Valerie AuroraAug 18, 2023
It’s weird to me when people frame calls for bike-friendly infrastructure as in conflict with disability accommodation. Make a city good for biking requires lots of smooth curbless bike paths that are perfect for mobility scooters, much better than trying to use your scooter on the road or the sidewalk. I see people zipping around on their mobility scooters everywhere in Amsterdam. They also have these tiny little cars for people with disabilities that are allowed to use all bike infrastructure
Show threadZumbador
@vaurora Maybe it's because some of the changes are so fundamental, that it's difficult to imagine? Like - it's not just about taking a bike rather than a car. It's about planning spaces so that work and home are not so far from one another, and the same for places to get food from.
Having more communal spaces, more "third spaces" where people can be with one another when they're not working or spending money, so that we are much more likely to build the human connections that we'll all need for support when we get old or become sick or disabled.
Aug 18, 2023 at 10:41amWeb
Show threadBruno GirinAug 18, 2023
@Zumbador @vaurora the way I understand it, the biggest two barriers to that in the US are zoning and minimal parking regulations. Once you allow mixed neighbourhoods that don't artificially favour cars, that sort of space arrangement makes sense.
Show threadcognitively accessible mathAug 18, 2023
@brunogirin @Zumbador @vaurora A local planner here in the midwest said *exactly* those two things were the issues to tackle to make most impact fastest. A whole section 'round here got rid of the minimal parking thing (college campus makes that more attainable) and it's not only more walkable, it's just nicer looking. The same developer did their "next" building without the nasty-looking "below the apartment parking" out front and yes, invested some of the dollars saved into beautifying the front landscaping.