ACCESSIBILITY IS AT THE INTERSECTION OF EMPLOYMENT

BARRIERS HINDER EMPLOYEMENT OF PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES

The bottom line is there are more qualified workers with disabilities than one can count.

Too many are unemployed or under-employed.

This is not because of their disability; it is because the built environment – including buildings designed and built long after the ADA was the law of the land – literally blocks their access to the workplace.

This must change.

Architects, engineers, planners and other designers have a gift.

They must use that gift to create truly inclusive Universal Design.

So, as businesses get prepared for a lot of activity in October for Disability Employment Month, I would encourage all businesses to assess their environments and identify the barriers you have that keeping people with disabilities from full participation.

ACCESSIBILITY IS AT THE INTERSECTION OF EMPLOYMENT

BARRIERS HINDER EMPLOYEMENT OF PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES

When I complain to architects about lifts, they say “it meets the code and passes inspection.”

This is a horribly disingenuous answer.

Would they design a roof that passes inspection then collapses within six months of the building opening?

Because at least nine out of 10 times, outdoor lifts are not functional less than six months after installation.

If architects, engineers, planners and the city officials who regulate them truly cared about inclusion and equality, they would change the code and do away with an accessibility device that fails to provide access.

ACCESSIBILITY IS AT THE INTERSECTION OF EMPLOYMENT

BARRIERS HINDER EMPLOYEMENT OF PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES

Outdoor lifts segregate and rarely function.

I’m not talking about enclosed, full elevators. I’m talking about those open-air lifts meant to go up a half story or less.

Virtually all of these require a key to operate.

The key gets lost.

At best, the wheelchair users have to shout and beg for the key holder to come out and operate the lift.

Imagine being the newest hire, trying to fit in and learn the corporate culture while climbing the ladder – but being reduced to a beggar to get in the building in the morning, leave for client appointments and head home after a long workday.

ACCESSIBILITY IS AT THE INTERSECTION OF EMPLOYMENT

BARRIERS HINDER EMPLOYEMENT OF PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES

All main entrances should be level with the ground.

When topography or flood plain issues (a rapidly increasing issue in my home state of Florida) and the entrance must be raised – a ramp for all is the only solution.

Secondary entrances tend to get locked or blocked.

In high traffic areas, retailers and restaurants don’t want to have to watch two doors for thieves and those dashing out without paying.

The ableist “solution” to lock or block the accessible entrance.

Not only does this cut out the opportunity to serve customers with disabilities, but it also discriminates in making it impossible for a person with a mobility disability to ever become an employee.

ACCESSIBILITY IS AT THE INTERSECTION OF EMPLOYMENT

BARRIERS HINDER EMPLOYEMENT OF PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES

The Florida Department of Health Miami-Dade County main office does this. Clients and workers with mobility disabilities cannot use the main entrance.

I thought about my career and how sometimes lunch with the boss, or just chatting in the hallway on the way to run an errand – has resulted in an opportunity to pitch myself for a key project that led to a promotion.

If I had to roll the opposite direction, to the ramp segregated by design, I wouldn’t have that opportunity.

If I used a manual wheelchair, I’d have to race and huff and puff just to catch up to my lunch companions.

ACCESSIBILITY IS AT THE INTERSECTION OF EMPLOYMENT

BARRIERS HINDER EMPLOYEMENT OF PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES

As a writer/planner/educator/activist focused on the intersection of urban design and universal design, I often get into heated debates with architects, engineers and planners that create designs that segregate people with disabilities.

I cannot stand it when a brand-new building, built decades after the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) became law, has poor design that places a series of steps in the front, then hides the wheelchair access ramp in back of the building.

TODAY IS MY BIRTHDAY

THIS WEEK, I GAVE THE GIFT OF ADVOCACY FOR

CREATING MORE INCLUSIVE/ACCESSIBLE CITIES

I was honored Wednesday to moderate a Vision Zero Cities panel.

Four experts came together to talk about sidewalks, transit and transportation that can better serve the one in four people in America who have disability that impacts their daily living.

Hosted by the Transportation Alternatives Organization and attended by hundreds, the panel was titled: Creating Inclusive Spaces: Towards Accessible Cities hosted by Transportation Alternatives.

I was joined by the brilliant:

Eman Rimawi Doster, Executive Director of Diversity Includes Disability.

Anna Zivarts, who runs the Disability Mobility Initiative for Disability Rights Washington.

Prashanth Venkataram, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of California, Davis.

I probably talked to much for a moderator, but I’m passionate about Inclusive Spaces, Accessible Cities and Disability Inclusion.

Planners, transportation pros, architects and all civic designers need to make Universal Design a core part of their approach.

