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
__
