[Visitaccess] FW: Planetizen Article on Accessible Housing

Tue Jun 5 10:53:22 EDT 2007

That's a _lot_ better.  

4.3 million is going to be about 1.1 percent.  Now we
have to figure out how many will be in institutions
and how many not.

--- "Steinfeld, Edward" <arced at buffalo.edu> wrote:

> I know I have pointed people here before....this is
> the website with the
> report that the graph I just sent out came from.
> Data on the future
> predictions of use of mobility devices, including
> canes and walkers, is
> in this report:  
> 
> Demographics of Wheeled Mobility Device Users
> Mitchell P. LaPlante, Ph.D.
> 
> It can be found on this website along with some
> other interesting
> papers. Please note that this is a pre-publication
> version that is being
> updated. 
> 
>
http://www.ap.buffalo.edu/idea/Space%20Workshop/index2.asp
> 
> Here is the summary Mitch wrote:
> 
> "One must admit that the relationships between age,
> mobility impairment,
> and type of mobility impairment, and wheeled
> mobility devices and type
> of wheeled mobility devices are uncertain.
> Furthermore, one major
> predictor of use of wheeled mobility devices, being
> unable to walk a
> quarter mile, appears to be declining in the
> elderly. This only
> reinforces the impression that much of the growth in
> use of wheeled
> mobility devices appears to be due to social and
> technological factors.
> Because these factors are not well known, drawing
> out the implications
> of the aging of the population for wheeled mobility
> devices use remains
> uncertain. To be sure, the advance of the 76 million
> baby boomers into
> the older ranks will propel use of wheeled mobility
> devices even faster
> than it has grown in the past. As younger cohorts
> with better
> understanding of disability and the place of people
> with disabilities in
> society replace older ones with different views,
> stigma against using
> wheeled mobility devices may decline. Segways,
> powered mobility devices,
> and Ibots may be adopted more readily by aging baby
> boomers and fuel
> growth at an even faster pace than has been observed
> in the past. 
> 
> Perhaps the best projection is a simple
> extrapolation from past trends.
> In that case, the rate of growth from 1969 to 1999
> has been 5.9 percent
> per year. At that rate, by 2010, when the leading
> edge of the baby boom
> generation reaches 65 years old, we would expect to
> see 4.3 million
> users of wheeled mobility devices."  
> 
> Note that there is data on use of other devices in
> the report also,
> which are much more prevalent than wheeled mobility
> devices, as you can
> tell from the previous chart. Moreover, even though
> the Boomers are less
> likely to have mobility limitations due to better
> health, the incidence
> of those limitations is much higher than at younger
> ages so that slight
> declines combined with vastly increased numbers add
> up to lots more
> people with mobility impairments. 
> 
> Edward Steinfeld, Arch.D., AIA
> Professor of Architecture and Director
> Center for Inclusive Design and Environmental Access
> School of
> Architecture and Planning
> University at Buffalo, State University of New York
>  
> Tel. 716 829 3485 (x327)
> Fax. 716 829 3861
> email address:arced at buffalo.edu
> IDEA Center website: www.ap.buffalo.edu/idea 
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: visitaccess-bounces at cnunext.org
> [mailto:visitaccess-bounces at cnunext.org] On Behalf
> Of Bruce F. Donnelly
> Sent: Monday, June 04, 2007 9:14 PM
> To: CNU VisitAccess
> Subject: Re: [Visitaccess] FW: Planetizen Article on
> Accessible Housing
> 
> Edward,
> 
> To be honest, what really matters for our discussion
> is the percentage of housing units of each type in
