AS DEMAND TO AGE IN PLACE SOARS, SENIOR CITIZENS ARE SEEKING MORE WALKABILITY AND DIVERSE HOUSING TYPES

A TREND THAT ALSO SERVES PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES OF ALL AGES

Gil Penalosa, founder and chair of the Toronto-based planning non-profit 8 80 Cities, said building a great network of wide, well-maintained sidewalks is one of the best things a mayor or city manager can do for a community’s sustainability.

“I have walked on streets where the sidewalk kept sloping for driveways and I thought `this is terrible for wheelchair users, this could cause a person to fall down and get injured.’

I told this to the city official, who said it meets the standards.

I said ‘maybe the standards are dumb.”