Accessible housing issues

[ijmorlan]

It makes zero sense for us all, as a society, to spend a huge amount of money for elevators in small buildings when most people don’t even need them.

Except I didn't say that we should have elevators in duplexes, or anything like that.

As long as we have accessibility rules that ensure that a substantial fraction of properties are accessible, then there will be no problem with access for those who need it.

In general, I would agree, however, your comparison of accessibility to a pool is still tone-deaf. People who need accessibility are not equivalent to people who want a pool. By making that comparison as you did, you strongly implied that accessibility is something frivolous, like a pool, and that disabled people are not worthy of consideration because of that frivolity rather than needing to "ensure that a substantial fraction of properties are accessible".

Even if you didn't mean to make that implication, that is how you came across, and that dismissive and forgetful attitude is frankly why we as a society are so crappy at making things accessible and why disabled people are rarely included in the planning process to spot the problems beforehand.

You need to do better.

Interesting. What I actually said is “any more than everybody needs a pool (note: a frivolity for most; but a necessity for some)”. In other words, I mentioned explicitly that it is usually a frivolity right there in the same sentence, yet you latched on to the pool, not the barbecue that I mentioned in the next clause without saying anything about the fact that barbecues are not necessities.

So what I take away from this is a reminder that even if one is careful to explain the main point, people will still sometimes latch onto a detail and become unable to see the overall thrust of the paragraph. I’m not saying my paragraph couldn’t be improved, but I really think that anybody should be able to read this thread and understand that I am not uncaring when it comes to accessibility; but I am also not unthinkingly devoted to an ideal, unmoored from other considerations.