WHEELCHAIR USERS IN DIVERSE PLACES ALL OVER THE WORLD
Internationally acclaimed linear green space created from a former elevated railway.
It features multiple elevators and ramps for wheelchair access.
OR BACK OF BUILDINGS ARE BIGOTED ABLEISTS. PERIOD.
They ruin the façade.
Fire escapes.
So sculptural, they enhance the
façade.
If the same architect makes both of
these statements, they hate disabled people.
Only ableists reject access ramps.
PATH OF TRAVEL IS LEVEL, GENTLY GRADED, UNOBSTRUCTED & OVERALL OUTSTANDING & RAMPED/ELEVATOR ACCESS IS GOOD
This one is at 14th Street and 10th
Avenue.
At any given time, at least one
elevator is out of service.
INCLUSION IS A MUST!
Well, this
is one of 3 wheelchair ramped houses on the short side street of SW 18 Ave between
SW 14-16 Aves.
That much
need for access is proof positive that:
Disability
is NOT an outlier.
Inclusion is
a MUST!
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.
CLOSERS FOOLISHLY FORCE MULTIPLE CROSSINGS
OF DANGEROUS TRAFFIC TO COMPLETE A JOURNEY
Tragically,
dozens of downtown Miami sidewalks are closed for construction — putting people
on peril.
AND EVERY BIT AS LOATHSOMELY BIGOTED AS RACISTS
Every time I
post a picture of neglected landscaping blocking sidewalk accessibility, I get
"If it bothers you, why don't you trim it." snotty response.
Many find
requests for the basic dignity/civil rights of wheelchair access so offensive,
that they demonize the person requesting them.
No one would
tell a burglarized person to become police and solve it.
But
underscore a barrier and they scream at you to fix it yourself.
Diminishing
the needs of people with disabilities is ableism.
Ableism is toxic.
PLEASE HAVE INCLUSIVE SEATING THIS YEAR
Last year’s
book fair had an outdoor food court produced by Smorgasboard Miami.
It had 24
picnic tables and another 12 metal tables.
Not one had
a space for wheelchair users.
We reported this
10 minutes into the opening day of the street fair.
Nothing was
done.
This kind of
ableism and exclusion cannot be repeated.
AS THE ACCESSIBLE BOOKLEGGERS LIBRARY MOBILE TRAILER
Ramping both sides of a moving
trailer filled with used books = a huge commitment to accessibility and
inclusion for all.
Kudos to this small nonprofit’s
commitment to people with disabilities.
ARE DISRCIMINATING AGAINST PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES
Illegal car
parking destroys pedestrian safety and forces people with disabilities into
Miami’s dangerous street traffic.
Perpetually
2 or 3 cars park on NE 9 St @ Marina Blue mixed use tower.
Miami has a Downton
Development Authority that has a quality of life team in the streets each day.
I wonder if
they have any training on ADA accessibility.
I fear they
do not spend one day out of 365 trying to make mobility better for people with disabilities
in the city center.
WHILE APPROVING FAULTY WHEELCHAIR ACCESS
THAT FAILS ALL THE TIME
This is what happens when you segregate the wheelchair accessible entrance from the main entrance in an urban area.
An
impenetrable gauntlet of human waste, broken glass and homeless person’s
bedding.
When a city
allows adaptive reuse of a building, but permits lousy wheelchair access – it is
ableism at its worst.
Millions of
dollars were spent converting an old post office into a craft brewery in
downtown Miami.
The excuse
is historic preservation prevents an appropriate ramp at the main entrance.
It’s total
BS.
Stairs are
NOT historic.
Facades are.
THEY CREATE MAXIMIM DENIAL OF BASIC RIGHTS
FOR PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES
This is what happens when clueless architects & feckless city regulators allow one wheelchair accessible access point at each end of a super block.
Restaurants
block the access to create more dining space.
This is 1900
block of Miami’s Calle8.
All those
who cannot go up steps, have to journey four times the distance shown in this
image to the eastern ramp hidden on a side avenue.
El Toro Loco
is violating the ADA and destroying mobility for people with disabilities with
its selfish blocking of the accessible route.
In Town
Miami, the company that leases the space to the offending restaurant MUST open
the accessible route immediately.
The City of
Miami has 100% neglected to fix this – refusing to protect our seniors and
people with disabilities.
GIVING CREDIT WHERE CREDIT IS DUE
Where I grew up, you went out of your way to thank a person for helping you.
Recently,
Miami Mayor Francis Suarez and his professional team – in this case led by Director
of Constituent Affairs Lazaro Quintero – addressed a problem that
threatened the health, safety, mobility and civil rights of my wife of 33 years.
I will not
go into much detail -- because if the person who illegally targeted Heidi Johnson-Wright
ever attempts to hurt her again, a half dozen lawyers will litigate them into
oblivion. Suffice to say, picture a super-sturdy and costly wheelchair ramp --
in place for 20 years at a 100-year-old home – coming under attack without cause or justification.
At the brink
of launching an exhaustive legal recourse and unrelenting media campaign to
underscore an unjust situation bordering on a hate crime, we reached out to
Mayor Suarez.
Years ago,
when he was our District Commissioner in the City of Miami, he resolved a
longstanding battle over the future of the small green space we live on.
Historic William Jennings Bryan Park was slated to become two acres of asphalt
for a noisy traffic and parking nightmare that would trade tranquil open space
for a grossly out-of-scale tournament tennis center.
A compromise
was drafted. Basically, the eastern acre of the park became active space –
three outstanding tennis courts, a restroom/park manager building the size of a
small house, a barrier-free play area plus preserved trees and benches. The
western acre remained as one of the few islands of green grass – where folks 8
to 80 could play dozens of games, from kite flying to soccer.
Long known
as a free-thinker who speaks his mind, I think my praise for Mayor Suarez and
his team means more because I have had no issue sharing problems with the
city. This blog and all of my social media has called out the mayor, city
manager, commissioners plus city departments and organizations.
Usually, it
is about lack of wheelchair access. Dockless scooters blocking curb ramps,
sidewalks and bus stops are a frequent target of my speaking truth to power. I
also shine light on new or renovated buildings that illegally lack wheelchair access.
I’ve also
been known to criticize development deals, especially those that encroach on
precious park land.
While I
don’t back every policy decision Mayor Suarez makes, but I appreciate him
deeply for sincerely caring about people with disabilities.
We praise his actions while stressing that he DID NOT do us a favor. We did the city a favor, by alerting it to a civil rights-denying action against people with disabilities.
Recognizing this and protecting the interests of all who have
physical, visual, hearing and cognitive disabilities, is what earns our praise.
