core properties while under taxing affluent properties in the suburbs and outskirts.

Joseph Minicozzi, AICP is the principal of Urban3 based in Asheville, NC. 

The urban planner founded his firm to imagine new ways to think about and visualize land use, urban design and economics. 

Urban3 has become somewhat famous for crunching heavy data to create maps that illustrate everything from the untapped value of urban land to disparity in taxation practices.

INEQUITY REVEALED

 HOMEOWNERSHIP AND HEALTHY LIVING GAPS ONCE IDENTIFIED BY ANECDOTAL EVIDENCE PROVEN THROUGH FINE-GRADE DATA

Redlining became official United States policy under the National Housing Act of 1934 and the concurrent creation of the Federal Housing Administration. 

In this era of rampant racial segregation and discrimination against minority populations, cities were mapped and areas considered the most risky for mortgages were outlined in red.

Though the majority of residents within the redlined areas were white, the worst economic impact of redlining – which also made it difficult to insure or sell a home within those boundaries – fell on people of color. 

Between 1945 and 1959, African Americans received less than two percent of all federally insured home loans, as documented by several late 20^th and early 21^st century researchers.

ABLEIST DESIGN

SEGREGATES, ISOLATES, HUMILIATES PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES

Imagine every day at work, you walk and roll to the office, out to lunch, etc. -- with your fellow employees. But you cannot joint them because your entrance is separated.

You have do the walk and roll of shame up a ramp hidden off from the main entrance – creating a barrier between you and mainstream access.

This is the Florida Department of Health’s main entrance to the facility providing dozens of essential services to millions of Miami-Dade County residents.

It is up steps.

There is a tiny, almost hidden sign indicating a ramp — but not even an arrow pointing the direction to wheelchair access somewhere off in the distance.

The building is relatively new — built decades after the Americans with Disabilities Act.

How can anyone design or build something that creates segregation, the gives wheelchair users second class status?

LISBON, PORTUGAL

 LUZ DE LISBOA

On the way to my favorite closet-sized fado house in the heart of ancient Alfama in Lisbon Portugal.

I used to think no place has golden light to match magical Istanbul.

But the romantic light of Lisboa paints a canvas for the camera.

LISBON, PORTUGAL

 ALFAMA BACKSTREETS

Orhan Pamuk’s nonfiction homage to his native Istanbul taught me to wander the backstreets aimlessly, preferably late night & largely lost. 

This is Alfama Lisbon Portugal.

After dark, on my search for authentic fado.

LISBON, PORTUGAL

  HOME OF FADO

Alfama Lisbon Portugal.

Home of Fado. 

Live shot.

No edits or camera tricks.

LISBON, PORTUGAL

 AUTHENTICITY

The more hanging wires and evidence of “borrowed” electricity, the better the atmosphere is and the more authentic the food will be.

Rua do Benformoso Lisbon Portugal.

Skip Cervejaria Ramiro for patio at Palma or Josephine.

LISBON, PORTUGAL

 RUA DO BENFORMOSO MARTIM MONIZ TO INTENDENTE

Rua do Benformoso.

Not on the tourist guide, but I keep getting drawn here by Bangladeshi food, informal markets, hanging laundry, narrow street and colorful shops.

Walk it from Martim Moniz to Intendente.

LISBON, PORTUGAL

 LUA SOBRE ALFAMA

Moon over Alfama.

Leaving Estaco Santa Apolonia after train back from Porto to Lisbon.

Steep walk uphill past tascas and fado houses to home in Graca on Senhora do Monte

GRATIFIED TO BE EVALUATING MOBILITY FOR PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES

WITHIN THE CONTEXT OF THE MICHIGAN AVENUE BIKE LANES

COMING TO THE CITY OF KALAMAZOO MICHIGAN

My work as a storyteller/planner/educator/activist continues to expand, as I work with engineers, architects, urban planners and landscape architects to create a more inclusive built environment.

I reviewed two-way bike lanes for possible conflicts with wheelchair access.

I will also soon work with one of the most-respected transportation research groups in the U.S. – on Universal Design and access for all.

ONE SMALL ROLE FOR A MIAMI MAN

 ONE GIANT LEAP FOR PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES

"This is a bigger story than my own. It is about rebuilding a life and now testing voice AI on a spacecraft," Rhonel Cinous says.

"If one person, one child, one adult looks at this and the takeaway is to go above and beyond any limitations they have — or that people put on them — it will be a successful mission."

ONE SMALL ROLE FOR A MIAMI MAN

 ONE GIANT LEAP FOR PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES

Always an avid reader and learner, Rhonel Cinous has used Amazon’s Kindle to digest vast volumes of content.

Post-injury, he explored the possibilities of voice-activated commands via his smartphone. Lately, he has been using an Echo Dot to interact with Alexa.

"I’ve always had a heart for service, a desire to use my communication skills to help others.

Sharing my life of living with spinal cord injury, it shows wheelchair users can live exciting, productive lives," Cinous says.

ONE SMALL ROLE FOR A MIAMI MAN

 ONE GIANT LEAP FOR PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES

Before his injury, the Brooklyn-born, Miami-raised Rhonel Cinous hosted the Morning Drive on WSRF 1580 AM alongside his cohosts Rebecca Laratte and Fabiola Charles.

It was a slice of multicultural Miami; the broadcast was split between Haitian Creole and English.

Rhonel Cinous did his rehabilitation at Jackson Memorial Hospital and credits the "amazing staff" there.

He also praises the fully accessible gym and community built at the world-renowned Miami Project to Cure Paralysis.

