Community Building Tip: Car-Free
Oct. 10th, 2020 02:11 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ysabetwordsmithFor my current set of tips, I'm using the list "101 Small Ways You Can Improve Your City.
44. Organize a local car-free day. Every September 22 cities around the world participate in a global Car-Free Day, showcasing the possibilities of a more progressive commute and the advantages of walkable streets and biking infrastructure. Want to be inspired? Check out 14 beautiful car-free cities.
Regrettably, neither of the sites seemed to say anything about accessibility. Now if you're blind, not worrying about getting run over by a car could be a great thing. But for anyone with mobility issues, more often than not "car-free" might as well be "on the Moon." And it's not like we don't have solutions for that, I just didn't see anyone advertising things like palanquins for places where wheelchairs can't easily go. So if you're lobbying for car-free areas, remember to make them accessible to everyone. Even normally able-bodied people can be screwed the moment they break a foot, get pregnant, or have a baby carriage to push.
44. Organize a local car-free day. Every September 22 cities around the world participate in a global Car-Free Day, showcasing the possibilities of a more progressive commute and the advantages of walkable streets and biking infrastructure. Want to be inspired? Check out 14 beautiful car-free cities.
Regrettably, neither of the sites seemed to say anything about accessibility. Now if you're blind, not worrying about getting run over by a car could be a great thing. But for anyone with mobility issues, more often than not "car-free" might as well be "on the Moon." And it's not like we don't have solutions for that, I just didn't see anyone advertising things like palanquins for places where wheelchairs can't easily go. So if you're lobbying for car-free areas, remember to make them accessible to everyone. Even normally able-bodied people can be screwed the moment they break a foot, get pregnant, or have a baby carriage to push.
Re: Well ...
Date: 2020-10-10 08:23 pm (UTC)Besides, the place is full of Talking Beasts. How do they accommodate body differences that make people better or worse at doing certain things? The books only hint at that, but do show mixed groups routinely.
I'm reminded of Zootopia and all the ways their infrastructure accommodated different body shapes. They had some disability fail for other reasons, but the built environment was pretty awesome.