
Calgary Metro – On Thursday, a group made up of people from the City of Calgary’s Transportation and Planning, Development and Assessment departments, members of the Calgary Construction Association, and not-for-profit organizations, along with Coun. Druh Farrell, put the city’s accessibility to the test by embarking on a tour. Read the full story here.
Strategic Group’s Portfolio Analyst and lead on the Accessibility for All Albertans initiative, Nabeel Ramji, accompanied the 10 able-bodied individuals as they took on disability for a day. The group traveled from the municipal building to the Simmons Building in the East Village facing many challenges along the way like transit rides, crossing busy roads and dealing with the cobblestone on Stephen Avenue.
The idea for this tour was brought forward by Accessible Housing, the Advisory Committee on Accessibility (City of Calgary), and Coun. Druh Farrell. With the passing of Druh Farrell’s Notice of Motion, “Improving Calgary’s Accessibility” in July 2015, the idea was to create awareness about some of the barriers that many citizens face amongst the decision makers, and the senior management team at The City of Calgary.
“The biggest challenge for the group was navigating the C-train platform, and trying to get on and off the train in a timely manner,” Nabeel says.
“I hope that the tour participants gained a deeper understanding of some of the barriers that many citizens face on a daily basis, and how the interaction with the built-environment can vary person-to-person, given the different types of challenges or impairments.”
Nabeel hopes this conversation around building a more accessible and inclusive place to live will impact how public spaces and buildings are designed moving forward.
“I also hope it increases the general public’s awareness of the overall accessibility challenges within the City and how there are many citizens who are resilient and courageous to overcome them.”
Nabeel says there is still a lot of work to do ahead, but with increased awareness, there is a real opportunity for real estate professionals, architects, and developers to have a collective and meaningful conversation on accessibility.
The City of Calgary Accessibility Tour received great media coverage yesterday; check it out!
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