COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT STRATEGIES FOR DIVERSE POPULATIONS

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MEANINGFUL INPUT FROM MARGINALIZED PEOPLE

“In Lexington, Ky., the planning department combined with the elderly affairs commission to address the need for more types of housing options,” said Mike Watson, director of Livable Communities at AARP.

“A goal was to amend city code to make it easier to permit and build accessory dwelling units (ADUs).

The University of Kentucky College of Design used a Community Challenge grant to fund a competition to create models of different types of ADUs that were accessible [to people with disabilities].”

Watson said there was some opposition to adding housing, but the ADUs had intergenerational appeal.

A series of community events showed why the ADUs were needed.

 

 

 

 

SOME SAY THAT THE EMOTION OF SAUDADE IS ABOUT THE LOVE THAT REMAINS AFTER SOMEONE OR SOMETHING YOU LOVE DEEPLY HAS GONE

BUT FEELING OR HAVING SAUDADE IS ABOUT SO MUCH MORE

Check out the trailer for the Saudades book.

https://vimeo.com/1005984497?share=copy

I'm honored to be among the elite artists in this wondrous anthology.

Book launch in Miami Oct. 4 at Books and Books.

Saudades -- a global collaboration -- features the work of 28 multimedia artists representing 12 countries.

Through poetry, short stories, song lyrics, art, and fine art photography, they join lead author/artist Amy Serrano to undertake the exploration of the beautiful complexity of this word that may be for an ardent desire, a deep seated longing, a bittersweet nostalgia, a haunting melancholy, a mysterious incompleteness, a desperate yearning, a poignant sadness, an elusive wish, an irreplaceable loss, a pervasive sense of missingness, and other nuances unraveled in the book.

Though the word saudade is untranslatable into English, the experience of this emotion is universal.

COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT STRATEGIES FOR DIVERSE POPULATIONS

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Communities that want to jump-start planning efforts, such as traffic-calming or zoning changes, can apply for AARP’s Community Challenge — a grant that funds about $12,000 in planning support.

More than $16 million has been given to more than 1,370 initiatives.

“The advice I would give folks, to reach diverse stakeholders, is step out of your perspective and your comfort zone,” said Mike Watson, director of Livable Communities at AARP.

“Surveys are helpful, but there is a difference between a survey on a website and going to where the people are and actively listening.

Go to an inviting place, like a coffee shop, for authentic input. You may need to create a comfortable place by creating a pop-up demonstration.”

Watson said some cities don’t change to keep up with community needs out of fear of opposition — opposition that might not be there.

 

 

COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT STRATEGIES FOR DIVERSE POPULATIONS

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Mike Watson, director of Livable Communities at AARP, said the 38-million-member interest group champions bottom-up planning — working in more than 1,000 communities to support local efforts to create age-friendly communities.

Watson said planning for seniors could be as simple as creating a plan for wide, unobstructed, accessible sidewalks and safe crosswalks.

AARP has developed a free online Walk Audit Toolkit to empower communities to “assess and report on the safety and walkability of a street, intersection or neighborhood — and inspire needed change.”

“Walk audits are such an important way to increase pedestrian safety through neighborhood design that engages neighborhood residents, activists, elected officials and city staff,” he said.

“AARP state offices have done thousands of them and it’s such an important learning tool to show pedestrian mobility issues through different perspectives. 

Bring the department of public works director, the city council member, or the mayor out to see barriers to moving about, pushing a stroller or rolling in a wheelchair.”

COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT STRATEGIES FOR DIVERSE POPULATIONS

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Cynicism from bad experiences can be addressed by involving people with disabilities in the design and planning processes from the outset, including research design.

“Collaboratively develop inclusive and accessible strategies that reflect the diverse needs and preferences of participants.

Endorse community representatives to co-facilitate meetings, review materials, and shape decision-making processes,” said Karin Korb, a public health consultant and a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion professional. She is also a two-time Paralympian tennis player who uses a wheelchair for mobility.

