Scott Schafer pens a column inspired by watching a visually impaired woman navigate a busy corner of Minneapolis. The question raised by the column: How can we improve level of service for the blind?
Scott Schafer's recent column for Streets.mn is thoughtful reminder of the many people neglected by engineering to auto-centric level of service standards. After watching a visually impaired women navigate a busy intersection to get to the Vision Loss Resources center, obviously an essential facility for the women's quality of life, once she actually gets inside the door.
Schafer takes a moment to imagine how scared he would be to navigate the street without the benefit of site. Then he starts to imagine solutions:
"What can we do to make it better? The Model Design Manual for Living Streets has at least two suggestions to make sidewalks safe. First, make sidewalks level. By making the ramp steeper and routing the sidewalk slightly away from the street, we can keep the sidewalk from sloping."
Schafer's column ends with a call to shift the myopic considerations of the planners, engineers, and designers shaping the world: "What's Lyndale's level of service for the sight-impaired woman I saw last week?"
Read the full story: Improving Level of Service for Blind People
Portland's Biketown to Include 'Adaptive Bikes' to Ensure Universal Access
The city of Portland is wearing the Yellow Jersey on equity issues connected to the Biketown bikeshare system.
Urban Living as a Quadriplegic
Peter Apps, a quadriplegic for the past nine years, shares insight into how he evaluates the mobility and access of cities.
Saturday Satire: The Accessibility Meeting Is Located Down Three Flights of Stairs
A satirical piece published by McSweeney's calls attention to the remaining work to done in building a truly accessible built environment.
Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
Amtrak, CN end decades-long dispute with eight-year agreement
The new operating agreement establishes an updated framework for the companies to work together, including processes to resolve disputes.
Judges permit Denver to divert 77,000 acre feet from the Colorado River for reservoir expansion
Overuse and climate change have caused the Colorado River’s water levels to plummet.
NYC DOT wants faster, more permanent street upgrades
The city is examining ways to build more concrete infrastructure without getting entangled in 'decades-long' projects.
'Something we’ve never seen before:' rising utility rates could strain city finances nationwide
Data centers, climate change and other factors have caused utility rates in the United States to increase by 38% since 2020.
Trump to overrule local leaders, lease millions of acres of America’s Pacific Island territories’ seafloors to mining companies
International law says that the Indigenous people of America’s territories have a right to prior and informed consent regarding projects that impact their countries.
FREE Course: Walkable City 1: Why Walkability?
After describing his path towards focusing on walkability as the essence of good planning, Jeff Speck marches through his five principal reasons for making more walkable places.
Reinventing Malls: Planning Alchemy—Turning Gray Fields Into Gold
The course focuses on the opportunities and imperatives that shape reinvention of mall sites.
Harvard University Graduate School of Design
KFH Group Inc.
Greater Baltimore Committee
The Architects Foundation
University of Cincinnati Online
The Pocatello Development Authority
The Urban Renewal Agency of the City of Pocatello