HONORED TO GUEST LECTURE ON UNIVERSAL DESIGN

AT THE UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE

I was so proud to guest lecture in a design studio, passionately emphasizing the need to create a better built environment for people with disabilities.

We don’t design healthy communities these days.

We design for cars and the result is epidemic obesity, mental health and other issues.

Poor design isolates people with disabilities, when they could be leading their communities and being an essential part of the workforce from entry level to mid-level worker to executive status.

I am not an architect, but I seek to inspire architects, planners, engineers and builders – to catch up with the 21st century and design for all, including those who uses wheelchairs for mobility.

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.

UNIVERSAL DESIGN -- ACCESS FOR ALL

 SITE DESIGN MUST ELIMINATE ANY ABUSES 

THAT WILL BLOCK THE WHEELCHAIR-ACCESSIBLE PATHWAY

Planners, Urban Designers, Architects, Landscape Architects plus city Zoning and Building officials MUST be visionary when designing wheelchair/pedestrian access.

The sidewalk/only accessible way into this Miami luxury high rise has been blocked by valet parking.

This forces people with disabilities to use the driveway, where they can easily be run over by cars not expecting pedestrians in the roadway.

The site actually has accessible walkways on both sides of the drive. But both are blocked with dozens of valeted cars.

Planning has to consider that once the building is occupied, lazy and thoughtless valets will take up any paved space with the cars of VIPs.

Landscaping a few feet tall, or a decorative border wall between the walkway and driveway would prevent misuse of walkways as valet space.

Police will NEVER in 100 lifetimes go onto private property to ticket or tow to resolve an Americans with Disabilities Act violation.

Cities will not in one million lifetimes pull a certificate of occupancy or otherwise hold a development accountable for discriminating against the human rights of people with disabilities – violated by safe pedestrian pathway blockage.

So designers must anticipate these issues and design to prevent them from Day One.

WHY UNIVERSAL DESIGN IS CRITICAL

TOO MANY ARCHITECTS, PLANNERS, TRANSPORTATION ENGINEERS AND URBAN DESIGNERS REDUCE THE ADA TO SOME KIND OF ONEROUS HURDLE THAT MUST BE LEAPED

I believe Universal Design and equity/inclusion for people with disabilities works the same way. 

Ensure input from people with disabilities at workshops. 

Better still: educate, recruit, hire, retain and promote people with disabilities who create and regulate the built environment. 

Conscious efforts to boost the numbers of women and people of color in planning has reaped fabulous benefits. 

The time has come to do the same with people with disabilities.

WHY UNIVERSAL DESIGN IS CRITICAL

TOO MANY ARCHITECTS, PLANNERS, TRANSPORTATION ENGINEERS AND URBAN DESIGNERS REDUCE THE ADA TO SOME KIND OF ONEROUS HURDLE THAT MUST BE LEAPED

I look at design for dignity, design for all, design for people with disabilities—as a belief, a guidepost, a best practice—not so much a begrudging checklist.

It is like any other approach to diversity. 

You rely not simply on code alone to make your city welcoming to people of all races, genders, incomes. 

You listen to them and value their opinions and incorporate their diverse cultural and other needs to make a place where all can thrive.

WHY UNIVERSAL DESIGN IS CRITICAL

TOO MANY ARCHITECTS, PLANNERS, TRANSPORTATION ENGINEERS AND URBAN DESIGNERS REDUCE THE ADA TO SOME KIND OF ONEROUS HURDLE THAT MUST BE LEAPED

Housing types accessible to all enable aging in place much better than those built only for able-bodied people.

Eleanor Smith, who attended a few CNU national gatherings, created the concept of visitability.

It’s simple.

One level entrance, wide doorways, one bathroom on the ground floor and enough space to get around in the kitchen and bath. 

Most of these features are 100 percent desirable for all people—especially more than one bath and a roomier kitchen.

WHY UNIVERSAL DESIGN IS CRITICAL

TOO MANY ARCHITECTS, PLANNERS, TRANSPORTATION ENGINEERS AND URBAN DESIGNERS REDUCE THE ADA TO SOME KIND OF ONEROUS HURDLE THAT MUST BE LEAPED

Expense is often cited as a reason to shun Universal Design.

This is odd.

The up-front cost of building LEED sustainable is more than conventional/wasteful building—but the value, both in operations and when large institutional investors buy huge office or apartment buildings, is recouped and then some.

I would argue that Universal Design is the most efficient, durable, sustainable and flexible approach to town design.

Aging in place is one of the biggest topics today, as America not only is aging but also has tens of millions of well-heeled, newly-retired Baby Boomers trying to figure out whether to age in place, downsize, or move to a senior community.