Korb said. “By co-creating the engagement process, planners demonstrate a commitment to shared ownership and accountability.”

 

 

 

COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT STRATEGIES FOR DIVERSE POPULATIONS

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“Create tactile maps of the community planning area to make the process more inclusive for individuals with visual impairments or cognitive disabilities.

Use various textures, shapes, and raised symbols to represent different elements such as buildings, streets, parks and amenities,”

said Karin Korb, public health consultant and a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion professional. She is also a two-time Paralympian tennis player who uses a wheelchair for mobility.

“Organize interactive mapping sessions where participants can explore and provide input on the proposed plans.”

Korb said minoritized communities — including people with disabilities — feel like they are invited to a workshop or online survey just so the planning team can check a box.

“The planners heard from them but could care less about designing with them in mind.”

COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT STRATEGIES FOR DIVERSE POPULATIONS

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Karin Korb is a public health consultant and a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion professional.

She is also a two-time Paralympian tennis player who uses a wheelchair for mobility.

“Utilize virtual reality technology to provide immersive experiences of proposed community designs for individuals with mobility or sensory disabilities.

Develop VR simulations that allow participants to navigate and interact with virtual environments, experiencing firsthand how the proposed changes may impact accessibility and usability,” she said.

“Incorporate customizable features such as adjustable terrain, lighting and audio cues to accommodate various disabilities.

Encourage participants to provide feedback on accessibility barriers and suggest modifications to improve inclusivity in the final plans.

Korb said high tech, when calibrated to match the needs of various disabilities, not only enhances the participation of people with disabilities in community-planning efforts, but also promotes a more inclusive and equitable approach to decision-making processes.

 

 

 

COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT STRATEGIES FOR DIVERSE POPULATIONS

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Transportation can be especially challenging for people with disabilities, and as such, it is exceptionally important to hear first-hand from those with disabilities when evaluating design changes.

In Maryland, Toole Design created tactile maps as part of a walking tour so that people with impaired vision could better understand and contribute their ideas to proposed transportation changes.

Sue Popkin, co-director of the Disability Equity Policy Initiative at The Urban Institute, has Sjogren’s Disease and uses a cane for mobility.

Popkin said top-down planning is a failure for people with disabilities — “Unfortunately, planners don’t do a charette until everything is designed and you basically are only asking ‘do you want to have a brown or blue cabinet in your accessible home?’”

“People may want onsite telehealth [connectivity]; they may want to be able to age in place more successfully.

Take the time to get input before you design. And compensate people for their time — you get a much better outcome.”

 

 

AGING IN PLACE

UNIVERSAL ACCESS DESIGNS

I was gratified to join David Haight and Laura Streed this week to open the 2024 Florida Planning Conference in Tampa.

More than 1,000 professional planners attended the American Planning Association’s statewide event.

Our Aging in Place: Universal Access Designs presentation drew a standing room only crowd and much applause.

Florida’s population is aging.

By 2050, Florida is forecasted to grow by 5.4 million persons.

Federal studies show that one in four people will experience disability in their lifetime.

When neighborhoods are welcoming and comfortable for a wheelchair user, they function for people of all ages.

Ninety percent of retirees want to age in place, however less than one percent of all housing contains any universal design elements.

Over a million disabled people over 65 live in inaccessible homes.

We presented examples of neighborhood and housing designs that ensure people of all ages and abilities can thrive in their community.

COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT STRATEGIES FOR DIVERSE POPULATIONS

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Sue Popkin, co-director of the Disability Equity Policy Initiative at The Urban Institute, has Sjogren’s Disease and uses a cane for mobility.

Popkin frames the paternalistic attitude that too many planners and designers have toward disability inclusion and implementation.

“Our work has a community advisory board with a diverse range of disabilities. It enriches what that data shows,” she said.

