Navigating the sidewalks in a wheelchair
Today, my first full day back from physical rehab, I attended a Society of Professional Journalists luncheon down the street. So I ventured out in the power chair from my place at 16th & Locust over to Lucas Park Grille at 13th and Washington.
Not a huge distance but one that would have been pretty difficult in a manual chair. Curb ramps were in place on all the corners except one. The ones that did exist, however, were often broken or had a huge edge at the point of approach. Again the power chair was able to handle the situation but not everyone has such a chair. Also I have to say that using a manual chair vs a power one can be rewarding — like riding a bike vs driving a car — one requires physical exertion but with that you get a sense of accomplishment. You seem more connected to your environment.
At a casual glance we look around and see curb ramps and thus assume the environment is accessible to the physically disabled.  The real question we need to ask is how functional is the environment? Poorly installed or damaged curb ramps reduces functionality, at times to zero. Cities all over the country pay a small fortune to upgrade their intersections with curb ramps but when they don’t work as intended it simply becomes another waste of taxpayer money.
On the other side, when curbs and such are done right, disabled members of the community can lead independent lives rather than wasting away in costly nursing homes. Â Â In that context, investing in accessible
infrastructure is very cost effective.
A fellow patient from MRC also returned to his home near South County Mall yesterday. Despite being close to both a good number of employment and shopping choices his options for getting there are very limited. His neighborhood of single family detached dwellings has plenty of paving for driveways but not sidewalks. Getting to a point where he could catch a bus is nearly impossible. He’ll need an expensive van with a lift to be mobile not because of his inability to push his wheelchair but because of the poor pedestrian nature of where he lives.  So while I may have issues with a ramp here or there at least we have sidewalks!
We all make choices about where we live and I must say I am very pleased with mine.