IT’S AN EMBARRASSMENT TO WALK AN URBAN NEIGHBORHOOD – WHEN THE SIDEWALK SHRINKS TO 2 FEED WIDE – CRUSHING ACCESS FOR WHEELCHAIR USERS

MIAMI'S NORTHEAST SECOND AVENUE IS SUPER WIDE AND DANGEROUS – WHILE PEDSTRIAN MOBILTY IS IMPOSSIBLE:                 THIS IS UPSIDE DOWN 

Miami’s Upper Buena Vista is exploding with great restaurants & shops.

But a sidewalk less than 2 feet wide means wheelchair users must go out into incredibly dangerous NE 2nd Ave.

The City of Miami and Miami-Dade County MUST fix this on east side of NE 2nd Ave. at NE 49 St.

This is a screaming violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act.

It defies every planning goal of having walkable, pedestrian friendly urban neighborhoods.

Many sidewalk sections -- why destroy independence for and rob dignity of people with disabilities -- exist in this redeveloping urban enclave.

THE CITY OF MIAMI MAY FINALLY TAKE ACTION TO ENSURE SIDEWALKS REMAIN SAFE AND OPEN DURING CONSTRUCTION

MIAMI-DADE COUNTY MUST FOLLOW SUIT, SO MAJOR COUNTY STREETS REMAIN BARRIER FREE FOR PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES AND ALL PEDESTRIANS

I had the privilege of speaking in favor of FR 1 – (Ordinance 19073, to keep sidewalks safe and open during construction) at the Miami City Commission meeting this week.

I applaud Commissioners for creating and sponsoring this legislation.

After serving the District 3 constituents for nearly a decade, my next career direction was marketing urban design and working as a town planner.

My specialty is pedestrian access and mobility for people with disabilities.

Cities that work are cities that remove barriers to pedestrian safety.

Safe sidewalks protect children and elderly while greatly increasing the economic outlook for mom and pop shops, restaurants and services that depend on foot traffic in our urban city.
In my work around the world to promote wheelchair access, I have sadly shown a segment of downtown Miami just west of the World Center where both sides of the street are completely shut down for years of high rise construction.

Out of the 100 cities I have worked in, the both sides blocked – between a billion dollar development and a billion dollar Bright Line Train Transit system – was the worst example of pedestrian safety and mobility for people with disabilities.

Other cities solve this by requiring scaffolding or other ways of keeping sidewalks.
I returned yesterday from work in Manhattan.

I walked past more than 100 construction sites.

100% of the time, the sidewalk was maintained.

Miami MUST match NYC’s success at maintaining pedestrian mobility.

This is crucial for people with disabilities.

People with disabilities are the most under and unemployed of any minority group.

That is NOT because of their disability, it is because of the obstructions that we allow that ruin sidewalk mobility and the access it provides to transit.

Developers may say this is an onerous cost.

I say that anyone who puts the basic human rights and dignity of disabled people to a cost benefit analysis is being shamefully inhumane.

I urge the five Miami City Commissioners to approve this unanimously, when it returns for second reading.

It can be the first step (ticketing and towing cars the perpetually block sidewalks would be another huge boost to safety for disabled veterans and others) toward Miami delivering the mobility its residents deserve.

Read FR 1: https://miamifl.iqm2.com/Citizens/FileOpen.aspx?Type=14&ID=3893&Inline=True

DR. EDUARDO PADRON, PRESIDENT OF MIAMI DADE COLLEGE FOR A QUARTER CENTURY

A VISIONAIRY, PROGRESSIVE LEADER WHO IMPROVED THE LIVES OF HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF IMMIGRANT STUDENTS

It was such a privilege to chat with longtime acquaintance Dr. Eduardo Padron before his event in Coral Gables this spring.

I got to know the great leader when I was the senior policy advisor for Miami City Commissioner Joe Sanchez.

Dr. Padron’s progressive leadership of Miami Dade College was the epitome of the American Dream.

He is a heroic figure.

Hundreds of thousands of immigrants got access to a world class, low cost, entry level education.

Whether they fed their families and strengthened our communities as electricians -- or used it as a stepping stone to stay in college through law school -- so many got their start at MDC.

Dr. Eduardo Padron joined Mitchell Kaplan for “Pillars of Legacy: From the Miami Book Fair Forward,” the inaugural Silver Medallion Pillars Circle Reception by Mosaic Miami at Kaplan’s flagship Books & Books store.

