3 ms·

you can have single-stair with elevators.

• pmontra 3y ago
  Which is the norm in Europe. One stair, one elevator. Even large and long buildings are divided in "stairs": there is central concrete tower with the staircase and the elevator shaft and a number of flats around it. Repeat like a pack of AA batteries. No way to move between them except the basement with parking for the cars.
  • epistasis 3y ago
    Elevator regulations are another area where the US needs to improve. In many areas, the regulation is that if there is an elevator, it must be big enough to hold a stretcher for EMTs. These are of course far more expensive than an elevator large enough to accommodate a wheel chair. So given the choice between some accessibility and extreme accessibility which is too expensive to provide, the legal choice is to go with zero accessibility. After a while it becomes clear that the point of most of these regulations is to make multi-unit housing inconvenient and expensive, under the veneer of regulations that, on their face, would improve outcomes.
    • pmontra 3y ago
      Recent houses here do have much larger elevators than houses of 50 years ago, which in turn had much larger elevators than older houses. I don't know if they can accommodate a stretcher but they can often fit a bicycle, which can be quite long. 70 cm of wheel diameter plus tires plus the distance between wheels. It could be close to 2 meters. A stretcher is maybe longer if completely extended. I don't have figures, but my job, but for a multi unit house the extra space is probably not a problem. A typical one could be 10 floors, 4 units per floor. The extra expense for the builder of the house is divided by 40 and the extra space taken from each floor is divided by 4. The maintenance and electricity bills are higher though.