> which people needing wheelchairs will be housed or
> visiting.  I'm not arguing that accessibility and
> visitability are not important, but it's not
> persuasive to say that because people are living
> longer, and because we had a population boom we will
> necessarily have more of those units.  Maybe yes,
> maybe no; do you have the statistics?  
> 
> I have had the impression that 60 years ago more
> peoples' bodies failed quickly, so that most never
> had
> both a mobility impairment and the ability to
> compensate with wheelchairs.   I have heard the
> numbers are higher, but I would like to see the
> statistics -- not in terms of numbers, but in terms
> of
> percentages.  
> 
> --- "Steinfeld, Edward" <arced at buffalo.edu> wrote:
> 
> >  
> > 
> > The % of people who have a mobility impairment is
> > cross sectional data -
> > it doesn't tell us who is at risk or who will
> > eventually have such an
> > impairment over the course of their life. Since
> > houses last a long time,
> > we have to take the long view. The % over 65 IS
> > important because older
> > people have a much high probability of having a
> > mobility impairment than
> > the rest of the population. They are a large
> portion
> > of the population
> > at risk. Moreover, they will drive the market for
> > accessibility because,
> > due to the experience with their parents, this
> > generation is much more
> > aware of the importance of access for aging in
> > place. 
> > 
> >  
> > 
> > Edward Steinfeld, Arch.D., AIA
> > 
> > Professor of Architecture and Director
> > 
> > Center for Inclusive Design and Environmental
> Access
> > School of
> > Architecture and Planning
> > 
> > University at Buffalo, State University of New
> York
> > 
> >  
> > 
> > Tel. 716 829 3485 (x327)
> > 
> > Fax. 716 829 3861
> > 
> > email address:arced at buffalo.edu
> > 
> > IDEA Center website: www.ap.buffalo.edu/idea 
> > 
> > ________________________________
> > 
> > From: visitaccess-bounces at cnunext.org
> > [mailto:visitaccess-bounces at cnunext.org] On Behalf
> > Of Bruce F. Donnelly
> > Sent: Monday, June 04, 2007 6:53 PM
> > To: CNU VisitAccess
> > Subject: Re: [Visitaccess] Planetizen Article on
> > Accessible Housing
> > 
> >  
> > 
> > I'm immediately skeptical when someone uses
> > irrelevant statistics.  The
> > percentage of people over 65 isn't relevant; the
> > percentage of people
> > with mobility disabilities is.  
> > 
> >  
> > 
> > Too static <-> "Life" <-> Too noisy
> > 
> > --Christopher Langton
> > 
> >  
> > 
> > Bruce F. Donnelly
> > 
> >  
> > 
> > 216 470 9348
> > 
> >  
> > 
> > From: visitaccess-bounces at cnunext.org
> > [mailto:visitaccess-bounces at cnunext.org] On Behalf
> > Of Todd McLeod
> > Sent: Monday, June 04, 2007 4:02 PM
> > To: visitaccess at cnunext.org
> > Subject: [Visitaccess] Planetizen Article on
> > Accessible Housing
> > 
> >  
> > 
> > The linked article on accessibility for
> > single-family housing was posted
> > to Planetizen last Tuesday, and includes a
> reference
> > to Eleanor Smith
> > and "Concrete Change."
> > 
> >  
> > 
> > http://www.planetizen.com/node/24729
> > 
> >  
> > 
> > Todd McLeod, E.I.
> > 
> > Civil Design, Inc.
> > 
> > The Guaranty Building
> > 
> > 120 S. Olive Ave., Suite 403
> > 
> > West Palm Beach, FL 33401
> > 
> > Tel:  (561) 659-5760 x102
> > 
> > Fax: (561) 659-5772
> > 
> > Cell: (561) 676-6208
> > 
> > tmcleod at civil-design.com
> > 
> > www.civil-design.com
> > 
> >  
> > 
> >  
> > 
> > > _______________________________________________
> > Visitaccess mailing list
> > Visitaccess at cnunext.org
> >
>
http://mail.cnunext.org/mailman/listinfo/visitaccess_cnunext.org
> > 
> 
> 
> Yours truly,
> 
> Bruce F. Donnelly
> 
> (216) 470-9348
> 
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> 