“The planning community doesn’t realize that they must include people with disabilities.

They don’t know that the census results in a huge undercount of people with disabilities because it doesn’t count incarcerated, institutionalized or homeless people.

It leaves out people with psychiatric disabilities and many with intermittent conditions.”

Involve people with disabilities in the design and planning processes from the outset, including research design.

 

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Sue Popkin, co-director of the Disability Equity Policy Initiative at The Urban Institute, has Sjogren’s Disease and uses a cane for mobility.

“Our research revealed that more than 18 million people with disabilities face significant barriers to stable and quality housing that is affordable, accessible, and inclusive of people’s support needs,”

Popkin said of a survey conducted with The Kelsey, a San Francisco–based nonprofit that co-develops affordable disability-forward multifamily housing for people with and without disabilities.

“The Kelsey is working with people with disabilities to design affordable housing — rather than working with an architect who thinks about what accessibility should be,” she said, noting that a tiny fraction of architecture firms truly understands accessible housing.

COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT STRATEGIES FOR DIVERSE POPULATIONS

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Anna Zivarts, program director, Disability Mobility Initiative at Disability Rights Washington, is author of the Island Press book “When Driving Is Not an Option: Steering Away from Car Dependency.”

“My advice for people working in the industry is to recognize this is expertise you do not have,” she said, encouraging planning agencies and firms to hire people with disabilities.

Antiquated hiring requirements block millions of people with disabilities from planning jobs.

Most jobs require a driver’s license, even if it is not an essential part of the work.

Many require the ability to lift 30 or more pounds — excluding people with physical disabilities — even though performing the job never requires it.

She also noted that universities with planning, urban design and transportation degree programs need to do a much better job of recruiting students with disabilities.

 

COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT STRATEGIES FOR DIVERSE POPULATIONS

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Anna Zivarts, program director, Disability Mobility Initiative at Disability Rights Washington, is author of the Island Press book “When Driving Is Not an Option: Steering Away from Car Dependency.”

She noted that public transit is great for people with disabilities — but not if the new light rail station requires them to cross multiple lanes of speeding traffic that don’t even have a red light to protect their journey.

“Planning has to be proactive.

Ask paratransit riders about their experience.

Go to a bus or train stop to interview diverse people — and give them a free bus pass in return for their time,” she advised.

“Ease of mobility without depending on driving impacts more than the person with a disability.

Caregivers need to have access to transit to reach the people they are caring for.”

COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT STRATEGIES FOR DIVERSE POPULATIONS

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A group of disabled community members and Disability Rights Washington DC staff at a public hearing in Seattle about sidewalk maintenance.

Anna Zivarts, program director, Disability Mobility Initiative at Disability Rights Washington, is author of the Island Press book “When Driving Is Not an Option: Steering Away from Car Dependency.”

Zivarts said public engagement aimed at people with various disabilities is not a courtesy, it is an essential.

She cautions planners from undercounting people with disabilities, noting that a built environment might be so filled with barriers that it keeps people with disabilities off the streets and sidewalks.

For instance, as a low-vision person, Zivarts cannot read street signs with tiny fonts. Having better signage for pedestrian routes for people with disabilities would benefit all people in a city, especially visitors.

COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT STRATEGIES FOR DIVERSE POPULATIONS

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Anna Zivarts, program director, Disability Mobility Initiative at Disability Rights Washington, is author of the Island Press book “When Driving Is Not an Option: Steering Away from Car Dependency.”

Zivarts, a low-vision mom and nondriver who was born with the neurological condition nystagmus, cautions planners from using “check the box” disability inclusion — inviting one person with a disability and assuming that meets all needs.

“If you know someone in a wheelchair, that doesn’t mean you know what a low-vision person needs or what a neurodiverse needs,” she said.

“If a low-income blind person can’t afford Uber or Lyft, you are going to have a very different context than someone who is blind but works in tech and can afford Uber/Lyft to commute to work.”