I mean, it's great that the "what about emergency vehicle access?" hack is so effective when pointing out the deficiencies of proposals for walkable communities, but it kind of burns my ass that you need to take that approach in the first place. I don't know how many conversations about communities planning I've seen that go like this:
Walkable communities advocate: Here's a plan for a walkable community in which only public transit will be permitted – no personal vehicles of any kind will be allowed.
Disability advocate: What about access for physically disabled people? If your options are public transit or the sidewalk and literally nothing else, any disabled person whose needs aren't fully served 100% of the time by your favoured public transit framework is fucked, and there's no such thing as a perfect public transit framework.
Walkable communities advocate, whose brain shut down the moment they heard the word "disabled" and didn't process anything past that point: Oh, you silly cripple, the term "walkable community" doesn't mean you're only allowed to walk! How quaint.
I guess pointing out "well, if only public transit is accommodated, how are firefighters and paramedics supposed to access emergencies?" works because now they can imagine themselves being affected!
To address a few of the recurring whatabouts in my notes and DMs:
- This isn't a criticism of the idea of walkable communities in general. It's a criticism of the particular attitude toward walkable community planning which treats getting the number of privately operated vehicles all the way down to zero as a teleological goal. If that's not something you're in favour of, this ain't about you.
- I am, myself, physically disabled in a way that prevents me from driving but rarely hinders my ability to walk long distances. Every car on the roads vanishing in a puff of smoke one day would be hugely convenient for me. That doesn't mean I'd actually want that to happen; it ain't always about me.
- Consider the irony of jumping into the notes on a disabled person's vent post about having their concerns dismissed and insisting that you don't believe the scenario they're describing ever really happens. Really think about it.







