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More Media Coverage about the Accessible Pathway in My Neighborhood

Unless you’re new to my blog, or you skip over the self-aggrandizing posts like this one, you’ve already read several times about my successful efforts to have a wheelchair accessible pathway installed through Thomas Knight Park. Now three widely read outlets have picked up the story.

I first documented this issue and my intention to do something about it at my friend Kate Milliken’s awesome website My Counterpane.

My initial blog posts on the subject were:

Our Love Affair with Cobblestone Streets and Brick Sidewalks
Wheelchair Accessible Pathway Installed around Cobblestone Street in My Neighborhood
A local newspaper’s article

The New Articles

All of these came about because Kate at My Counterpane advocated for me.

Liftbump is a national news consolidating service, and they ran this story.

Next, the MS International Federation posted this version on their World MS Day website.

But the story’s broadest exposure took place through the National Multiple Sclerosis Society Facebook page, where they posted this video. It was viewed over 14,000 times, shared on Facebook over 100 times, and liked by almost 400 people.

A Humbling Experience

I think these articles have run their course, so I won’t bore you with them anymore. It’s certainly been a humbling and rewarding experience, both seeing the path installed, and watching the interest it has generated. My hope is that the story has inspired others to become activists for accessibility issues in their neighborhoods.

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Four Short Takes

Introducing…iConquerMS™. This is a new and different kind of research initiative for MS, launched by the Accelerated Cure Project in Boston, MA. It’s dedicated to patient-driven research, based on the novel use of huge amounts of data from all of us living with MS. The initiative’s Internet portal, www.iConquerMS.org, is now live.

I already visited the website and filled out all their surveys. I encourage everyone with MS to do the same. This is a wonderful opportunity to contribute to our cause with very little effort, no cost, and most of all, nobody sticking you with a needle.

Upcoming travel: Kim and I haven’t been on an airplane trip since February of 2013, when we vacationed in Jamaica with my brother Tom and his wife Diane. If you recall, that’s the trip where US Air lost both of my wheelchairs for several days. As compensation for that cluster fuck, Kim and I were given enough vouchers to once again take our chances with USAir. We are flying to Las Vegas for the New Year’s holiday. Tom and Diane are coming again, along with my brother Andy and his wife Karen. It won’t only be New Year’s Eve that we celebrate in Las Vegas, however. Kim will be turning 50 while we are out there. Yes, 50.

My abilities have changed since the last time we traveled, so I found a medical equipment rental company in Las Vegas. Desert Medical Equipment will deliver a hospital bed and a Hoyer lift to my hotel room, and charge me $100 per night for the three nights we are there. That’s a significant expense, but things should go so much more smoothly for us. Look for one or more posts about this trip in January.

Newspaper article on accessible pathway: Here’s a follow-up to the blog post I made on November 12, regarding a new accessible pathway around the cobblestone street in my neighborhood. One of the local newspapers heard about the path and called me for an interview. I assumed this story would be buried somewhere in the middle of the paper, but it ended up making the front page. Click here to read.

TED talk on the drug war: I know that I’ve been on a sociology kick lately, but I’ll ask you to indulge me one more time. Here’s the thing. I don’t want more people doing drugs. I don’t want more drug addicts. Yet, I’m starting to warm up to the idea of legalizing drugs – maybe all drugs, but at least starting with marijuana. The war on drugs has been a colossal failure. We’ve ruined so many lives, wasted so much money, and created powerful and terrible criminal organizations. I’m willing to consider drastic alternatives. Please watch this TED video and see if it doesn’t make sense to you.

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Wheelchair Accessible Path Installed around Cobblestone Street in My Neighborhood

As I mentioned in my September post entitled Our Love Affair with Cobblestone Streets and Brick Sidewalks, for years there has been a cobblestone street impeding wheelchair access to the Casco Bay Bridge, which connects Portland and South Portland. I took up the cause in May 2013 with this video posted at mycounterpane.com:

I spoke with the city manager and he liked my idea in principle, but wanted to make it a walkway through the adjacent Thomas Knight Park instead of over the top of the cobblestones. This wasn’t ideal, but it would still be a huge improvement.

In April of this year, the city manager informed me that funds had been allocated for this project, and it should be completed during the 2014 construction season. I announced this at mycounterpane.com:

They cut it close – winter is almost here – but the ADA compliant path is now installed! I am going to enjoy my new access immensely next summer, as are all the other wheelchair users in the area.

The effort took 18 months from inception to completion, but it’s extremely satisfying to see an idea like this come to fruition.

What did I learn in this process?

Here are my tips for campaigning on access issues where you live:

1. Speak up!

Keeping it to yourself or only complaining to friends does no good. Find out who gets things done in your community – a councilperson or city manager – and speak or write to them. Be friendly, and find something to compliment them on, and then present your case for improved access. Make it about the community, not just about you. Be as specific as possible. Offer to meet city officials in person, ideally at the site of the proposed accessibility project.

