October 13, 2005
If Not Biloxi, Where? If Not Now, When?
The future is in Waveland, Bay St. Louis, Pass Christian, Long Beach, Gulfport, Biloxi, D'Iberville, Ocean Springs, Gautier, Moss Point and Pascagoula.
Hurricane Katrina will mark the inauguration of Universal Design as a new cornerstone of city and regional planning. "Liveable Communities," "Inclusive Destinations," "Visitable Homes," will find their first large scale concrete manifestation in the United States in these coastal Mississippi towns -- maybe.
The reasons are clear:
An estimated 20 percent of the United States population has a disability
making this the largest minority group in the nation. People with
disabilities have the highest rate of poverty of any minority group in the
United States. Geographically, nearly 40 percent of people reporting a
disability live in the South-twice the percentage of people with
disabilities in the other regions of the country.
But first proponents of an architectural style that is courting the region must accept the demographic of the southern Mississippi region - nearly 1/2 having some sort of disability and soon to skyrocket as Baby Boomers age and, hopefully, choose this region for retirement.
Universal Design is the archicetural design process created by this very demographic expressly to safeguard their own interests in the construction of both private (Visitability) and public (Universal Design ; Inclusive Destination Development ; Liveable Communities).
Yes, Biloxi could be the center of the future.
Or, it might just settle for being the showcase for New Urbanist nostalgia for exclusionary architecture.
I'm sure the kind folks down the road in New Orleans would be happy to welcome the tourists that stay away in droves if Biloxi capitulates to exclusion by design.
Posted by rollingrains at October 13, 2005 02:17 AM
An estimated 20 percent of the United States population has a disability*
making this the largest minority group in the nation. People with
disabilities have the highest rate of poverty of any minority group in the
United States. Geographically, nearly 40 percent of people reporting a
disability live in the South-twice the percentage of people with
disabilities in the other regions of the country."People with disabilities, including older adults, face a vast range of
barriers to safety and survival during disasters that are often overlooked
by rescue and recovery efforts," said Jeanne Argoff, executive director of
Disability Funders Network (DFN). "Our goal is to raise grantmakers'
awareness of not only the importance of including the disability community
in their disaster preparedness, rescue and recovery efforts, but also to
increase their understanding of the disability community's needs following
a crisis."
Among the last to be rescued following Hurricane Katrina, people with
disabilities faced difficulties in making their presence known, resulting
in unnecessary deaths. Those rescued were forced to evacuate-leaving
behind necessities such as life-saving medications, equipment, aids and
service animals. Often, they were sent to places unable and sometimes
unwilling to meet their needs.
The disability community's needs following Katrina and Rita are far
reaching-from assistive technology such as teletypewriters, signaling
devices and hearing/speech amplification devices, to durable medical
products like wheelchairs, walkers, canes and adaptive accessories.
Medical supplies-including oxygen, hospital beds and transfer lifts-are
also in high demand.
Conventional relief groups have not consistently demonstrated that they
understand how to assist disaster survivors with disabilities.
"Disability Funders Network (DFN) is instituting a 'Rapid Response
Fund'-effective October 4, 2005 -to make grants to nonprofit organizations
providing direct relief to people with disabilities in the affected
regions," announced Sylvia Clark, chair of Disability Funders Network and
executive director of NEC Foundation of America. And to best prepare for
future crises, Disability Funders Network (DFN) has an ongoing initiative,
"Emergency Preparedness for People with Disabilities and Older Adults: What
Grantmakers Need to Know."
Jeanne Argoff
Executive Director
Disability Funders Network
2529 Kirklyn Street
Falls Church, VA 22043
703-560-0099
703-560-1151 (FAX)
NJArgoff@aol.com
http://www.disabilityfunders.org/