Did you know that "60% of ALL HOUSES built today in the United States will have at least one resident with a “long-lasting, severe mobility impairment” at some point in the lifetime of the house?"
None of us did until publication of the article cited below.
CONCRETE CHANGE August 1, 2008Posted by rollingrains at August 3, 2008 12:25 AMHow many houses need to have access features? When universal Visitability is proposed, an objection sometimes arises that people with mobility impairments make up only a small per cent of the population, and the needs of these few should not impinge on general house construction.
Now, the Journal of the American Planning Association has published research revealing the breadth of the need.
Researchers found that by one measure of disability a startling 60% of ALL HOUSES built today in the United States will have at least one resident with a “long-lasting, severe mobility impairment” at some point in the lifetime of the house. Using a second measure, the odds are 25%.
These high percentages do not even take into account severe SHORT-term disabilities. Nor do they take into account the desire of people with disabilities to visit their friends and relatives. When visiting is accounted for, the percents of houses affected rise to 93% and 51%.
Why are the percentages so high? Because the need for home access cannot accurately be based upon the approximate percentage of people who have severe mobility impairments at any one point in time.
Highly relevant is the house itself, over the many decades that it serves as a dwelling. More than one person lives in a typical household. If just one person in the family becomes disabled, the house needs access. Furthermore, more than one household lives in a dwelling as the years pass. It is sold, re-sold, rented, re-rented, resold, and so on. When also taking into account the rapid increase of older people in the population, with the accompanying rise in mobility impairments, it becomes apparent why a very high percentage of houses will need access.
It is not possible to predict in which house the child with cerebral palsy will be born, or a resident will develop multiple sclerosis or have a stroke. It is increasingly apparent that new houses (except for the small percentage where topography is prohibitive) should be constructed with the affordable, humane, basic access features some people have been promoting.
The 18-page article titled “Aging and Disability: Implications for the Housing Industry and Housing Policy in the United States” appears in the current issue (Summer 2008). The final paragraph states:
“The needs of an aging population, combined with concerns about the civil rights of people with disabilities and the high public cost of nursing home care, make the lack of accessible housing a critical issue for planners and policy makers. Although planners have traditionally focused their efforts on the built and natural environment outside the home, the time has come for them to look more closely at the environment inside the home as well. Efforts to improve a community’s quality of life by promoting amenities such as attractive public spaces, walkable destinations, and proximity to public transportation are highly desirable, but will be incomplete without efforts to improve housing accessibility. Given the slow pace at which changes in the housing stock occur, there is urgency to act now. Increasing the supply of accessible housing will benefit not only currently disabled people, but also their families and friends, those who become disabled in the future, and society as a whole.”
The article is attached. Download file
More information on Visitability is available at www.concretechange.org