3 ms·

A lot of accommodations made for disabilities are great for people who don't need them as well. It'd be weird if someone was kept out of an apartment because it

A lot of accommodations made for disabilities are great for people who don't need them as well. It'd be weird if someone was kept out of an apartment because it had some accessibility upgrades, so long as it's not impacting someone who can't live in other apartments. Handles/railings would probably be a decent addition to showers anyway with how often people slip in there and get injured.

yellowapple 3y ago
> so long as it's not impacting someone who can't live in other apartments That was my exact concern. The leasing office guy giving me the tour insisted it wasn't an issue, so I'd guess most/all of their ground-floor units were handicap-accessible, but it was still one of those things that made me constantly wonder "am I supposed to be in this apartment?". But yeah, the curb-cut effect is absolutely real and I agree that a lot of accessibility features should just be standard practice/design.
- bombcar 3y ago
  The thing that can feel bad is nobody with disabilities needed it when you moved in - but how would you ever know if someone was looking once you’re renting? Which is why for things like that we’re better off just building everything to better standards rather than designating some of them to be so. But the ground-floor might be the key. Some apartments are not required to have elevators so the “upper units” are de-facto non-disabled units because they’re assumed wheelchair inaccessible. The trade off is to make all ground units fully accessible. In older units and even single family rentals, some areas provide funding to update for disabled access. So you can have someone renting a house and a tenant wants to add ramps and an accessible bathtub. The government pays for (or contributes to) the remodel, the tenant gets guarantees about availability, the landlord gets a “free” upgrade that doesn’t hamper future rentals.

yellowapple 3y ago

> so long as it's not impacting someone who can't live in other apartments That was my exact concern. The leasing office guy giving me the tour insisted it wasn't an issue, so I'd guess most/all of their ground-floor units were handicap-accessible, but it was still one of those things that made me constantly wonder "am I supposed to be in this apartment?". But yeah, the curb-cut effect is absolutely real and I agree that a lot of accessibility features should just be standard practice/design.

bombcar 3y ago
The thing that can feel bad is nobody with disabilities needed it when you moved in - but how would you ever know if someone was looking once you’re renting? Which is why for things like that we’re better off just building everything to better standards rather than designating some of them to be so. But the ground-floor might be the key. Some apartments are not required to have elevators so the “upper units” are de-facto non-disabled units because they’re assumed wheelchair inaccessible. The trade off is to make all ground units fully accessible. In older units and even single family rentals, some areas provide funding to update for disabled access. So you can have someone renting a house and a tenant wants to add ramps and an accessible bathtub. The government pays for (or contributes to) the remodel, the tenant gets guarantees about availability, the landlord gets a “free” upgrade that doesn’t hamper future rentals.