Their original budget for a new home was $475K, but in order to find a home that required very little work to add accessibility, they needed to kick it up to $600K to even come close.
It had me wondering why there aren't standards in place for homes in this day and age - especially in residential areas. I understand that apartments and condos that tailor to the needs of students or bachelors are not going to have the necessary standards, but we all hope to grow old within our family homes, so why not add in a few requisite rules for building new homes, like:
• wider doorways
• hallways that would fit an average wheelchair
• the ability to add ramps
• the ability to add chair lifts on the staircases
• the ability to create a walk-in shower
• better thresholds between rooms
The only parts that would be required from the get-go are the doorways and hallways. It just makes me wonder why we cannot make new buildings compatible with accessibility equipment? Shouldn't there be some standardized set of rules for buildings so that ramps and handrails and chairlifts could be added without tearing out a huge portion of a home or building?
This issue of accessibility should be something people are taught at a young age. I know that I never thought about it when I was younger - until I started having to use a cane. Then all of these accessibility problems were so apparent it was almost embarrassing. It is embarrassing. Noticing such evident flaws in the area of accessibility simply makes those with disabilities feel more isolated and more fearful of going to new places. Not to mention fearful of the cost of having a safe and accessible home.
For instance, I was at a restaurant over the weekend that had a very nicely laid out handicap bathroom stall. The stall was large enough to fit a wheelchair and turn it around, included a private sink and paper towel dispenser right in the stall at a level accessible from a seated position. Awesome! And yet the doorway to the washroom was FAR too small to fit a wheelchair. There essentially was no aisle to get to any of the stalls (the moment you open the bathroom door, it is inches away from the first stall. The door had to be closed to squeeze through to the handicap stall while walking). The most glaring fault, though, was that there was a 7-10 inch step from the main floor to the bathroom floor.
Yes, there was a ramp to get into the building.
Yes, there was a wonderfully private stall.
Yes the building itself was sort of accessible.
But forget about going to the washroom while you're there.... because that isn't a basic need.
(This was an old iconic building, so I did not expect any accessibility for wheelchair users - this is less about this particular building and more about the lack of insight into what actually goes into making a place appropriately and safely accessible).
On the flip side, a brand new brewery just opened up that is wonderfully accessible. The aisles are big, the space between tables is more than adequate, with several low-top tables, and the bathrooms on the main floor are all single-toilet private washrooms, with lots of room to maneuver. Of course, there is an upstairs that isn't accessible, but the lower level is where the action is anyways. They did a marvelous job in the area of accessibility.
Of course, no building is ever going to be perfect unless it is built specifically for people in wheelchairs (and even some of those facilities have clear flaws), but wouldn't it be nice to have several social locations that those in wheelchairs can comfortably access? Where those with disabilities feel included, not an additional burden... that we are welcomed with open arms instead of being an afterthought?
In a perfect world, I guess.
I just find it sad at how little thought goes into accessible-compatibility in homes and buildings. How do we change this?
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