CNU’s new accessibility task force

CNU’s newly formed Visitability & Accessibility Task Force will focus on raising awareness among new urbanists about the importance of visitability and accessibility and raising awareness among accessibility advocates of the benefits of urbanism. “The biggest need is that basic access features start to be included right away, not years in the future. Some CNU members have already started doing so, since in the great majority of cases, solutions are simple and require only intention — not esoteric design strategies,” says Eleanor Smith, founder of Concrete Change and a leader in the formation of the task force. “Currently, New Urbanism is leaving a legacy of the least accessible houses in decades. The challenge is to turn that practice around, and that can only happen as CNU members educate themselves and each other, and act accordingly.” The new group’s mission statement recognizes that “New Urbanism, by emphasizing density, mixed-use development, pedestrian mobility and public transportation, offers an ideal opportunity for people with disabilities and seniors to be an integral part of communities.” The group promises to work “to make basic access the norm in residential design, focusing especially on housing types not covered by the Fair Housing Amendments Act: single-family detached houses and row houses.” Task force members include planner Bruce Donnelly, Hampton University professor Shannon Chance, University of Buffalo architecture professor Ed Steinfeld, and City of Milwaukee Development Commissioner Rocky Marcoux. The task force has begun discussion on a new email list, which is open to all CNU members. You can subscribe or view archives at: cnunext.org/mailman/listinfo/visitaccess_cnunext.org Among new projects identified by the group are a “Slope & Accessibility Development Toolkit,” to be developed by the New Urban Guild, that will offer an easy way to select appropriate mechanisms for platting lots and designing houses for access. Next year’s Congress in Philadelphia will also include sessions highlighting both the need for enhanced accessibility and techniques for achieving it. Meanwhile, some high-profile Katrina Cottages have incorporated accessibility into their designs: an accessible Katrina Cottage, designed by Eric Moser and built by Mennonite Disaster Service was recently completed in Pass Christian, Mississippi, and one of the five Marianne Cusato-designed Katrina Cottages to be available at Lowe’s is ADA-compliant.