ShareThe late architect, planner and leader Ron Mace created Universal Design as an approach to places and products that make life easier and more inclusive to everybody. While Mace used a wheelchair for mobility, he very intentionally did NOT call his creation disability design or wheelchair access design. That’s because a barrier-free built environment works for everybody. Wide sidewalks with no speed limit signs or utility poles plopped down in the center of them serve everybody of every age.
A street with curb ramps and level entrances to buildings makes life inclusive for people with mobility disabilities but it also makes life easy for those pushing strollers. A crossing time longer than the standard 30 seconds—to make it safely past four or six lanes of traffic—saves the life of a child who hesitates or bolts away from mom as much as it provides more protection for a wheelchair user rolling to work. Some cities are raising crosswalks, so they are level with the sidewalk on both sides of the street. This not only makes it easier for the one in four people that have some level of disability, but it also forces speeding cars to slow down and obey a stop sign or red light.
When it comes to housing, less than one percent of it is move-in ready for a wheelchair user—and most of that is in multifamily buildings.
Eleanor Smith created Visitability, a concept for accessible housing and for creating a community where people with disabilities can visit their neighbors, a huge factor in creating a cohesive multigenerational neighborhood. It simply requires a level entrance, accessible bathroom on the first floor and space to maneuver around a kitchen. It still allows all kinds of unique details and multistory, single-family homes. Cities that have enacted Visitability have NOT seen a decrease in housing development despite pushback from builders.
Creating accessibility in multifamily buildings can begin with an entrance not obstructed by bikes or scooters, a large elevator and a roll-in/walk-in shower instead of a tub. Most hip hotel chains aimed at savvy young business travelers have walk-in showers instead of tubs. This means Universal Design can equal high design, NOT dreary old hospital architecture.
Transit must be frequent and accessible. Author Anna Zivarts’ research has proven that up to one-third of people do not drive. Transit can provide mobility for people too young to drive, too old to drive, unable to drive or unable to afford a car. Unfortunately, the vast majority of older subway stations in New York and elevated trains in Chicago do not have elevators for access. This makes essential transit off limits not only to wheelchair users, but those who cannot walk tons of steps because of respiratory or pulmonary issues, bad joints or even young children who can’t negotiate stairs.
In less dense cities, the problem often is a lack of accessible/protected-from-the-elements bus stops. And if a bus driver is not well trained in deploying lifts or in safely using tie downs for those in assistive mobility devices, the benefits of rapid transit are destroyed for the 80 million people with a disability in the United States. Without transit, multiple generations cannot connect to exchange ideas, gather healthy food, keep fit or break the boundaries of isolation.
Simply taking away benches along streets, in an ill-intended attempt to reduce use by homeless people, can prevent an elderly person from staying healthy by walking a half dozen blocks to the library, grocery store or neighborhood shop. People cannot age in place if their housing, sidewalks, transit, parks and civic buildings exclude them. Children cannot safely move about the community independently if sidewalks are blocked by parked cars, bike lanes are blocked by delivery trucks and streets are too dangerous to cross because of speeding traffic.
More aggressive policing of blocked sidewalks and bike lanes is a simple policy change. Calming traffic can be achieved with restriping and simple redesign. Visitability simply requires a change in code. Paying for retrofitting housing for accessibility can be folded into standard economic development incentives that virtually all cities offer. Transit training can be refocused to ensure drivers are serving disabled passengers safely. Adding elevators to century-old transit systems is expensive, but there are billions in federal dollars available for this.
REALTORS® also understand the importance of Universal Design. In Illinois, the Heartland REALTOR® Organization used a $15,000 housing opportunity grant from the NAR and partnered with the city of Woodstock, Ill., the Woodstock Community Unit School District 200 and Illinois REALTORS® to build a prototype model home incorporating Universal Design elements that will be used as a national model to educate communities about building with “Universal Design from the ground up.” Upon completion, tours of the home’s features will be promoted to the public. The prototype is being used to ignite interest in new inventory for homes that are designed to allow aging in place. The project has drawn interest from AARP and Metropolitan Mayors Caucus.
“REALTORS® champion Universal Design planning because the features are helpful in multigenerational households and can anticipate homeowners’ changing needs and abilities,” said Neeley Erickson, Illinois REALTORS® local governmental affairs director. “These designs allow homeowners to enjoy an independent lifestyle and avoid the expense of premature relocation to care facilities.”
Universal Design also fits hand in glove with urban movements such as the 15-minute city, the Congress for New Urbanism, LEED and the smart growth principles. The bottom line is everyone benefits from the dignity, independence and mental/physical health boost provided by intergenerational communities within a built environment accessible to all.
