CURB EXTENSIONS MAKE THIS CROSSWALK SAFER FOR ALL
Kudos to these pedestrian friendly, super wheelchair accessible curb extensions.
They calm traffic while providing an
excellent route for people with disabilities across Meridian Ave. at Lincoln
Lane and just north of Lincoln Rd., Miami Beach.
Every Miami Beach official embrace this and bring it to hundreds of other intersections.
People with disabilities
depend on safe crosswalks.
NARROW SIDEWALKS AND PINCH POINTS DESTROY WHEELCHAIR ACCESS FOR MANY SW 37 AVENUE SEGMENTS BETWEEN CORAL GABLES-MIAMI
After
walking 7 blocks on Douglas Road today:
I can
confidently say if I am given the choice between 2 days in jail or walking 12
blocks of Douglas & crossing its dangerous traffic 4 times—I’m picking time
in the lock up.
Narrow
sidewalks.
No shade.
Power polls
and other barriers that destroy wheelchair access.
More than
1/3 of people in Miami-Dade County cannot or do not drive.
They deserve
a multi mobile experience on this major artery also known as 37th Ave.
Let’s fix
this.
The people
of Miami and Coral Gables deserve better.
UNIVERSAL DESIGN PROVES OUT TO BE COST EFFECTIVE EVERY TIME
Universal Design and wheelchair access are NOT expensive.
An apartment entrance that used to have a couple small steps down.
Now it has a gently graded accessible
concrete path.
With a tiny investment, everyone can
visit the building.
BUT EVERY 10TH STREET HAS A POORLY DESIGN, TERRIBLY BUILT AND HORRIBLY MAINTAINED SIDEWALK
More than half of this sidewalk in a heavily pedestrian part of Miami Beach has a severe angle that makes it treacherous for people with disabilities.
It is on 16th St. at Lennox Ave. in Miami Beach.
Wheelchair mobility is virtually impossible.
Not only is the more level part closer to street (worse for pedestrian safety) but it also is an impossible route for wheelchair users -- because outside dining, valet stands and other obstructions block the pathway.
MIAMI-DADE COUNTY MUST FOLLOW SUIT, SO MAJOR COUNTY STREETS REMAIN BARRIER FREE FOR PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES AND ALL PEDESTRIANS
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
FUNCTIONAL, FLEXIBLE, COST-EFFECTIVE – BEAUTIFUL
Brilliant example of Universal Design on super elongated picnic table on the Underline near the Metrorail Brickell station.
Wheelchair users can roll up to the
table on either side.
The Underline has emphasized inclusion
and accessibility for all ages and abilities – in all of its design.
The Underline is Miami’s 10-mile
linear park and urban trail.
The segment with the accessible table,
in a shaded urban oasis is near the super dense and bustling Brickell Financial
District, straddles SW 1st Avenue.
https://www.theunderline.org/
THEY VALUE THE LIVES, SAFETY AND DIGNITY OF PEDESTRIANS BY REQUIRING SCAFFOLDING TO MAINTAIN SIDEWALKS DURING YEARS OF DEVELOPMENT
High praise for the wheelchair
accessible, well-lit scaffolding around the historic Alfred I. DuPont Building
in downtown Miami.
Sidewalks must always be open and safe
during renovation and construction work.
Every city I have lived in, unless it
was a 24-72 hour concrete pour, window installation or facade cleaning -- it
was required to keep the pedestrian pathway clear.
Scaffolding maintained pedestrian mobility.
The example on Flagler at the DuPont
and across the street at the Olympia are bright, light and almost artistic.
It floors me when the city allows a
developer to close an entire sidewalk for two to three years of construction.
It violates the ADA, PROWAG, great
governance, best practices, good business and basic human decency and
inclusion.
LOCAL GOVERNMENT HAS HUNDREDS OF REGULATIONS FOR CARS IN STREETS – BUT WE SHAMEFULLY HAVE VIRTUALLY NO REGULATIONS TO PROTECT PEDESTRIANS ON SIDEWALKS
This is the first delivery bot that I’ve seen that can back up.
When they don’t, it is catastrophic
for a wheelchair user. 90% of the bots that I have seen stop when a disabled
person approaches.
That blocks essential curb ramps and
narrow sidewalks.
The City of Miami, Miami-Dade County
and other cities MUST regulate these hogs of the sidewalk bots.
Only those programmed to back up out
of the way of people with disabilities should be allowed.
Wide, safe, lit, wheelchair accessible simple scaffolding to keep sidewalks open during construction.
What is so hard about this Miami?
How do we have this perfect solution
by Flagler St. — then allow both sides of the street to be closed a few blocks
north?
I am at a total loss for why Miami
officials do not require scaffolding to maintain sidewalks during years of
development construction.
Most solutions require tens of
millions of dollars.
This requires zero.
MIAMI CLOSE SIDEWALKS FOR YEARS WHILE PEDESTRIANS, ESPECIALLY PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES, RISK THEIR LIVES CROSSING THE STREET TO CONTINUE THERE JOURNEY
Is there something Miami’s water in
that turns big developers & major construction firms into incompetent
fools?
Because every city I have lived in +
every city I have visited — does not close sidewalks for 3 years of work.
How is it that gigantic, 50-story buildings
can be built everywhere else while maintaining sidewalks – but in Miami our
development community is incapable of this simple task?
In Miami, we kill pedestrian safety
for no reason.
There are 100s of American cities that
require developers to maintain sidewalks during construction.
Simple scaffolding preserves safe
mobility for pedestrians and independence for people with disabilities.
