Michelle of consuming louisville has posted a comment about the problems wheelchair users have in the Highlands with cars parking up on the sidewalks on side streets, making the sidewalks impassable.
Cars are a problem -- so are bike racks, bikes, news boxes, big planters, benches bolted to the sidewalk, not to mention those ever-popular outdoor tables in front of coffee shops. Funny how everything can seem to be put onto the sidewalk except ramps. IPL won't permit them to extend onto sidewalks because they block the right of way. (See my blog entry that touches on that.)
Michelle writes,
When cars are preventing access do you know who we should call to address the problem? In the past I've called the local police district but they seem less than pleased with such calls.
I know who I'd call, if I were in a wheelchair: I'd call TV news.
It's sad but amazing how much doesn't change unless a public spotlight shines on it.
I know folks in chairs who have complained repeatedly about folks parking illegally in those accessible parking spots. One guy who use to frequent Jillian's back when it was over there around Baxter used to say he complained so much that the cops came to regard him as a troublemaker -- but the spots never did get cleared.
What's this about?
Many folks don't believe that there's real discrimination against wheelchair users -- it's just that folks don't know what to do, or that providing access costs too much. But too many tales like this one make me think that belief is just a bit simplistic.
Back to the good old organizing tactics:
One person in a wheelchair is a whiner, but two or 3 of them, particularly if they have a crew of supporters, can really make a significant point. That's especially true in Louisville, I think, where lots of wheelchair activism doesn't occur so much -- not like, say, in Denver or Chicago.
Look at the protests Corey Nett's treatment engendered.
I'd love to see similar protests over these impassable sidewalks.