WHY UNIVERSAL DESIGN IS CRITICAL

TOO MANY ARCHITECTS, PLANNERS, TRANSPORTATION ENGINEERS AND URBAN DESIGNERS REDUCE THE ADA TO SOME KIND OF ONEROUS HURDLE THAT MUST BE LEAPED

It amazes me when I visit a new urbanist beach town and find, almost always, a long ramp over protected nature and dunes—that ends in stairs down to the beach.

The ramp is already there.

No one is freaked out by it.

No waterfront experiences are ruined.

So why not ramp the beach part of the walkway?

I could fill a room with people who have limited mobility but swim, surf, sun and otherwise use the beach.

WHY UNIVERSAL DESIGN IS CRITICAL

TOO MANY ARCHITECTS, PLANNERS, TRANSPORTATION ENGINEERS AND URBAN DESIGNERS REDUCE THE ADA TO SOME KIND OF ONEROUS HURDLE THAT MUST BE LEAPED

A classic example of a failure occurred because the designer obsessed on the pure numbers of complying with the ADA versus creating Universal Design.

A festival marketplace style mall in Miami underwent a total renovation to reposition for current restaurant-retail trends.

The main open-air space is up a few steps from the sidewalk—perhaps for sea level rise reasons.

The plaza has plenty of space to use topography to make a gentle grade.

Sure enough, there is ramp that makes the space compliant.

But half of the frontage has a few small steps.

People trip over the steps and crowd the ramp. There is no reason why the entire approach could not have been gently sloped.

WHY UNIVERSAL DESIGN IS CRITICAL

TOO MANY ARCHITECTS, PLANNERS, TRANSPORTATION ENGINEERS AND URBAN DESIGNERS REDUCE THE ADA TO SOME KIND OF ONEROUS HURDLE THAT MUST BE LEAPED

Ron Mace named his creation Universal Design because he knew that good design was useful and beautiful—for all. 

Take a curb ramp or a well-protected crosswalk.

Yes, it makes mobility possible for my wife.

But it's also great for infants in strollers, kids on bikes, elders using walkers/crutches—not to mention Miami gals that love high heels to thousands of delivery people rolling millions of goods that keep our economy functioning.

WHY UNIVERSAL DESIGN IS CRITICAL

TOO MANY ARCHITECTS, PLANNERS, TRANSPORTATION ENGINEERS AND URBAN DESIGNERS REDUCE THE ADA TO SOME KIND OF ONEROUS HURDLE THAT MUST BE LEAPED

I believe far too many architects, planners, transportation engineers and urban designers reduce the ADA to some kind of onerous hurdle that must be leaped—lest the attorneys get involved.

That is why I tell my clients and students to comply with the ADA, but think in term of Universal Design. 

The term was coined by the late Ron Mace, a fellow of the American Institute of Architects, educator and planner. 

He used a wheelchair for mobility but was very deliberate in not naming his creation "disability” or “wheelchair" design. 

Mace did so because he knew that good design was useful and beautiful—for all. 

Take a curb ramp or a well-protected crosswalk. 

Yes, it makes mobility possible for my wife. 

But it's also great for infants in strollers, kids on bikes, elders using walkers/crutches—not to mention Miami gals that love high heels to thousands of delivery people rolling millions of goods that keep our economy functioning.

WHY UNIVERSAL DESIGN IS CRITICAL

TOO MANY ARCHITECTS, PLANNERS, TRANSPORTATION ENGINEERS AND URBAN DESIGNERS REDUCE THE ADA TO SOME KIND OF ONEROUS HURDLE THAT MUST BE LEAPED

More than one CNU leader has asked me how a person could go about getting an ADA variance—in the context of both building and town design.

I’ve explained what my brilliant wife (Heidi Johnson-Wright, a lifelong public servant in her third decade as an ADA coordinator) does: 

While it impacts the built environment, the ADA is not a building or zoning code.

It is federal civil rights legislation

As such, it can no more be waived than a firm could ask for a variance to discriminate in hiring practices based on race, gender, etc.

WHY UNIVERSAL DESIGN IS CRITICAL

TOO MANY ARCHITECTS, PLANNERS, TRANSPORTATION ENGINEERS AND URBAN DESIGNERS REDUCE THE ADA TO SOME KIND OF ONEROUS HURDLE THAT MUST BE LEAPED

While speaking at the International Making Cities Livable Conference in Paris, I thought about the CNU and my desire that it do more for people with disabilities.

I thought about the frequent pushback from CNU members who have said the ADA is the enemy of historic preservation, urban housing types, organic placemaking, and aesthetic design.

I’m baffled why the ADA’s design standards are an unmovable roadblock to so many CNU-affiliated practitioners.

Is their creativity crushed by flood plain, fire safety, windstorm, setback, height limit, and myriad other building/zoning code requirements?