WHAT’S YOUR MODERN CITY’S EXCUSE FOR FAILING TO REMOVE BARRIERS TO MOBILITY AND ACCESS FOR PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES?
The Walls are ancient, but access for people with disabilities is a priority.
https://www.avilaturismo.com/en/organize-your-visit/avila-is-everyone
WHAT’S YOUR MODERN CITY’S EXCUSE FOR FAILING TO REMOVE BARRIERS TO MOBILITY AND ACCESS FOR PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES?
Because Ávila is built on a steep hill, the best way to reach the accessible portion of the Medieval walls is arriving by car or an adapted taxi. Exiting directly to the Puerta del Puente is recommended to avoid steep inclines from the upper city center.
https://www.avilaturismo.com/en/organize-your-visit/avila-is-everyone
WHAT’S YOUR MODERN CITY’S EXCUSE FOR FAILING TO REMOVE BARRIERS TO MOBILITY AND ACCESS FOR PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES?
On top of the ancient defensive walls,
the accessible pathway is mostly flat with some cobblestones.
https://www.avilaturismo.com/en/organize-your-visit/avila-is-everyone
WHAT’S YOUR MODERN CITY’S EXCUSE FOR FAILING TO REMOVE BARRIERS TO MOBILITY AND ACCESS FOR PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES?
The Avila walls visitor reception area is connected by an accessible route and has manual wheelchairs available to borrow.
https://www.avilaturismo.com/en/organize-your-visit/avila-is-everyone
WHAT’S YOUR MODERN CITY’S EXCUSE FOR FAILING TO REMOVE BARRIERS TO MOBILITY AND ACCESS FOR PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES?
Once at the top of some of the best preserved city walls in Europe, disabled visitors can enjoy a flat, 100-meter stretch of the battlement walk.
https://www.avilaturismo.com/en/organize-your-visit/avila-is-everyone
WHAT’S YOUR MODERN CITY’S EXCUSE FOR FAILING TO REMOVE BARRIERS TO MOBILITY AND ACCESS FOR PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES?
An accessible portion of its famous city walls can be reached by ramp and elevator.
https://www.avilaturismo.com/en/organize-your-visit/avila-is-everyone
I AM HONORED TO COLLABORATE WITH IRIS PROPESCU,
A PH.D. ARCHITECT
FOCUSED ON BUILDING INCLUSION
Iris Popescu, a Fulbright Hubert H. Humphrey Fellow at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, interviewed me for 2 hours, covering my Universal Design work.
I hope to someday guest lecture at MIT with
colleague Iris Popescu.
Her mission statement on her building
inclusion work matches my passion for Universal Design.
"I am an architect specialised in inclusive design and a firm believer
that in order to improve the built environment, reduce the inequalities and
exclusion caused by it, we first need to change mentalities regarding
accessibility, disability and human diversity." -- Iris Popescu, PHD Arch.
https://irispopescu.com
NOW CHAMPION OF UNIVERSAL DESIGN, INCLUSION FOR PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES AND AMERICANS WITH DISABILITIES ACT
He was two hours from needing to attend
to a very major issue – but he made time to commit to fixing the barrier that I underscored in my passionate letter.
KUDOS to a giant of literature, creativity and inclusion/equity for all.
I wrote “Dear Mitchell Kaplan:”
You are a Miami literature
giant.
You have my highest gratitude for
Miami Book Fair, etc.
You speak of inclusion.
So please stop blocking wheelchair
access to the men's room at Books and Books Coral Gables.
The foyer to the restrooms NEVER is
storage space.
You would never guess this wheelchair blocking mess is the pathway to the toilets.
I am in that store easily every 10 days.
It always is like this.
People who use wheelchair deserve
independence.
They should never have to go ask
someone to stack the chairs higher, to move a hand cart out of the way.
Can you imagine having a bathroom
emergency and having an accident, waiting 5 minutes to find someone, 5 minutes
for a response plus 10 to fix the issue?
Even if the cart is pushed away, the
stacks create maneuvering issues.
Saying things will be cleared upon
request would NOT be a good answer to me.
People with disabilities are a minority group.
A beloved store that is a community cornerstone would NEVER say
people who are Jewish or Black or LBGTQ must make prior arrangements, or make a
humiliating special request -- simply to wash up and use the toilets, while
enjoying the courtyard cafe, back room indoor cafe, browsing for books in
Spanish or English, attending one of hundreds of readings, visiting the
children's section, enjoying the hallway rotating art displays, etc.
That is the end of my sermon.
I very much want to hear back from you
or your proper manager.
I live in an historic house in
Shenandoah, just east, so it is easy to drop by to review things.
I am not an ADA architect or attorney,
but my partner of 33 years used a wheelchair for mobility.
I know what I speak of.
Because you are a beacon of inclusion, arts and creativity in this community -- since long before I arrived in 2000 -- I have every confidence that this problem will be addressed soon and permanently.
IT IS NOT ENOUGH TO MARK AN INCREDIBLY DANGEROUS HOLE IN A MAJOR CROSSWALK WITH A CONE
When something is capable of tripping
a pedestrian or tossing a wheelchair user to the ground, we fix it immediately.
Double utility volts in the curb ramp
and uneven pavement also are epic fails of pedestrian mobility.
A bad built environment is why people
with disabilities are the most under- and unemployed of all marginalized
groups.
Acknowledging a safety threatening
hole in the crosswalk and buckled pavement, but neglecting to fix it…
This is like waiting to see a renowned cancer doctor. And she says yes, you have cancer, but I’m not going to treat it.
Pedestrians are not second class citizens.
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.
