Wizard's suggestion about wheelchair accessibility really hits the mark, (no it's not a play on Wizard's name, just her accuracy; which I complement her on). One of the true shortages in housing is the shortage of such wheelchair accessible units. This is particularly true of smaller units located within the community, rather than only in a multi-unit institutional type of housing. Many of us in this huge baby-boom generation are going to very quickly need such units. If we entertain any hope of independent living in our preferred communities, we are going to need to start building them NOW.
Our Minneapolis Planning Department does not seem to be very concerned with this coming need and the shortage that they have "Planned". Of course Minneapolis "Planning" reminds me of "Military Intelligence", both are used as common jokes. You would think Mayor Rybak would look to hiring a few people who can "Plan" for a future that has certainly been predicted since this huge population bubble was in its twenties. An example of the "Planning" Departments close-mindedness about handicapped accessible housing can be seen in their recent recommendation that the Ventura Village Carriage Houses only be allowed if they were totally up a set of stairs and located totally above a minimum two-car garage. Ventura Village had designed a carriage house specifically to meet the needs of wheelchair bound people living independently. This "Accessory Unit" would have a garage tall enough for a handicapped Van and living quarters on the same flat surface. Additionally it would be equipped with the bathroom, kitchen, and cabinetry that a handicapped person would require, (and could actually use). I think the "Planning" Department needs to do a little planning that includes the future of their own mother or father, the possible future of a child, and possibly their very own future. Anyone who may someday be diabetic, or who may one day have a spinal injury, or some other debilitating disease, (THIS INCLUDES EVERYONE I KNOW) needs to be concerned with such "Planning". The City of Minneapolis needs to encourage and praise anyone who will fill this need, not discourage and penalize such people. Those who care about handicapped people should be calling their City Council-member and the Mayor's office demanding that Ventura Village and other neighborhoods be allowed to build Handicapped Accessible "Accessory Units". Those of you who care might also consider building such a unit in your back yard, (but first call, because they don't want anyone to build one). The same problems can be said to exist with MCDA, MHFA, Hennepin County, and the Met Council. One would think it would be a requirement for any units funded by these agencies. Units that have been designed to be accessible for the disabled are certainly usable for abled people without any modification. The reverse is definitely not true. It is almost impossible to economically retrofit a housing unit designed exclusively for abled persons to one close to being adequate for the handicapped. So even these governmental bodies need to do a little "Planning" for the future. It will cost their developer buddies only a small amount more to build such units. The public should demand at a minimum there is some benefit from the public' s tax money going to subsidize such units. So List-Members call your Hennepin County Commissioner, your State Legislators, and yes even your MET-Council Representative and DEMAND that they only fund housing that is designed for either elderly people or that is designed to be handicapped accessible. If a housing unit is accessible for the handicapped or the elderly, it is surly accessible for the young and the abled. It has been amazing to have engaged in this battle for the last couple of years without the advocates who supposedly represent "Affordable Housing" and "Handicapped" people even seeming to be aware of it. Do those "Advocacy" groups actually advocate for people, or are they only advocating for their multi-unit developer patrons. I hear them make statements at Mayor Rybak's housing conferences, at the Met Council, and at the Legislature, but I never see them when we are at the City Council fighting for the zoning changes that would allow such housing to be provided by and for individual people. If they are truly interested they should also be visiting some City Council people. I wonder if it is because the advocates are just unaware that individual people who own a duplex or triplex in aggregate are the providers of most of the Cities' truly affordable housing. Affordable has also become a joke. Affordable to whom? Starting police officers, firemen, and yes even "Planners" qualify for such "Affordable Housing". No wonder the working poor have a problem competing for it. It is an election year folks. START CALLING. Next year they will not have as much need, (or reason), to listen. Jim Graham, Ventura Village _______________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A Civil City Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest option, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
