Hanging Out-
We started off our afternoon at a spot we all love, Ragtag Cinema. We had high hopes for Ragtag, as it’s known to be a “hipster” spot that advocates for inclusivity fairly often. Additionally, I have seen accommodations there before (i.e. the chairs reserved for wheelchair users or the accessible restrooms). When we made our way into Uprise/Ragtag on Friday afternoon, we were a bit overwhelmed by the amount of people that made it pretty hard to navigate an already narrow space. We made our way up to the ticket counter, which was a bit of a tight squeeze, and proceeded down the hallway to the theaters. We saw the two seats reserved for wheelchair users only (see the photo), but we were disappointed due to the chairs proximity to the trash/recycling area and the door. Besides that, the chairs weren’t really in a super desired area. They were semi-close to the screen and off to the left side-- it definitely wasn’t ideal. Due to proximity to the door, the person using that chair would have to be the last person in the theater to avoid taking up space in the aisle for other seats, and they’d also have to be the first person to leave for the same reason. Lastly, we noticed that the only two “accessible” seats in the entire theater were placed behind one another. Assuming that two wheelchair users would not come to the movies together, nor would they want to sit by each other! Ragtag let us down a bit. So, we moved on to their affiliate, Hitt Street Records.
Lunch-
Next, we went to India House, which is right down the street. The sidewalks and streets seemed decent, with no obnoxious cracks in the cement or other barriers to a wheelchair use. The one thing we did note was that the sidewalks near Ragtag are incredibly narrow, not allowing for a wheelchair user to be alongside their date. As we made our way into India House, we felt it was pretty accessible due to the ramp outside the restaurant and the ample amount of space between the booths and tables. Though, sadly, the buffett was not accessible because the height of the food serving area was too tall and the food/serving utensils were too far back. The bathroom was down a narrow hallway and was pretty difficult to get into/out of. Lastly, the register where you pay for the buffet meal was much too tall and wouldn’t allow for a wheelchair user to pay easily.
Private Time-
Lastly, we headed to Liz’s house as it was close and somewhat accessible for some private time. We went down broadway which had fairly even sidewalks, then we got onto College Ave and the sidewalk got progressively patchier as we made it onto Rosemary Lane where the sidewalks were pretty cracked up and littered. Finally, we made it to Liz’s where we had to go up the driveway, which was thankfully paved, and through a side door. The door opened inwards, which was nice, however, it was pretty heavy. Once we were in the side area we had to open another door, which was light, but had a slight floor level change. We then had to turn down a narrow hallway, which would be a tight turn alone. We then made it to the living room. It was open and easy to maneuver. I’m not sure how private it would be considering it’s the living room for 11 people and in a pretty common area. The bathroom opens inwards and the sink is low enough, however, there’s not much room between the toilet, sink and door so I’m not sure if the door would shut with a wheelchair. Overall, east campus isn’t a very accessible part of campus.
Conclusion-
At Hitt Street Records, we became more disappointed. The entire building was completely inaccessible and there’s no way to argue otherwise. The entrance was on a little platform you had to step down into to get into the store, the aisles were way too narrow (even for a non wheelchair user), the records were displayed up too high, and to get to the upstairs portion, you had to climb 2 sets of steep, old stairs. There were some really cool additions to the store that could be deemed as a quirky spot for “privacy time”, like the couches near the record players in the corner-- though, these were situated behind a platform and was entirely too narrow to bypass.
No comments:
Post a Comment