Accessibility

Inspired by this post over at Renee’s I felt the need to brag a little.

Not about anything I’ve accomplished, but about how my city has handled accessibility problems downtown. The “city centre” consists of some 6 streets that are only open to pedestrians and motorized vehicles are only allowed for PWD. Naturally, cars do go there at night to deliver goods to the shops while they’re closed to customers. But in opening hours it’s pedestrian only zone. That makes for a nice and quiet city centre, but most of the buildings there are more than 50 years old, probably also more than a 100 years old, and this unfortunately means that ground floor is not at street level, so there are steps and what have you. There was also some issues with the surface, as gutters were basically small canals made in cobblestone on either side of the tiled streets, canals which you had to cross to get to any of the shops. It was not at all disability friendly. Some shops had ramps made to help people on wheels up their steps, but it wasn’t all of them. And for some who are able to walk albeit not so well, the choice between a ramp and very high uneven granite steps is like having to choose between plague and cholera. Good times! Not so.

And so a few years ago the city council in co-operation with the united shop-owners of the city centre (most shops are members of this organisation) decided to do something about it. It resulted in major road works lasting for quite some time, but at the end of it, street levels had been evened out, so more shops had a level entrance, and for those shops that were higher up, good, broad, low steps (and railings!) were made as well as ramps for every shop that needed them. The streets are now even, and at the town square where the cobblestone patterns have remained, there are smooth, tiled paths criss-crossing the place, so those who need their wheels can get a smooth ride. It looks nice, and it’s become incredibly disability friendly. So while my city council does fuck up on a lot of things, I’m rather proud of them for this.

For comparison: a neighboring city (my boyfriend’s home-town) has the same issue of older buildings in their city centre. For instance: where his bank is located there are 4 steps up. No elevator, no ramp, no nothing. The bank has requested permission from the city to build one of those mini-elevators that fold down from the wall and carry a passanger up along the stairs. That’s all there’s room for. But alas, the building is historical and it’s outside appearance cannot be modified for any reason. My sister-in-law, who uses that bank, was greatly frustrated by this while she transported her girls around in strollers/baby carriages. There was no way that bank was accessible on wheels – and that’s even for a woman, who can walk and lift and manipulate her wheeled contraption. It’s only worse for those who cannot just get up. My sis-in-law’s girls are now walking on their own and thus the problem is no more – for her, that is. There are SO many people whose mobility problems are not just a phase or a passing issue.

The bank is fighting the city over this, of course, they’re losing their disabled customers through no fault of their own, and that must really be annoying when you’re a manager trying to run a business. And while I do agree that historical buildings should be kept intact for the benefit of preserving an important bit of history, it should not be at the expense of disabled people. The lives of people living in the present must surely come before the architecture of generations past.

Then again, as Renee said with poignant sarcasm: “after all life is for “normal” people isn’t it?”