2. Follow through!

If city officials commit to considering your issue, follow up with them regularly. Be polite but firm in your tone. If you are not getting results, speak with other city officials, community organizers, or disabled advocacy groups. Don’t give up if one or two people are not cooperating.

3. Look at the details!

Be certain that the proposed solution is acceptable to you. Don’t assume because somebody says they can fix a problem that the solution is actually a good one. If possible, be present during construction. Again, persistence matters.

4. Celebrate your victory!

Write thank you letters to everyone involved. See if you can get the local newspaper to write a story. This will encourage city government and property owners to cooperate with requests like this in the future, and it will encourage other disabled people to speak up.

Note: You earn bonus points if you noticed two things about the last video. First, yes, I am in balance mode in my iBOT wheelchair. Second, yes, my ride down the new trail is displayed at double time. The iBOT doesn’t go that fast in balance mode!

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Our Love Affair with Cobblestone Streets and Brick Sidewalks

People are moving back to the cities. After decades of migrating away from one another, and building on huge, wooded house lots that isolated us from our neighbors, people are living in close proximity again. It’s a wonderful thing to see. Cities like Portland and South Portland, Maine are experiencing revitalizations.

As part of this rebirth, instead of scorning the old, industrial and warehouse districts, developers are reinventing them as condominiums, restaurants, and office space. And how about the sidewalks and the streets? What are we doing there?

City governments love to preserve cobblestone streets, for sentimental reasons. They remind us of the history of our great cities – the establishment of commerce, government, and prosperity in a region. We also love the old brick sidewalks. It’s feels significant to tread on the very same bricks that our forbearers forged and laid so long ago. Also, cobblestone streets and brick sidewalks fit well with the aesthetics of old brick buildings. They complement one another.

Ah, nostalgia. What could be wrong with it? Well, there’s a lot wrong with it if you are a disabled person.

The old brick sidewalks that are so faithfully preserved are usually uneven and sporadically damaged. The curb cuts and the transitions are typically steep and rough. Old brick sidewalks are difficult for people to navigate using wheelchairs, scooters, walkers, canes, and crutches. They impose a danger to the elderly and others who have difficulty walking.

Cobblestone streets, in and of themselves, are not so much of a problem, as long as they have an accessible sidewalk and flat street crossings. But that is rarely the case.

Our urban planners have a decision to make. Is it more important to preserve the past and have a consistent aesthetic in these revitalized downtown areas, or is it more important to make our cities accessible to everyone. Too often our city leaders are choosing to ignore the needs of their disabled citizens, and serve other interests instead. As a disabled person, and as an advocate for other disabled people, I find this troubling.

Disclaimer time – I manage to deal with the brick sidewalks and cobblestone streets. I am borderline fearless with my wheelchairs. I enjoy the downtown districts in my area despite the inconveniences. But I worry about other disabled people who choose to stay home rather than deal with our 19th century streets and sidewalks.

What do I want? I want our cities to replace old brick sidewalks with modern brick or concrete sidewalks, with ADA curb cuts. I want our cities to either replace cobblestone streets with paved streets, or ensure that there are smooth sidewalks and walkways for street crossings.

How are Portland and South Portland doing? I’m happy to report that in my South Portland neighborhood the city completed a major revitalization a couple of years ago resulting in new street tops that replaced aging pavement; new, wider concrete sidewalks that replaced crumbling brick sidewalks; lovely streetlamps that replaced outdated and mostly nonfunctioning streetlights; and updated utilities underneath the streets. I couldn’t be more pleased with these improvements, especially the sidewalks.

In South Portland there is still one cobblestone pathway that pedestrians must walk down, for approximately 100 yards, to utilize Thomas Knight Park or to walk across the Casco Bay Bridge to Portland. I’ve been working with the city for over a year on options, and it appears that they are ready to move forward with a paved pathway through Thomas Knight Park. It should be installed before winter.

Here is a very short video I posted in May 2013 at an MS website called My Counterpane, which should give you an idea of why cobblestone streets don’t work with wheelchairs (if you are receiving this as an email blog post, you’ll have to go to the blog website to see the video).

But in neighboring Portland, the situation is terrible. Old, brick sidewalks are in disrepair throughout the commercial district. Curb cuts and other transitions are downright dangerous. Cobblestone streets are sprinkled throughout the Old Port, and many times disabled people have no choice but to hobble over them if they wish to get from one part of the district to another.

When cities give such high standing to old brick sidewalks and cobblestone streets, they are choosing the past over the present. They are choosing nostalgia over accessibility. They are choosing form over function. Worst of all, they are choosing things over people.

How are your cities handling old brick sidewalks and cobblestone streets?