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from
Journal Register News Service:
A city that's walkable may lure college grads and retirees, but
urban areas that are accessible to even those who can't walk are more
convenient for everybody.
The Christopher & Dana Reeve
Foundation has long advocated for increased access for people with
wheelchairs and has taken an interest in how cities are improving access
and complying with the Americans With Disabilities act. Recently, it
looked at 100 of America's largest cities and ranked them based on
wheelchair access and quality of life for people using wheelchairs.
The
group took climate into account and tried to avoid cities with extreme
temperatures or snowfall that pose major obstacles to those living with
paralysis. It also took into account air quality, number of physicians,
rehab specialists and rehab centers, accessible fitness and recreation
facilities and transit for the disabled.
If a city contained
large numbers of physically disabled people and those people were able
to get jobs, that was considered a plus. The age of the cities was also
considered, especially since older buildings are tough to upgrade, as
was each city's spending and eligibility requirements for Medicaid.
10. Lubbock, Texas
The
home of Texas Tech is on a simple grid, has a Citibus bus system that
recently deployed hybrid buses specifically equipped to accommodate
full-sized wheelchairs and averages high temperatures near 60 degrees in
the middle of February. It's a fairly sprawling urban center, but that
climate and ease of navigation help shrink the distance from here to
there.
9. Orlando, Fla.
Yes, it's in
hurricane country, but it also has average temperatures in the 70s from
November through March. Combined with the Lynx bus system that's
wheelchair accessible, modern construction courtesy of Orlando's
boundless sprawl and a vast health care network, Orlando's climate is
pretty friendly to the wheelchair bound.
8. Winston-Salem, N.C.
There's
certainly some overlap between cities friendly toward retirees and
wheelchair users. Winston-Salem attracts both with help from Wake Forest
Baptist Medical Center and Novant Health facilities, but the new
construction that's accompanied the city's more than 50% growth since
1990 certainly makes it easier to manage.
7. Birmingham, Ala.
The
city's been shrinking since the 1970s, but it still has winter
temperatures in the 60s and vast health care resources thanks to the
University of Alabama at Birmingham and HealthSouth(HLS). The biggest
perk, however, comes from the Birmingham-Jefferson County Transit
Authority, which operates nearly two dozen paratransit buses throughout
the city.
6. Chicago
Old, snowy,
vertical: How did Chicago get considered for this list? Part of it stems
from the Chicago Transit Authority, which made more than 90 of its 145
rail stations ADA compliant and offers discounted fares to wheelchair
users. The city's extensive health care infrastructure comes in handy as
well, but the Healthy Community Mapping System that the University of
Illinois is creating for the city to track the actual accessibility of
buildings, fitness centers, sidewalks and stores will be a bit more
helpful. The system will tell users where amenities are best and where
obstacles such as steep lips on sidewalks or narrow doors will be a
problem.
5. Portland, Ore.
The Legacy
Health System, Oregon Health & Science University Hospital and other
health care facilities give plenty of options for care, but the myriad
means of reaching those facilities is what makes Portland so accessible.
The city's buses, MAX light rail trains and streetcars all accommodate
wheelchairs, but the TriMet transportation system's Lift service
provides riders more than 250 minibuses and more than a dozen cars to
take them around the city.
4. Denver
There
was a time Denver was a big, sprawling, transit-deprived mess that was
tough for just about anyone to navigate, but that time has long since
passed. The Regional Transportation District has expanded its bus and
rail offerings and made all of it wheelchair accessible with priority
seating. It also offers an Access-a-ride program that takes wheelchair
riders anywhere within a three-quarter-mile radius of its transit
system.
3. Reno, Nev.
The Biggest Little
City In The World can get pretty cold in the winter and windy all year
long, but there's very little precipitation and very little to keep
folks from getting around. The Regional Transportation Commission's
wheelchair-accessible bus and bus rapid transit lines only helps by
offering reduced fares for passengers with disabilities. RTC Access
buses help shrink the city a bit as well by providing paratransit
service in the city's center as well as some of its outlying areas.
2. Albuquerque, N.M.
It's
tough to argue with those 50- and 60-degree temperatures in the winter,
but Albuquerque's got a lot more to offer its wheelchair-using
residents than pleasant weather. It's home to the best health care New
Mexico has to offer and counts University of New Mexico Hospital,
Presbyterian Hospital and Lovelace Women's Hospital among its premier
facilities. The city's ABQ Ride bus and bus rapid transit services also
chip in by being 100% ADA compliant, offering discounted fares and
providing SunVan curb-to-curb paratransit to any point in the city.
1. Seattle
The
city is synonymous with rain and is so hilly that some of its first
roads were created in areas where loggers slid trees down to the
waterfront. Fortunately, Sound Transit's bus and light rail lines (pictured) are
wheelchair accessible, discounted and supplemented by paratransit van
service. Metro Transit, meanwhile, offers a shared ride program, a map
of accessible downtown routes and reduced fares. This not only helps
improve access in a city that's notoriously tough to navigate, but opens
up clear lanes to facilities such as Harborview Medical Center,
Virginia Mason Medical Center, Swedish Medical Center, University of
Washington Medical Center and the VA.
