Columbia, Missouri is like any other place on Earth. It has citizens with disabilities, and, simultaneously, a largely inaccessible infrastructure. Throughout our group date journey, we found obstructions from sandwich boards in the middle of the sidewalk, to unavoidable potholes, to terrifying elevators. Our trip was wrought with discoveries and considerations that we had never thought of before going through town more consciously than ever.
Jim's Trip - Upon starting my normal route out of my apartment, I realized first the immense challenge presented by the small foyer of the space. While I do not live in one of my building’s accessible apartments, it seems unreasonable to make an apartment inaccessible right out of the gate. From there, the elevator (which has broken down for extended periods of time twice this year), is relatively small and leads to two exits, one in the front with stairs, and one in the back with a steep ramp. Obviously, having taken the ramp, I ended up out near Hitt St. Garage and walked along through it. When I was on my way out of it, I ran into my first lip in the sidewalk, followed quickly by many messy curb cuts. Walking along Elm, I noticed three sandwich boards that essentially created a slalom and allowed barely for one wheelchair user to get through, much less two. Moving along, 9th Street was largely smooth and accessible. That said, there was no way for someone in the Deaf community to know when and when not to cross the street, and minimal bumps at curb cuts for folks who are blind. As I got to Broadway Brewery, I went into the back alleyway that leads to to accessible entrance, across from a row of dumpsters.
Ali's Trip - Leaving my house to head to Broadway Brewery, I instantly noticed that the only way to get out of the house was by stairs. I live on East Campus, which is known for its inaccessible housing. Coming back to my house for private time after the date was definitely not an option. During my walk to downtown I observed that the sidewalks are horribly bumpy and destroyed. There are large gaps in between the roads and the sidewalks and some squares are mismatched, causing lips in the cement. These sidewalks would cause difficulty for anyone rolling through East Campus. The crosswalk at University Ave and College Ave looks completely normal to an able-bodied person, but is actually quite dangerous for many others. The crosswalk machines don’t tell pedestrians when to walk and wait, and there are no raised bumps indicating the upcoming road. I noticed that the sidewalks downtown are not much better, with large lips and gaps and many bumps.
Jasmine's Trip - Starting my journey to the first location for our date, I left my home in the Benton-Stephen area. From the moment that I left my home, I noticed how inaccessible my home was. The front of my home has three steps that I had to go down and there is a steep driveway that if someone with a wheelchair would not be able to use. I began walking down Paris Road. While walking on the street, I noticed how small the street sidewalk was. There was not enough space for two people to walk next to each other comfortably and if there are two wheelchair users then it is impossible. Once I got to the four way intersection of College and Paris Road I noticed how dangerous it was. There was no voice activated crossing stand to tell someone to walk across the street if they were blind. As I continued down College Ave, the sidewalks were narrows just like those on Paris Road and the street has a bit of a dip in. Once I got by Stephen college campus, it was a bit uphill which was a bit difficult as someone who is able bodied so I could imagine that it was difficult for those who are wheelchair user. The intersection of College and Broadway was a lot better then the one the others in that there were lips for those who are blinded and there was a voice activated stoplight that told me when to walk across. However, there was 10 second timer to get across which was not a lot of time to get across the intersection which is always quite busy. Once I got downtown the sidewalks were spacious and all of the corners were accessible for wheelchair users along with lips.
Entering Broadway Brewery from the back entrance, we noticed a nice, smooth ramp that led to a wide dining area. Near it were two bathrooms, one women’s and one men’s (no gender neutral or all gender). The bathrooms had a fair amount of room, but hardly enough to maneuver a power chair. The sinks were at a reasonable height, but the mirrors were too high to see more than a forehead. Continuing back into the dining room, we got around to the front near the host stand and noticed that it was too high for a wheelchair user to have an interaction with an able bodied host. Overall, it was not too loud in the space, but the dim lighting could be difficult for folks with vision impairments. The tables were spaced out well enough for two wheelchair users to sit comfortably with one another. The menu was a bit pricey, but not terribly inaccessible. From there we decided to make the journey to Ragtag for some entertainment.
As we were heading to Ragtag, we had a comfortable walk for the first section of alleyway, but the second portion was filled with nasty potholes and lips that made walking or rolling incredibly hazardous. As we got into Ragtag, we realized that it is about half accessible and half inaccessible. There is a ramp up to the door and the building is all one level. The theatres are accessible with ramps inside of stairs to enter. The aisles inside the theatre are a little bit narrow, with many enough room for one wheelchair to get through but definitely not two. The couches in the very front row are really the only option for seating, which might get uncomfortable during a long movie. We checked out the bathrooms on the way out and noticed that there was no gender-neutral option. The men’s restroom had a very accessible bathroom with three rails and a fairly low sink. The women’s bathroom, on the other had, was very inaccessible for someone using a wheelchair. The door was heavy and difficult to open, and the sink and mirror were high and on top of a cabinet. The stalls were very narrow, and neither stall had rails for support. We later found out that there was a gender-neutral, accessible bathroom in the hallway on the way into the movie theatres, but to be able to gain entry to that bathroom, someone would need to purchase a movie ticket or ask an employee to be let behind the curtain. After exploring, we decided to head over to the top of Hitt St. Garage for some private time.
On our way to Hitt St. Garage, we encountered a lot of problems with the sidewalks. There were many large holes in the sidewalks that were difficult to navigate. The sidewalk was narrow and made it difficult for multiple people to walk alongside each other. As we were getting closer to the garage, it becomes a very steep uphill incline which can be difficult for wheelchair users. Since there is only one entrance to get to the elevator in Hitt St, we walked though the first level of the garage to get there. This was the quicker way to get to the elevator. The only other option is to go around the garage and go up the uphill incline to get to the entrance with the elevator. Once we got to the elevator, we noticed how unclean it was and it did not look safe to use. There were buttons on the elevator that did not work and we knew that there are certain floors that the elevator does not stop. Once we got to the top of the garage, we noticed that there was no button to put to have the open and it was a pretty heavy door. We then proceeded to enjoy the beautiful view of campus and enjoy each other company.
Overall, CoMo is a predominantly inaccessible city. There are bright spots. We have intersections with audible signals. We have smooth ramps here and there. We have regular curb cuts. At many points, however, we fail miserably at accessibility. By not being fully accessible, we cannot claim to be an accessible town, and accessible dates are hard to come by. Accessibility as a societal issue is something we still struggle with in columbia, and something that our group will certainly be far more cognizant of.
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