Introduction
 Elements of Visit-ability
 Contemporary Housing Design
Advantage of Visit-ability
 Why Hasn't visit-ability Gained Wider Acceptance?
Costs of Visit-ability
 Case Studies
Advocacy Strategies
Recent Visit-ability Initiatives
Conclusion
Source Cited/Appendix/Acknowledgement

Contemporary Housing Design

Multifamily Housing
Conventional Single Family Housing
Accessible Single Family Housing
Universal Design
Contemporary Trends in Housing Design

Table 1: This bar graph indicates that the population is rapidly aging. Between 1900 and 2020, the number of people aged 65 and older will increase by over 50 million. This number is predicted to increase by another 20 million in the next 20 years.

Figure 3: A walk-up multifamily housing project. Despite the fact that the townhouses on the second and third floors contain stairs, the photo illustrates how ground level apartments still can be built to comply with Visit-ability requirements. The ground level apartments all contain no-step entrances, as required by the Fair Housing Act.

Figure 4: A townhouse development just outside of Atlanta, GA. Although high-density housing strives to create a pedestrian-oriented community, these townhouses have many steps at the entrance that makes it difficult for many people to visit with neighbors and relatives.

In advocating the use of Visit-ability in housing development, it is important to understand current gaps in access to housing as well as contemporary housing design approaches. This section briefly discusses the following housing types: multifamily housing, conventional single family housing, accessible housing and universally designed homes.

Where are the gaps in access to housing?
1. 66.2% of housing in the U.S. is owned.
Note: most would be single family housing

2. Laws do not cover existing housing – need to catch up to meet demand.

3. Older residents are more likely to be owners of homes rather than tenants in apartments.

4. The population is rapidly aging – a large majority of older people want to stay in their existing home.

5. Benefits extend to family, friends, neighbors and those with temporary disabilities.

6. Promote a sense of community--people can visit their neighbors.

7. Increase the choices available in our neighborhoods.

8. Visit-ability makes housing generally more usable by everyone.

Multifamily Housing
According to the 1988 Fair Housing Amendment, new apartment buildings and condominiums, with four or more units, first occupied after March 1991, must have basic access in every ground floor unit. They must have basic access in all units if the building has an elevator. These 7 basic access requirements include:

- Accessible building entrances on an accessible route

- Accessible and usable public and common use areas

- Usable doors

- Accessible route into and through the apartment

- Light switches, electrical outlets, thermostats and other environmental controls located in accessible locations

- Reinforced walls for grab bars

- Usable kitchens and bathrooms

These rules apply to both publicly and privately funded buildings. However, they do not apply to townhouses, doubles or single family detached houses.

Conventional Single Family Housing
Standard suburban housing is built according to traditional specifications, without special attention given to access. Little attention is given to the development of neighborhoods and public walkways, other than what is required by authorities and considered the norm in the region. Although there is no specific concern about raising the first floor of the home above grade level, when it is done, it is usually due to prevailing norms. In other cases, there is a belief (whether correct of not) that homes will flood if not raised high above grade. Most standard suburban housing is built as detached units, not townhouses, and in single use developments without any commercial facilities.

Accessible Single Family Housing
Accessible housing is standard housing which uses adaptive technology and design, such as ramps, lowered cabinets, and roll-in showers. Generally, adaptations made under the heading "accessible housing" are intended for households that have family members who use wheelchairs. In addition, because the term "accessible" is often tied to the legal requirement/concept of access, the features of accessible housing are generally viewed as being part of a whole package, not based on what works best. The focus is on compliance with accessibility standards. In fact, some contractors hired to build accessible housing have been reticent to use creative alternatives to what they know will be compliant. This attitude can severely limit the choices available to persons with disabilities, and (as we hope the reader will come to realize) to the whole community.

Another major flaw in the concept of accessible housing design is that it often ignores aesthetic concerns in favor of purely functional design and equipment. Both are important, but because accessible features and equipment are in less demand, products are often not available in the varied selection of non-accessible components. Nice looking accessible products are often hard to find, more expensive and take longer to obtain. The prices of such products tend to be inflated and poor availability results in construction delays.

Universal Design
Universally designed homes are designed to provide improved function for all possible residents, rather than providing specific adaptations that only help people with disabilities. Universally designed homes provide features that are equally advantageous to children, left-handed fathers, extra large and extra small residents, young couples and seniors (both single and married). Universally designed houses ideally go beyond the minimum requirements of codes and standards. For example, a universally designed home may have more than one accessible bathroom and more than one accessible entrance. In addition to access for mobility impaired residents, it might also have flooring, acoustics and other features that facilitate use by people who are visually impaired.

Because universal design is intended for all citizens, aesthetics play an important role in the concept. To reach a mass market, universal design must be attractive. The mass marketing of universal design features, however, makes them theoretically more readily available and affordable. Thus universal design is quite different than simple code compliance.

Some advocates argue that advocacy efforts would be better devoted to promoting universal design in housing, rather than Visit-ability. But our view is that universal design is a continuously evolving process, rather than a journey towards a single design "destination." The number of universally designed products currently available is still small. Consensus standards as to what constitutes universal design in housing have not yet been developed. Many argue that it would be unwise to do so because it could stifle this innovative spirit.

Visit-ability, although less than the ideal of a universally designed home, is actually universal design practiced through community and neighborhood planning. It ensures that a basic level of accessibility will be provided in all housing and it opens opportunities for participation in community life. Visit-ability is a universal design goal that can be achieved today on a widespread basis. Advocates should certainly promote a greater scope of universal design wherever possible, but they should certainly not settle for less than the basic features of Visit-ability.

Contemporary Trends in Housing Design
Urbanist design concepts, focused on pedestrian oriented communities with high density low-rise housing and mixed use planning, are gaining popularity. Single family housing in these communities comes in several forms; the most common are townhouses, attached double houses or single-family detached units with small front yards and narrow alleys between them. The first floors are usually well above grade and a front porch and stairs are standard features. The raised main floor compensates for the privacy lost by reducing the depth of the front yard to a minimum. The increased density and mixed uses allows more money to be devoted to community amenities and reduces dependence on automobiles.

The key problem for accessibility in these developments is the practice of building most houses with their first floors above grade. If built without access features, they are less inviting, both in perception and in fact, for those with mobility impairments. The raised porches and prominent stairs on the front of this housing increase inaccessibility. These designs, however, need not remain a true impediment to building a Visit-able home. Ramps and grade changes from front to back can be used as a means to provide zero step entrances while keeping the first floor of the home above grade. Moreover, there are other design approaches that can provide the privacy desired without increasing the size of the front yard.

The contemporary trend toward urbanism has many positive attributes from an access perspective. Urbanist design principles include the use of narrower roads and thoroughfares, both to create a walkable community and to heighten the sense of neighborliness. These features can be very beneficial to people with disabilities as well as other residents. In fact, these trends have advanced the practice of planning new housing by emphasizing the importance of the public environment--streets and pedestrian pathways--in creating a humane neighborhood. They seek to increase the potential that true neighborhoods will develop. This community planning approach has been lacking in most accessible housing design which focuses only on the home and private property.