PROUD TO BE A DEI WARRIOR THROUGH THE LENS OF DISABILITY ADVOCACY

I HAVE DONATED HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS OF PRO BONO UNIVERSAL DESIGN, PLANNING AND MOBILTY EXPERTISE

I have, for the past decade, set a goal of 500 hours per year of pro bono planning work. All of it is focused on Universal Design, as it increases mobility for people with disabilities, supports aging in place and creates diverse, inclusive communities.

I have exceeded my volunteering goal each year. I think it is incredibly rewarding to share my experience and expertise.

Sadly, the design and planning community often push back against the Americans with Disabilities Act and design for all.

Putting my passion into educating people about the huge upside -- well, it is a way of showing that planning is a calling, not just a profession, for me.

CREATE A CHIEF MOBILITY OFFICER

THE CITY OF MIAMI NEEDS A NEW OFFICIAL FOR PEDESTRIAN, TRANSIT, MOBILITY

My opinion piece was originally published in the Miami Today Newspaper. I have created a groundbreaking Universal Design college course and lectured on mobility around the world.

The city of Miami has new leadership.

In less than a year, three of its six elected positions have been filled with leaders focused on delivering a high quality of life for Miami’s diverse population.

Mayor Eileen Higgins and Commissioners Rolando Escalona and Ralph Rosado campaigned on a promise of making the city more consumer friendly and responsive to the needs of the everyday people.

With a new city manager and department heads under a new mayor, it’s an ideal time to create the essential mobility officer position.

The city of Miami has sidewalks, crosswalks, parks, paths and bike lanes – plus a portion of the wonderful Underline. It is served by Miami-Dade County buses, circulators, Metrorail and Metromover. Tri-Rail and the Brightline also figure into the transit mix.

It sounds like a wealth of services – but as anyone who has tried to get around in Miami, there are horrendous gaps in the mobility network. Add in haphazard construction (the city routinely allows developers to shut down essential sidewalks for years of construction – even in its most dense urban neighborhoods) and the system is not working for the well more than half a million people who live and work in the Magic City.

Cars perpetually illegally parked on sidewalks -- destroying pedestrian and wheelchair user access at an historic City of Miami Park. Safe pathways to transit are frequently destroyed by illegal parking.

Like many major cities, the people want mobility options – but we design, build and maintain a system that treats everyone who cannot drive a car as a second class citizen.

But research has shown that upwards of one third of people cannot afford to drive or cannot drive because of age (too young or too old) or disability.

Even for those who can drive, the AAA estimates the total (purchase, maintenance, fuel, insurance) cost of owning a car at $1,025 per month.

That is a staggering figure in a city where one in five people live below the poverty line.

It is a brutal number when one considers that Miami is one of the most rent challenged cities in America and studies have shown that more than half of its households live virtually paycheck to paycheck.

Think about the money that could go toward housing and other household needs– if a family could swap more than $1,000 per month per vehicle – for a tiny fraction of that spent on a transit pass and e-bike or scooter.

Of all marginalized groups, people with disabilities are by far the most under- and unemployed – but not because of their underlying disability.

The CDC says one in for people will experience a disability that impacts their daily living. Inclusive mobility is not an outlier for a special interest.

Sidewalks on both sides of the street closed for years of construction -- a violation of the ADA, a nightmare for wheelchair users and a living hell for all in the heart of Downtown Miam.

Every time: a sidewalk is blocked for six weeks when work could last a weekend, a curbramp is flooded, an elevator to elevated transit is out of order for ages, a safe pathway is blocked by a discarded e-scooter, a bus shelter is inaccessible – a pathway to work is destroyed.

Sadly, Miami often ranks as having some of the worst pedestrian death and series injury statistics in the U.S.

Things will only get worse. America is rapidly gaining. Soon, for the first time in our nation’s history, there will be more people older than age 60 than younger than 18. This means people with reduced mobility and reduced means will be dependent on a seamless network of multimodal mobility.

There are areas in Miami’s densely populated Central Business District where both sides of the sidewalk are closed for years of construction. Simple scaffolding would support both construction and safe sidewalks.

Miami’s mobility is impacted by nearly a dozen divergent city, county and state authorities, as well as redevelopment agencies, and private sector spanning from for profit rail to taxies, rideshare and jitneys.

If we are ever going to have humane, efficient, inclusive and equitable transportation networks with world class walkability – we must have a chief mobility officer.

Steve Wright is an award-winning author, planner, educator, keynote speaker and disability mobility advocate. He worked in public policy for the city of Miami from 2002-2009.

https://www.miamitodayepaper.com/Miami-Today-02052026-e-Edition/6/