ONE SMALL ROLE FOR A MIAMI MAN

ONE GIANT LEAP FOR PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES

Rhonel Cinous has become a leading voice for United Spinal’s Tech Access Initiative, advocating for inclusive technology that will help empower other wheelchair users to find greater independence and quality of life.

"For many members of the disability community, voice AI can make daily activities that were once challenging much easier, so we have more time to pursue our goals and aim for the stars.

I hope to use this opportunity to raise awareness of the power of our voices and the importance of developing cutting-edge technology that is inclusive to all," Rhonel Cinous adds.

ONE SMALL ROLE FOR A MIAMI MAN

 ONE GIANT LEAP FOR PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES

“When you are physically there, right where everyone has heard the phrase 'Houston, we have a problem,' you think about all the sacrifice that astronauts and scientists put into this," Rhonel Cinous says.

"You also think about all the innovations in engineering, GPS, vaccines — that have come from space exploration.

Who knows, someday, using the weightlessness of being in space, they could have a doctor onboard researching spinal cord injuries.

Or maybe ultralight, super-strong materials developed could help build a better wheelchair."

ONE SMALL ROLE FOR A MIAMI MAN

ONE GIANT LEAP FOR PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES

"What I found to be the most exciting was looking at a live view — pictures that Orion took of the moon and Earth.

The engineers were repositioning the capsule, so we saw it moving in real time," Rhonel Cinous says.

"When it was facing the sun, it was bright in the cockpit. 

Then it rotated, and sun moved across windows of the shuttle.

Depending on where the camera was pointing, we could see the completely black darkness of space."

Amazon says voice technology has the potential to make astronauts’ jobs simpler and more efficient onboard the Orion spacecraft.

Virtual crew members like Cinous simulated potential Alexa interactions with future astronauts, asking the voice AI to fulfill various requests.

ABLEISM IN THE CITY OF MIAMI

ACCESS NEEDLESSLY BLOCKED 

BY LENGTHY CONSTRUCTION PROJECT

 

Very sad situation at Elizabeth Virrick Park in Coconut Grove Miami.

A construction fence blocks the only wheelchair accessible pathway connecting the play area to the restrooms, library and parking.

The accessible pathway at this City of Miami park will be blocked for years by construction.

Why is the accessible/inclusive part always the last phase of a project?

Design for all should be the first phase 100% of the time.

ONE SMALL ROLE FOR A MIAMI MAN

ONE GIANT LEAP FOR PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES

Rhonel Cinous is active in the United Spinal Association, a leading national nonprofit advocate for wheelchair users and people living with spinal cord injuries and disorders.

He participates in United Spinal’s tech group and hosts the Ramp. It. Up! Podcast.

Amazon got involved in developing Callisto and testing commercial technologies, in this case, Alexa, to see how the company could assist crewed missions to the moon and beyond.

The company wanted a diverse group of virtual team members, so it reached out to United Spinal, and Cinous became part of the program.

He joined representatives from the space, science, and education sectors.

ONE SMALL ROLE FOR A MIAMI MAN

 ONE GIANT LEAP FOR PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES

"It’s like every science fiction movie — you roll down a long hallway with no windows.

Then you come into a room with super-intelligent engineers and scientists," Cinous says.

"We basically walked through what astronauts would do: wake up the system, garner oxygen levels in the capsule, check the speed and velocity of Orion, and gauge the distance between the spacecraft to destinations like the Earth or moon," he says.

"Just like I ask Alexa at home, we told it to play music — who wouldn’t want a little ambiance music in space? The scientists created a customized rap.

Then we altered the lighting a bit to make it more festive

ONE SMALL ROLE FOR A MIAMI MAN

 ONE GIANT LEAP FOR PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES

Rhonel Cinous' visit started with a tour of NASA facilities, which included seeing full-sized and scaled models of the International Space Station and Orion capsule.

The facilities were largely wheelchair accessible, and a video screen linked to cameras inside the model crafts allowed Cinous to explore visually.

“We walked and rolled past space suits and where the astronauts train,” he says.

Next came the working part of the trip.

ONE SMALL ROLE FOR A MIAMI MAN

 ONE GIANT LEAP FOR PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES

Rhonel Cinous was at the Johnson Space Center between December 8 and 10 to remotely send voice commands to Amazon's virtual assistant Alexa onboard the unmanned Orion spacecraft during its mission to orbit the moon.

Carried out in partnership with Lockheed Martin, Amazon, and Cisco, the Callisto project aimed to show how voice-command technology could help out astronauts on future missions.

 

 

ONE SMALL ROLE FOR A MIAMI MAN

 ONE GIANT LEAP FOR PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES

Rhonel Cinous and Vincenzo Piscopo CEO of United Spinal Association at Johnson Space Center 

"I was awestruck when I found out I was part of the crew," says Rhonel Cinous, who uses a power wheelchair for mobility.

"This is the first time something like this has been attempted, and I’m humbled I was a part of it and represented the disability community."

ONE SMALL ROLE FOR A MIAMI MAN

ONE GIANT LEAP FOR PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES

Rhonel Cinous and Vincenzo Piscopo CEO of United Spinal Association at Johnson Space Center 

Rhonel Cinous, a podcaster and former radio host, has always been a techie.

His interest in adaptive and voice-controlled technology arose after he experienced a severe spinal cord injury in a snorkeling accident in 2016 during his first visit to Haiti, his family’s home country.

Following his recovery, the Miami-based Cinous never imagined he would contribute to a NASA space mission.

But this month, he found himself at the Johnson Space Center in Houston as part of a virtual team testing out Callisto, a communication technology project for the Artemis I mission's Orion spacecraft.