As I drove away, leaving him to unload the truck, I realized that lack of access to buildings is lack of access to the people who live, play and work in them. I’ve already lost that access to my siblings, all of whom live in inaccessible homes. Now that my children are growing up and out of our house, what are the chances that I will ever be able to spend time with them in any of the apartments or houses they will inhabit in the future?

Accessible, or even visitable, housing stock is an incredibly rare commodity. If one of my able-bodied children were to rent an accessible house or apartment, would she be taking it from someone who needs accessibility every day? Yes.

It’s a different situation, of course, if you have money and you own the property you live in. Then you can build or modify for accessibility. But in the current economy, I somehow can’t see my kids being able to do anything like that anytime soon.

On a completely different note, it’s best to Just Say No to driving around a college town the week the students move in.

Lafayette adopted what is likely Colorado’s toughest residential access measure Tuesday night, mandating that a quarter of new homes built in the city guarantee access to people with disabilities.

The city’s “visitability” ordinance, passed by a 7-0 vote, requires that 25 percent of new homes constructed in Lafayette include at least one stairless entrance into the home, a wider-than-normal bathroom doorway on the ground floor and built-in supports to anchor future bathroom handrails — elements intended to make it easier for people who rely on wheelchairs and walkers to enter and use a home.

Lafayette council extends home access for the disabled

Universal Design is based on the idea that products and environments should be designed in a way to make them usable by as many people as possible without adaption. It’s a very big (and important) idea. Visitability, on the other hand, is a very concrete and specific idea: houses should have a barrier-free entrance and an accessible bathroom.

There’s a wide variation in what people mean when they throw around terms like “barrier-free”, “wheelchair-accessible”, “universal design”, etc. I described on experience along that line in Wheelchair Friendly Homes Nearing Completion.

My boss has a monthly after-work gathering for his immediate staff; it rotates between 6 or 7 people’s houses. I’m tired of getting the invite, with no mention of accessibility (again, we’re talking about a small group, not a big public invitation). I’m tired of emailing or calling the host to ask about steps and bathrooms. I’m tired of how the other person rarely even pauses to think before saying, “It’ll be fine!” or “We’ll work it out!”

As we all know, a work social event is more work than social. Neediness is not the personal quality I want to highlight under those circumstances. And it’s one thing to be invited to a meeting in an inaccessible conference room, and another thing to be invited to a colleague’s inaccessible house. Criticize the conference room, you’re criticizing the company. Criticize the house, you’re criticizing the person.

My choir has a potluck at someone’s house at the beginning of each season; I’m more comfortable with these folks, but I’d still rather not be carried into someone’s house.

It helps if the host actually gives it a little thought beforehand; even if the house is wildly inaccessible, it’s comforting to think that someone cared enough to scope it out. After my uncle’s memorial service this summer we went to my cousin’s house. She had figured out a route, the best entrance to use, and had checked on the bathroom door. That was thoughtful, even though the house wasn’t be any stretch of the imagination independently accessible.

Am I whining? I want accessibility to just be there, like air. I don’t want people to have to make special arrangements to get me onto busses and trains, into movie theaters and banks, but I do want someone who invites me to their house to at least say something about it.

I didn’t go to the monthly boss thing today. I’m still deciding about the choir potluck.

Interesting what qualifies as “wheelchair accessible”. Notice that this home has what looks like 5-6 steps to the front entrance. Apparently the accessible entrance is hidden in the garage. This hiding of accessibility features stands in contrast to the renovation of Lake Park Lutheran Church in Milwaukee, where accessibility is “up-front and gracious”.

Back when we were looking for an architect to help us with our remodel, we interviewed a guy who said he had designed and built a wheelchair-accessible home just north of us. He gave me the owner’s name, I called him, asked him if I could see his wheelchair-accessible home. I was very explicit that this was the aspect of the house I was interested in. The owner was very friendly and invited me to come see his home.

In terms of accessibility features, it was very similar to the home featured above. All entrances (front, back, garage) were at least four steps above ground level, and the owner was very gracious about hauling me up them, although he was clearly surprised that there was an actual wheelchair in the equation.

The house was very open, hallways and doorways were wide. But it was certainly not wheelchair-ready. The bathrooms would have required substantial renovation, although all the walls were pre-blocked for later grab bar installation. The second floor was inaccessible; the owners pointed out where an elevator could be installed should the need arise. As it was, the stairway took at least four turns, so it would have been quite expensive to retro-fit it with a stairlift.

Still, in a country where most homes aren’t even visitable, it’s a step forward.

Cynthia’s friend Sue Hoffman bought the four acres of land about three years ago and got the idea to make trails, a picnic area and a fishing dock all wheelchair accessible.

Wheelchair ramp! Sure enough, she’s got a nice little ramp. I asked her if a family member used a chair, and she said no, she had to repair the porch for some other reason and didn’t see why she shouldn’t go ahead and put a ramp on.

How many temporarily able-bodied people do you suppose that ever occurs to? This may be a Good Sign.

I saw a good sig on Wheelchairjunkie: a building that is not accessible is an economic crime scene.

From the New York Times: Architecture in the Age of Accessibility. This is a reprint, no registration needed.

From The Ragged Edge: Disability Awareness Days Send the Wrong Message.

From MDA: A Nice Place to Visit: Making Homes “Visitable” for People with Disabilities.